Fix for glued keys?

I just picked up a MP 880, and it works well except for a few keys that have been glued down and no longer operate. Unfortunately, they're useful keys - Ctrl, Windows, Alt, & Fn. For some reason they've been glued such that the keys no longer function. It looks like a small plate or strip was glued between the bottom of the keys and the edge of the casing, so they can't be pushed down anymore.

I want to try to remove the plate/strip, hopefully without damaging the keys or the casing, and was wondering if anyone else has run into something like this and would have recommendations or warnings. My first thought is to use an exacto knife to cut through the glue along the edges of the strip, and then see if I can pry it out.

On a side note, I also did the ROM upgrade to make it an 890. I've been using 1/2 vga hpcs for a while (mostly MPs), and didn't realize how much I missed the big screen from my old Aero 8000. The 890 feels absolutely huge.

Why not just replace the keyboard with a working one? I think I have one if you want to just pay the mailing costs....

Thanks, Rich, but I've been spending a bit too much $$ on handhelds recently.....I don't think the Mrs. would be too thrilled about it. If I can fix what I have, I will, and if not I can live with it. The unit's in good shape otherwise - better than I expected from the listing. And it was only $30 shipped, so I'm pretty happy.

Strange... I wonder why they did that??!?!?

Some of the ones I have came with that. I think they were used by schools as a learning tool for the kids, but the staff wanted to keep the kids from accidentally entering key combos that might have undesirable results. The strips can be removed without damaging the keys, but getting rid of the remaining traces of the glue residue is another story. I did it Rich's way: I swapped out keyboards from other units that had damaged screens. (BTW, I still love my "890," and still play with it from time to time.)

Update - I was able to successfully remove the strip that had been glued under the keys. It was multiple layers of black construction paper or cardstock. Just popped off the keys, cut the strip loose, replaced the keys, and it's good to go! It's good to have the Alt and Ctrl keys back. My 10-year-old son assisted by replacing the last key - I think he felt good knowing that I trusted him to work on it.

I tried removing the glue residue with Goo Gone, but it didn't work. Any thoughts on what to use to remove the glue without damaging the case?

I'll look at my old stash...I may have an unused keyboard....

...4 minutes later...email sent.