I have seen accumulated debris in a keyboard do this same thing. While the computer is turned OFF, try turning the laptop upside down over a trash can and tap from side to side. See if you can loosen debris and get it out. Most of the time, I need a second pair of hands to hold the laptop for me, while I shake (gently!) and rock. When you think you might have dislodged the gunk, use a vacuum cleaner to suck out any more crumbs. Whatever you do, don't use canned air to try to blow it out. The debris may become lodged somewhere else and cause more issues! I keep a long bristled paint brush in my laptop case to remove animal hairs and crumbs from around the keys. HTH, Candy G

Embird is a wonderful program to create your own words without having to import each letter and line up etc... You have to buy the "add in" alphabets (I think each one costs about $15 additional)and there are 27 different alphabet fonts. Also, another "add in" is "font engine" which will create words out of any font you currently have on your computer. You just type in the word and it is created as a file or can be added to an imported file. Embird is available for free trial download and compared to buying cards it seems relatively inexpensive. It is a little cheaper to buy from Secrets of Machine Embroidery. I dont know why, but even though the developers are not from the country I live in (USA), the support is exceptional. And as a side note..I LOVE the iconizer....it shows little pix of your file without having to open it...and even after the free download expires...the iconizer stays functional if you so desire. hth Here is a link that might be useful: Secrets of Machine Embroidery Embird download page

Ann The Gran (http://www.annthegran.com) has a large section of free designs, which includes an alphabet section. She also has fonts available for purchase with a few free samples. I use PE Design for most of my fonts, but have recently also purchased Monogram Magic, which has a text program with about 70 fonts.

I have used a lot of the wonderful fonts and alphabets from a Software program called "Lettering Delights". The fonts and alphabets are VERY graphic and can be individually downloaded. Normal price is about $3.99 but often they have sales for $1 each. They supply the software that you use to create your titles, journaling boxes, etc. I usually print them out on photo paper or colored paper stock and don't have to cut each individual letter out separately. Recently they introduced "Transparent" alphabets so you can actually print them on top of papered paper, photographs or whatever and there is no box or border around the characters. Here is a link that might be useful: Lettering Delights Website