I cannot get the controls to work, the control keys in the manual are not working on my laptop

Which Star Control (1, 2, 3?).

Have you tried customizing keys, using the method for your SC version?

its versions 1 and 2. How do I do that ?

For version 2, I believe the first post in this thread explains how (it's not as easy as it should be!)
this thread

I think for SC 1 it's the same as described in that post, but of course pointing to starcon1 config files instead of starcon2!

(If your setup allows you to run "keys.exe" in the starcon 1 or starcon 2 directory, you can try that too. It won't work unless your OS is ancient).