I've replaced keyboards on a couple of laptops. It's actually a lot easier than you'd think. You need to remove a few screws and open it almost flat (so the screen is pointing straight up), then disconnect a thin ribbon connector, put the new keyboard in and reattach the screws (specific steps may vary a little bit, but it will be pretty similar). I've always used the original equipment. On a personal laptop where I did this, I bought a dead laptop of the same model on ebay and used it for parts. On a work laptop, it was on an extended warranty and they sent the keyboard by UPS. In my case, though, the keyboards were not working correctly. I think I'd be inclined to let the faded letters stay or use the paper/tape approach.

I'm not familiar with sony but my Toshiba laptop has a Fn+?? keyfunction to switch from the laptop keyboard to an auxillary keyboard. Perhaps you're set on remote keyboard now,,, maybe read your manual to discover that? If you should finally get ready to reload the system new,, which sounds like the easy thing to do, which should also fix your acpi problems,, then you might want to first try deleting the keyboard from device manager while connected to the internet and then refresh device manager so it looks for new devices. Maybe then it will install the keyboard correctly, of course might need your Fn function for the keyboard is in the right mode before doing that refresh.

Oh dear :( I spilt milk (A LOT OF IT) all over the keyboard of my mum's laptop. I did exactly what you did, I put it upside down getting what I could off with paper towel...had I had q-tips handy that would have been neat! The laptop was literally dripping, but once it dried a few keys were sticking for probably a couple of weeks. But I'm typing on it now as if it never happened. So I think because you reacted so quickly it should be fine...only worry is those keys not actually working at all. I guess only time will tell. In my opinion I would hold off on the idea of using extra alcohol untill everything has dried, just incase the alcohol becomes the problem. Good luck!!

I don't know much about that, but I think it is possible to disable the individual buttons and TouchPad. It is usually done with a keyboard combination. You might check out the manual for the model number, if you don't have it go to the manufacturer website they usually have them in pdf format, or Google your model number.