Multimedia keys on Dell laptops working in x64?

[Milhouse Van Houten]

I thought I'd had my Vostro 1710 all configured for x64 SP1 (with all
updates), when I noticed the multimedia keys do nothing (e.g. Volume).
Device Manager lists it as a Standard PS/2 keyboard, which AFAIK is
appropriate. Dell offers no keyboard driver for any platform. There's
nothing to do in the Keyboard CP applet.

Since the keys did work in XP, is this a Vista glitch in general or x64
specifically?

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

Multimedia keys need the support of software, they aren't part of the OS
keyboard driver set. Unless the manufacturer has created software to support
them under a given operating system, then they are unlikely to work. It's
niether a Vista or x64 glitch, it's lack of software support from the
manufacturer.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Milhouse Van Houten]

And that makes sense now that you mention it, since I recalled other
machines through the years (desktops), ones with Microsoft multimedia
keyboards, needing the IntelliType software for the multimedia keys to work.

So the same thing is true with the Dell laptop. It came pre-installed with
XP, which is long now, so I don't really know what Dell installed to make
the keyboard work fully there. It's apparently something they either don't
offer for download or something wrapped up in some other software that I
haven't found yet.

The closest I can see to something like that is the QuickSet "application"
that they offer for Vista 32-bit and XP, which I've yet to try.

 

[David B.]

Quickset is the application you need, if the 32 bit versions won't work you
might try to find the download for one of their PC's that ships with Vista
64 bit.

 

[Milhouse Van Houten]

The 32-bit Quickset for my model doesn't work on x64, and the x64 version
for other models doesn't even install on mine ("unsupported system").
However, there's something called Dell ControlPoint System Manager, in a x64
version for another model, which does install on Vostros and apparently
(mostly) works, so I'll try that next. Dell really makes life difficult
sometimes.