I cant a num lock key on my key board - Dell Studio 17 Laptop

Numlocks turned on in your BIOS.
Or just a keypad issue where it states NUM LOCK

You may have to consult your owners manual to find out what key sequence is used to get into it.
Be very careful in the BIOS.

You do so through the num lock key
If there is no num lock key then number lock being on shouldn't be a problem

Please open this LINK, scroll down to page no. 2-5 i.e. the section with "To use the Function Hot Keys Fn". There you'll find the details about the functional function keys of your compaq. It seems your function key i.e. Fn key is activated, to deactivate, press and hold down the Fn key while you tap the Numlock key once.

Let me know if you need further help.
Good Luck.
Thanks for using FixYa.

Look for a num lock key, or look for a little circle that says Num Lock. Hold "FN" key and press it.

check fo te num lock key.. If only it is turned on you will be able to type the numbers.. or else you cannot..
so please try turning on the on the number lock by pressing the num lock key on your key board

if there is nothing wrong with the keyboard..than press num lock to make them work again ...(the first led should be always lit to work )the num lock ..is the button in the left upper corner of the digits area..

Well hellonihar, As far as your issue is concerned it seems to be some hardware issue. LED
Component
Error Condition
Blinking battery power LED
Battery
Insufficient charge on the battery
Blink: 1 - Caps Lock/Num Lock
CPU
CPU not functional
Blink: 2 - Caps Lock/Num Lock
BIOS
BIOS corruption failure
Blink: 3 - Caps Lock/Num Lock
Memory
Module error not functional
Blink: 4 - Caps Lock/Num Lock
Graphics
Graphics controller not functional
Blink: 5 - Caps Lock/Num Lock
System board
General system board failure
Blink: 6 - Caps Lock/Num Lock
BIOS
BIOS authentication failure

This is yoru number lock function

look along the "F" key row for the NumLk or picture of the number 1 in a square. then hold down the Fn key on the lower left of the board. press the "F" key that corresponds to it and this will disable it.

Check 2nd Function keys. The problem you describe is normally a Fn +numlock keystroke on most systems

same happened to me. restarted my computer and it went back to normal. except for the light above the key is still on