when I switch on my laptop my keyboard doesn't work and there is no shortcuts shown on the screen.

My laptop is an Acer. When I switch it on it's like frozen, as i can't move the cursor or type anything if for example i want to access my msn. I can use my wireless mouse, but that doesn't make any difference, as i can't type anything. There is also times that I switch the laptop on and it doesn't show any of the icons (shortcuts) on the screen, it just shows the picture in the background. If I leave it on for a while the shortcuts appear, but the keyboard still doesn't work.
If I switch on and off the laptop a good couple of times (usually more that 4-5 times) then everything gets back to normal and the keyboard works perfectly, the shortcuts are shown and I can access any of them. The only problem is that the laptop as to be connected to the electricity always, otherwise the battery runs out pretty quickly.
This problem started about 4 days ago.