keyboard has died

I was working on my HP Notebook today when all of a sudden, the keyboard
stopped responding.

I have ran a virus check etc however it still ain't working. I have checked
on System in Control Panel and it says that the keyboard is working
properly. I have rebooted my comp a few times however still no joy? I even
tried to go into set-up on booting, however keyboard isn't even responding
on set-up.

Any ideas?

If i were to buy a seperate keyboard and plug it into my laptop, should that
override the built-in keyboard and allow me to type again?

Thanks

PS: I've had to come around to my sister's to type this :blu: