Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
If what you type isn't what you get, one possibility is that your keyboard is configured for the Dvorak layout. We'll look at how to check and fix it.
I just installed XP SP2. Occasionally now, my keyboard layout
changes without warning and I don't know how to get it back to the normal
"qwerty" layout. For example:
q='
w=,
e=.
r=p
t=y
y=f
l=n
I haven't been able to figure out what triggers this. Sometimes it corrects
when I change programs; otherwise I reboot. I've checked the language and
regional settings; they're okay.
•
The list of character changes was particularly helpful. It's what happens if a keyboard gets put into Dvorak layout.
But why did it happen? That's a little unclear.
•
Dvorak is an alternate keyboard layout that's more ergonomic and efficient than the traditional "qwerty" layout we're all familiar with. Where qwerty was designed specifically to slow down typists that were too fast for old mechanical typewriters. Dvorak is designed to be fast and efficient. You can read more about the Dvorak keyboard, its origins, and resources here at The Dvorak Keyboard - A Brief Primer.
It's unlikely that Windows would spontaneously load up the Dvorak driver - the first time takes a reasonably complex procedure.
Once the driver is loaded, you can set it to switch back and forth via an icon in the notification area of the taskbar a specific keyboard sequence. But you'd probably know it, as it has to be set up for either or both.
You can check in Control Panel, Regional and Language Options, Languages, and then the Details button.
Article C2221 - November 11, 2004 « »
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
November 13, 2008 7:43 AM
Shine's solution doesn't actually take effect until you reboot.
Windows sure can be annoying.
November 17, 2008 10:41 PM
Try holding 'alt' and pressing 'shift' three times.
alt+shift+shift+shift
November 26, 2009 11:31 PM
I am looking for a way to adjust the behaviour of SINGLE INDIVIDUAL keys.
I live in Australia now and therefore I would like to have a normal US keyboard layout which is common here. But I came from a German speaking country and I write lots of emails in that language. So I thought I just use the "US-International" layout setting in Windows so I can type all the necessary umlauts. These umlauts are generated when I use the right-hand side ALT key (called ALT-GR then) in combination with one of the characters I would like to have an umlaut of.
This works like a charm, but has also some really annoying drawbacks: The keys for the quotation marks (" and ') do not work as in the US layout anymore, they do not generate these characters immediately anymore but rather wait for me to type another character and if it is one which could be a umlaut in German, it makes this character to be a umlaut. An example: I type " and a, and the output is an ä.
Because I can easily generate an ä by typing ALT-GR together with q, I don't like this behaviour at all because it is inconsistent and slows down my typing (I would have to type " and SPACE everytime I want to have just the quotation mark).
Is there a way I can change this darned behaviour of just the quotation mark key? I think I heard somewhere that you're even able (through some key-mapping tables) to change the placement of any key to anywhere else, but I didn't find anything on this subject on the net.
Please help!
27-Nov-2009
December 4, 2012 11:51 AM
I have the opposite problem. I like to have my keyboard set to Dvorak, and every now and then it will mysteriously switch to Qwerty. Advanced Key Settings says I have no hotkey for switching between Dvorak and Qwerty. I think there must be a secret Windows hotkey--one of its bugs/features.
December 4, 2012 12:02 PM
Found it! Ctrl-Shift will switch between all the keyboard languages you have installed. I guess it gets pressed by accident sometimes.