Big Big Trouble

I'll save you the saga of HOW this happened....but suffice to say that a little coffee splashed my keyboard a few hours ago. Really. Just a little. But I freaked out, got a towel and dried it off (not so delicately) without turning it off.

Evidently I tapped into some pretty foul keyboard shortcuts. Here's the list of things that are now way off and I can't fix...any advice would be GREATLY appreciated.

Far and away, the biggest problem is the font...it's all weird accent mark stuff: forte' symbols, copyright symbols, etc. (I've been to the International section and the Input Menu settings are right.) I've been all over the internet and can find the keyboard shortcuts to typing ONE of these characters, but can't find out what I did to lock myself into this madness, and more importantly....how to undo it.

The mouse isn't responding as normal (when I try to move a sidebar, the pointer moved faster than the bar).

When in my e-mail, usually if I delete one the cursor moves up to the next one. Not anymore! Now I have to click them all individually.

I know the last two aren't a big deal, but I list them because I'm not sure if they're associated with other problems that I haven't found yet.

I've only been a Mac user for about 6 months and have never had a problem, so I'm a total rookie when it comes to 'fixing' it. Again, I'd be eternally grateful for any help!

Thanks!

Carrie

First advice Carrie - always list your Mac specs. We don't know from what you've posted whether you're using a laptop or desktop or tower machine.

You say "mouse" so that suggests to me a desktop machine, in which case my first move would be to replace the keyboard. Not an expensive Apple one but a generic PC USB keyboard which is cheap (like US$10). Hook that in and see if your normal k/b functions resume.

From what you've posted, it seem to me your Option key is stuck, because that's how you make those "weird" symbols under normal circumstances.

Next item: run a hardware check (it's called First Aid) with Disk Utility. Verify the hard disk first and them, if necessary, repair disk.

Good luck as even a little, little fluid can kill your machine. Keep drinks, hot and cold, away from computers. The number of posts in these forums on spilt drinks must make Apple dealers rub their hands together.

If you fix the problem and want to type in those characters you just have to hold done the alt key or the alt and shift key while typing.