How do I disable shortcut keys in WinXP. In particular Ctrl A. My
mother-in-law, aged 85 with very stiff fingers, frequently, but accidentally,
types Ctrl A instead of Shift A. She then continues typing and complains
when she has lost everything. How can I turn this key off?
Thanks.

"Kanga 85" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:BD50A8F4-F9A0-40AB-954B-(E-Mail Removed)...
> How do I disable shortcut keys in WinXP. In particular Ctrl A. My
> mother-in-law, aged 85 with very stiff fingers, frequently, but
> accidentally,
> types Ctrl A instead of Shift A. She then continues typing and complains
> when she has lost everything. How can I turn this key off?
> Thanks.

This is a well-known phenomenon. The easiest way is probably
to map the CapsLock key to the left Ctrl key. You can do it with
remapkey.exe - just drag the CapsLock key on top of the Ctrl key,
then log off and log on again. You can find it here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
Remember to keep a record of what you did in order to avoid
the confusion that would occur two years from now when
nobody has any recollection of this issue.

Kanga 85 wrote:
> How do I disable shortcut keys in WinXP. In particular Ctrl A. My
> mother-in-law, aged 85 with very stiff fingers, frequently, but accidentally,
> types Ctrl A instead of Shift A. She then continues typing and complains
> when she has lost everything. How can I turn this key off?
> Thanks.

One thing you can do: Teach her to press Ctrl/Z to undo the last change.
Or click Edit, Undo, for the same result.

http://support.microsoft.com/search/...3comm=1&res=20
http://support.microsoft.com/search/...3comm=1&res=20

--
Joe =o)

*Bonjour Kanga 85 * !
<news:BD50A8F4-F9A0-40AB-954B-(E-Mail Removed)>

> How do I disable shortcut keys in WinXP. In particular Ctrl A. My
> mother-in-law, aged 85 with very stiff fingers, frequently, but accidentally,
> types Ctrl A instead of Shift A. She then continues typing and complains
> when she has lost everything. How can I turn this key off?
> Thanks.

This is a job for AutoHotkey
http://www.autohotkey.com/

Here is the script ==>

LCtrl::Shift
Return



The Left Ctrl becomes a Shift Key.
I suggest to do the same with CapsLock :


CapsLock::LShift
Return

--
Salutations, Jean-François.

Thanks Pegasus, Elmo, JF.

I will try to remap the key. I have told her about Ctrl Z, but she often
types on not realizing what's happen until she find she's lost the lot. And
you haven't had the experience of trying to tell my mother-in-law anything -
it's also me or the computer to blame.

Thanks again

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>
> "Kanga 85" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:BD50A8F4-F9A0-40AB-954B-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > How do I disable shortcut keys in WinXP. In particular Ctrl A. My
> > mother-in-law, aged 85 with very stiff fingers, frequently, but
> > accidentally,
> > types Ctrl A instead of Shift A. She then continues typing and complains
> > when she has lost everything. How can I turn this key off?
> > Thanks.
>
> This is a well-known phenomenon. The easiest way is probably
> to map the CapsLock key to the left Ctrl key. You can do it with
> remapkey.exe - just drag the CapsLock key on top of the Ctrl key,
> then log off and log on again. You can find it here:
> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
> Remember to keep a record of what you did in order to avoid
> the confusion that would occur two years from now when
> nobody has any recollection of this issue.
>
>
>

Thanks again for all your assistance. But is there any way I can just turn
off Ctrl A, or turn Ctrl A into Shift. I do not really want to lose all of
the Ctrl functions in the left hand Ctrl key, which I will do if I assign it
to Caps Lock, or Shift.

Thanks for any further help,
kanga

"Kanga 85" wrote:

> How do I disable shortcut keys in WinXP. In particular Ctrl A. My
> mother-in-law, aged 85 with very stiff fingers, frequently, but accidentally,
> types Ctrl A instead of Shift A. She then continues typing and complains
> when she has lost everything. How can I turn this key off?
> Thanks.

*Bonjour Kanga 85 * !
<news:70BB6ADC-740B-44BB-9796-(E-Mail Removed)>

> Thanks again for all your assistance. But is there any way I can just
> turn off Ctrl A, or turn Ctrl A into Shift. I do not really want to lose
> all of the Ctrl functions in the left hand Ctrl key, which I will do if I
> assign it to Caps Lock, or Shift.

Then try this :

^a::

Explanation :
^ means Ctrl
so ^a:: means CTL+a ==> does nothing

Better :

^a::
send A
Return

So CTL+a does A

--
Salutations, Jean-François.

"Kanga 85" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:70BB6ADC-740B-44BB-9796-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thanks again for all your assistance. But is there any way I can just
> turn
> off Ctrl A, or turn Ctrl A into Shift. I do not really want to lose all
> of
> the Ctrl functions in the left hand Ctrl key, which I will do if I assign
> it
> to Caps Lock, or Shift.
>
> Thanks for any further help,
> kanga
>
> "Kanga 85" wrote:
>

I tend to be pragmatic: If it works then I'll use it, even if it is not
the ideal solutioin. If you're prepared to spend a lot of time then
you can tweak the keyboard scan codes. Have a look here:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device...kscan-map.mspx
or here:
http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/tools/msklc.mspx

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>
> "Kanga 85" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:70BB6ADC-740B-44BB-9796-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Thanks again for all your assistance. But is there any way I can just
> > turn
> > off Ctrl A, or turn Ctrl A into Shift. I do not really want to lose all
> > of
> > the Ctrl functions in the left hand Ctrl key, which I will do if I assign
> > it
> > to Caps Lock, or Shift.
> >
> > Thanks for any further help,
> > kanga
> >
> > "Kanga 85" wrote:
> >
>
> I tend to be pragmatic: If it works then I'll use it, even if it is not
> the ideal solutioin. If you're prepared to spend a lot of time then
> you can tweak the keyboard scan codes. Have a look here:
> http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device...kscan-map.mspx
> or here:
> http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/tools/msklc.mspx
>
>
Thanks Pegasus>

"JF" wrote:

> *Bonjour Kanga 85 * !
> <news:70BB6ADC-740B-44BB-9796-(E-Mail Removed)>
>
> > Thanks again for all your assistance. But is there any way I can just
> > turn off Ctrl A, or turn Ctrl A into Shift. I do not really want to lose
> > all of the Ctrl functions in the left hand Ctrl key, which I will do if I
> > assign it to Caps Lock, or Shift.
>
> Then try this :
>
> ^a::
>
> Explanation :
> ^ means Ctrl
> so ^a:: means CTL+a ==> does nothing
>
> Better :
>
> ^a::
> send A
> Return
>
> So CTL+a does A
>
> --
> Salutations, Jean-François.
>
>
>
Thanks JF