Shoutbox

Hi there
I have an Advent laptop with Windows Vista Home Premium and the keyboard is acting up. It seems to be the "Num lock keys" that aren't working but num lock is not on and I have tried the function (fn) button.
The keys don't type at all and instead beep when pressed. I have noticed that they have taken on different functions too such as "o" being "shift".
I am currently using an Apple usb keyboard which is working perfectly, it even has the same layout as the laptop keyboard in that where the 3 is a "#" on the keyboard it displays as a "£" on the screen (the difference between keyboards in SA and UK) which is the same as my laptop.
Can anyone help? Or atleast please tell me if it's hardware or software.
Also, I'm in SA at the moment and we don't have Advent, will this be a problem?
Any comments would really be appreciated, this laptop is only 6 months old!

Pop the keyboard off and clean/see if keys are dodgy, or take it to get it repaired.

Thanks, but I tried taking the keys off and cleaning, it hasn't worked. The keys "work" they just have different functions like "ctrl" and "shift". That's why I'm confused as to whether it's hardware or software.