My Keyboard Digits Have Been Hijacked by Windows Explorer as Hotkeys

Keyboards wear out.  They fail.  It is actually one of the more common repair issues.

99% of all keyboard problems are caused by hardware failure.

If yours is a desktop, replacing a keyboard is a trip to the store to buy a new one.  You can buy them form $10 to $100.  Check carefully, many times there is not much difference.  

If yours is a laptop, replacing can become a significant technical challenge that is beyond most people and requires a competent technician.  Make certain that the keyboard installed is in fact the exact model.  There are many that look a lot alike, that will cause you problems.  Cost likely approaching $100.  An alternative is to buy an external one, just like that used on a desktop PC.

You can diagnose a laptop by using a wired known-good USB keyboard to test.

There are some laptop models for which a keyboard change is relatively simple.  Check Youtube for your specific model.  I mean your specific model.  The simple ones are removed by pressing down on a tiny tab at the top of the keyboard.  There are likely 4 or 5 of those tabs, so you have to kind of release one and hold it up while releasing more.  When you get it right it will just pop off.  It is connected by a ribbon cable to the computer.

Be very careful to get the right replacement.  Many are similar but if you do not get the right on, you are not going to be happy,

The good news is that these are relatively inexpensive.

When I read your question:

Multiple keyboards all exhibit the same behavior. I've looked in the registry for Win Explorer options but find nothing related.

You have already tried other keyboards?

I assume that you don't have anything like AutoHotkey, KeyTweak, Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center, or a similar macro utility installed. Please confirm.

Does the onscreen keyboard work properly?

• open a Notepad window
• click Start, type OSK in the Search box, and press Enter
• use your mouse to click "keys" in the onscreen keyboard

Click Start, type intl.cpl in the Search box, and press Enter

Click the "Keyboards and Languages" tab

Click the "Change keyboards" button

Assuming that you're in the U.S. and want to use the standard English keyboard, you should see this:

Open Device Manager (click Start, type Device Manager in the Search box, and press Enter)

Double-click the "Keyboards" category to expand it.

What is the name of the item in the Keyboards category? Is there more than one item here?

Double-click on the item and select the "Driver" tab

What are the Driver Date, Driver Provider, and Driver Version?

You can also download various utilities that will show the keycode generated when you press a key. Here are a couple that have worked for me:

• KeyBoardStateView by NirSoft: https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/keyboard_state_view.html
• Mihov Ascii Master by Miha's Utilities: https://www.mihov.com/sw/en/am.php

This is the output (selected columns) from the Nirsoft utility after pressing the number keys in order: