Sam, don't worry, everything is fixable. I, uh, wouldn't recommend fixing a laptop with a Leatherman, though. You may want to consider picking up a $20 anodized tip tool kit at Office Depot or Fry's Electronics, if you want to continue repairing computers. Laptops, especially, are sensitive to the magnetic charges that can build up in most metal tools. You also might want to consider getting yourself a can of compressed air (Dust-Off, or some such brand) to blow out that keyboard (we don't want any crumbs under those keys, now do we?). My guess is the space bar (just below that V key that blew out while you were zapping aliens) is either stuck or in terminal hold (the same thing, really). In many menus and options, the space bar is the same as the enter key. You need to get it cleaned out and unstuck.

How old is this laptop? What flavor? Sony? Dell? HP? Compaq? Lenovo? Toshiba??? The reason that I ask is that many have different setup and boot screen options. What you need to do is get into the manufacturer's boot screen (typically by hitting ESC, F1 or F2). If you can do that, without the computer shutting back down, then you've proven that the problem is with Windows, not mechanical. The next thing you need to do is get into the boot menu that kept trying to load, from before (hit the F8 key just before the Windows logo pops up) and choose "Safe Mode." This will force Windows to load with only the generic, minimum drivers. Then, if it makes it into Safe Mode, simply shutdown and restart. All this run-around is to allow Windows to reset whatever device/driver combination is causing the conflict during the startup process. I've seen it too many times. It's probably because it wasn't shut down properly and Windows couldn't write values it needed to start correctly (usually in config.sys).

Okay, the Hail Mary. You may need to completely remove the keyboard and either thoroughly clean or replace it. Not as hard as it sounds. On most laptops, just above the keyboard is a "mounting plate" that has your status lights and power button on it. Once you've gotten that off (some snap on and others will have a tiny mounting screw) the keyboard should slide up (towards the LCD screen) and then lift out. Be extra careful, though, because it's attached to the system board with a small ribbon cable that will need to be detached. Open the pressure clip on the connector and slide the connector end of the ribbon out, gently.

A word of warning. It's VERY easy to lose parts when repairing laptops. If you can, use a trick I learned years ago. Either photocopy (on a copy machine or fax/copier) or with a digital camera make a print of the bottom and top of your laptop base (the bottom half). Then, lay those sheets out and place all screws and parts you can on that "map" so that you know where they go when you're ready to put it back together.

Love and light, dear ones.
Rev