Windows 7 - Multiple keyboards

I am using windows 7 on my desktop. I recently bought a new keyboard - the Microsoft Sidewinder x4. I was trying to figure out why my volume buttons were not working and I stumbled upon something strange. Windows seems to think that I have 3 keyboards connected although I only have one keyboard connected via USB. How can I tell Windows that there is only 1 keyboard?

The Device Manager is also showing 3 keyboards.

I unplugged my keyboard and 2 of the 3 disappeared, the device manager only showed 1 keyboard now. But there was no other keyboard. It seems that the sidewinder keyboard is recognized as two separate one, I installed a driver for my keyboard (NOT just now). As soon as I scan for hardware changes the uninstalled ones pop back up.

GIF

Some USB devices are made up of several subdevices. Your keyboard is likely one of them. This is perfectly normal.

To illustrate, here's a screenshot of my configuration, consisting of one keyboard and one mouse (Logitech G700):

1: Make sure it has the latest drivers installed, there are drivers and programs listed for download in your link. I bet those would fix the problem.

2: I would try a different USB bus. Usually the front USB and back USB ports on most desktops are on different chips, perhaps trying the other chip might "reset" it or something.

3: Obviously a bit extreme, but a re-install of the system would definitely help narrow down or fix the problem. (It's very easy to re-install in some cases, not sure if your situation is one of them)

Daniel B's answer is probably correct (your keyboard is acting as multiple devices). The reason why keyboards will do that is because the designers of USB decided that a USB keyboard should only be able to send 6 simultaneous regular keys + 4 modifier keys (shift, control, etc):

The USB Human Interface Device (HID) protocol fully supports N-key rollover. However, the compatibility version of HID that all present systems implement limits USB keyboards to reporting a mere six regular keys together with four modifiers. Additional keys pressed beyond the limit will generally cause some of the other keys to be dropped.

Many USB keyboards implement workarounds to bypass this limit; the most common trick is to simulate multiple endpoints, e.g. the keyboard pretends to be a USB hub with several keyboards attached. When more than six keys are pressed simultaneously, the keyboard controller simulates up to six keys coming from one of its virtual keyboards, and the rest coming from its other virtual keyboards.