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Summary: Outside of a few standard layouts, truly customizing the layout of your keyboard is typically harder than you might expect.
How can I disable my "Windows" key? Or for that matter, remap my entire keyboard?
If your needs are "standard" then the approach while well hidden is pretty easy. However if you want a truly arbitrary mapping this is one of those areas that you'd expect to be a lot easier than it turns out to be.
By "standard" I really mean "something that Microsoft has already thought of". That boils down to two things: a predefined set of foreign keyboard layouts and the Dvorak keyboard layout. (Dvorak is an alternative to the standard QWERTY layout that you can read much more about here.)
If you want to do something non-standard though, things get very interesting and possibly complicated.
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For some types of changes such as disabling the Windows key it's possible that your keyboard driver already has a solution for you. I happen to use one of Microsoft's keyboards, and the Intellitype Pro software that is installed includes the ability to do exactly that: configure most of the "special" keys including disabling the Windows key. (Control Panel -> Keyboard -> Key Settings has a list of keys that can then be individually configured.)
It's possible that your needs might also be met by keyboard macro program. These programs allow you to assign sequences of keystrokes or actions to a single key. This could be a viable option if you're looking to simply change the function of a few keys. Of course, you could assign new single keystroke actions to all your keys. The specific capabilities of the programs vary so be sure to check them out to make sure they meet your needs. There are several including EZ Macros, Hot Keyboard, and Macro ToolsWorks.
If you really want to remap the keyboard in arbitrary ways without using a macro utility I have found one utility: Keyboard Layout Manager. This tool is designed to do exactly what we've been talking about: reassign the functionality of individual keys on the keyboard.
And finally, Microsoft also documents the Scan Code Mapper for Windows, the technique to add entries to the registry to perform the mapping manually.
Update 06-Feb-2004: I just became aware of a new free keyboard remapper that might be of interest: KeyTweak. If you try it let me know how it works.
Article C1861 - November 16, 2003
Hello,
Here is a piece of software that you may find usefull. There's a free edition available.
http://www.softgrupconstruct.ro/onedollartools/
Posted by: Ilie Pandia at March 18, 2007 12:09 PMWhen I hit the "single opening quote" (which is the lower case function of the tilde key, I get
`This is a test 09:30:55 Real time
Do you have any idea how I can get rid of this? It is NOT a macro. No function keys are used to get this message.
Posted by: Victoria at June 4, 2007 10:44 AMThanks! I had an old laptop with the shift key stuck on -- used keytweak and was able to quickly make that key do something harmless. awesome! save me from getting a new keyboard/laptop.
Posted by: MC at August 24, 2007 1:27 PMwhen the number lock is ON - the alphanumeric keys on the keyboard displays the following:
instead of U = 4 / I = 5 / O =6 / P =* / J = 1 / k = 2 / l = 3 / := - / M=0 / ? = + /
and How to turn off Windows VISTA Accessibility feature before it triggers or after it has been triggered.
Posted by: Mohammed Mustafa at November 21, 2007 5:25 AMyour reply will be hightl appreciated.
I appreciate this commit board. My brother-in-law brought me his laptop and it was acting very strange. After some quick checking, it was apparent that the right shift key was alway on, even though it looked fine. It made the laptop nearly unusable since it would open every icon on the desktop when you clicked on just one. You couldn't even edit text without rewriting everything. I installed KeyTweak and in 30 seconds and 1 reboot, I disabled the right shift key and he was back in business. He said he could live without the key and was thankful he didn't have to pay for a new keyboard or a repair shop. Thanks!!!
Posted by: Bob Bobertson at November 22, 2007 3:50 PMHi Leo,
I have found this forum very helpful. I don't want to use shareware software and would like to remap the regedit to change key assigns.
I found the following link (the Microsoft link above didn't work)
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/w2kscan-map.mspx
For my work, I constantly need to type the Euro symbol (Alt+0128) and wish I could reassign Shift+6 or F6 button as this key.
What is the code to add to the Scancode map to accomplish this?
Thanks in advance!
Posted by: andy at July 9, 2008 2:53 AMEverytime I press the "Y" key it tells me "SAVE AS". How do I get rid of this problem?
Posted by: Steve at July 25, 2008 11:09 AMMy control keys are disabled, at first I thought that it's a dust or spillage problem, but both keys doesn't function at all. Pressing them is useless as the moment, copying a text would simply type over the highlighted text with the character "c" as in the Ctrl + c key stroke.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Posted by: Chad at September 1, 2008 2:06 PMI have this awful keyboard at work where the 3x2 block with home, end, ins, del, etc., is flipped upwards and is 2x3 with home and end on top and ins/del and pgup/pgdown beside each other. Needless to say this is AWFUL and caused much undue stress.
KeyTweaks worked GREAT; it allowed me to do completely arbitrary changes, which I could not do with SharpKeys.
Posted by: Brian at September 18, 2008 11:02 AMmy laptop's windows key was stuck and i was unable to use it. key tweak helped me out and thanks to you from where i got the link to it.. otherwise i might have to change my keyboard or get it repaired which could cost me a lot.. thanks once again..
Posted by: waqas at February 19, 2009 2:41 PM