Application Key on Keyboard - How to Disable it in Windows XP?

[Don Enderton]

This is a highly technical question; if this is the wrong group, please
point me to the right one:

Please tell me step by step what changes to make in the registry in Windows
XP to disable the "application key" which is the key between the right
Windows key and the right Ctrl key on keyboards. This is a PS/2 keyboard,
not a USB keyboard.

(Our keyboard is constructed in such a way that we often mistakenly press
the application key while trying to press the right Shift key. We never,
otherwise, use the application key and want to make it dead.)

Some technical information is here but I can't translate that into
instructions I can follow to do what I want:

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/input/Scancode.mspx

Thanks in advance to anyone who can and will help.

(Otherwise I shall have to purchase a different keyboard, one shaped such
that it will be harder to hit the application key by mistake. This keyboard
came with a new Gateway computer and someone designed it who is not a typist
but likes its looks...so the application key is not lower than the shift
key - instead its surface smoothly blends into the shift key. Not good.)

 

[Dave Patrick]

This would be a driver issue. I think you're going to have to get another
keyboard.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| This is a highly technical question; if this is the wrong group, please
| point me to the right one:
|
| Please tell me step by step what changes to make in the registry in
Windows
| XP to disable the "application key" which is the key between the right
| Windows key and the right Ctrl key on keyboards. This is a PS/2 keyboard,
| not a USB keyboard.
|
| (Our keyboard is constructed in such a way that we often mistakenly press
| the application key while trying to press the right Shift key. We never,
| otherwise, use the application key and want to make it dead.)
|
| Some technical information is here but I can't translate that into
| instructions I can follow to do what I want:
|
| http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/input/Scancode.mspx
|
| Thanks in advance to anyone who can and will help.
|
| (Otherwise I shall have to purchase a different keyboard, one shaped such
| that it will be harder to hit the application key by mistake. This
keyboard
| came with a new Gateway computer and someone designed it who is not a
typist
| but likes its looks...so the application key is not lower than the shift
| key - instead its surface smoothly blends into the shift key. Not good.)
|
|

 

[Mark V]

This is a highly technical question; if this is the wrong group,
please point me to the right one:

Please tell me step by step what changes to make in the registry
in Windows XP to disable the "application key" which is the key
between the right Windows key and the right Ctrl key on
keyboards. This is a PS/2 keyboard, not a USB keyboard.

(Our keyboard is constructed in such a way that we often
mistakenly press the application key while trying to press the
right Shift key. We never, otherwise, use the application key
and want to make it dead.)

Some technical information is here but I can't translate that
into instructions I can follow to do what I want:

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/input/Scancode.mspx

Thanks in advance to anyone who can and will help.

(Otherwise I shall have to purchase a different keyboard, one
shaped such that it will be harder to hit the application key by
mistake. This keyboard came with a new Gateway computer and
someone designed it who is not a typist but likes its looks...so
the application key is not lower than the shift key - instead
its surface smoothly blends into the shift key. Not good.)

Don't laugh.
Remove the keycap and trim it down and/or exopy glue the keycap in
place. (unpressed position of course)

Or try info at jsiinc.com "Tips and Tricks"
http://www.jsifaq.com/
#9590 #9842

 

[Gary Smith]

Based on the infomration given on
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/181348/en-us and
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/input/w2kscan-map.mspx, I worked out
a registry change that appears to do what you want. If you save the five
lines between the dashes to a .reg file, you can merge it into the
registry using Regedit. It works perfectly on my system.

I've numbered the lines for clarity and to make it apparent where lines
may have wrapped. You'll need to remove the digit, period, and one space
from the beginning of each actual line. Two of the lines are blank.
There is a single space between "Scancode" and "Map".

==========
1. REGEDIT4
2.
3. [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
4. "Scancode
Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,5d,e0,00,00,00,00
5.
==========

This is a highly technical question; if this is the wrong group, please
point me to the right one:

Please tell me step by step what changes to make in the registry in Windows
XP to disable the "application key" which is the key between the right
Windows key and the right Ctrl key on keyboards. This is a PS/2 keyboard,
not a USB keyboard.

(Our keyboard is constructed in such a way that we often mistakenly press
the application key while trying to press the right Shift key. We never,
otherwise, use the application key and want to make it dead.)

 

[Don Enderton]

Gary, thank you very very much for spending time on this for me. Before
reading your post, someone else referred me to donation-ware called
SharpKeys available at RandyRants.com .

It worked. Next I'll look at my registry as revised by SharpKeys and see if
it wrote to my registry the same change you devised.

If not, I'll undo that and try yours instead.

Thanks again.

- Don

Based on the infomration given on
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/181348/en-us and
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/input/w2kscan-map.mspx, I worked out
a registry change that appears to do what you want. If you save the five
lines between the dashes to a .reg file, you can merge it into the
registry using Regedit. It works perfectly on my system.

I've numbered the lines for clarity and to make it apparent where lines
may have wrapped. You'll need to remove the digit, period, and one space
from the beginning of each actual line. Two of the lines are blank.
There is a single space between "Scancode" and "Map".

==========
1. REGEDIT4
2.
3. [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
4. "Scancode
Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,5d,e0,00,00,00,00
5.
==========

This is a highly technical question; if this is the wrong group, please
point me to the right one:

Please tell me step by step what changes to make in the registry in
Windows
XP to disable the "application key" which is the key between the right
Windows key and the right Ctrl key on keyboards. This is a PS/2
keyboard,
not a USB keyboard.

(Our keyboard is constructed in such a way that we often mistakenly press
the application key while trying to press the right Shift key. We never,
otherwise, use the application key and want to make it dead.)

Some technical information is here but I can't translate that into
instructions I can follow to do what I want:

Thanks in advance to anyone who can and will help.

(Otherwise I shall have to purchase a different keyboard, one shaped such
that it will be harder to hit the application key by mistake. This
keyboard
came with a new Gateway computer and someone designed it who is not a
typist
but likes its looks...so the application key is not lower than the shift
key - instead its surface smoothly blends into the shift key. Not good.)

 

[Gary Smith]

You're welcome. It was one of those problems that engaged my curiosity,
so I was happy to be able to come up with a solution. I've taken a quick
look at SharpKeys, and it looks as though it will do precisely the same
thing. The advantage of the .reg file is that it's easier to apply to
multiple machines, but harder to get right in the first place. The major
drawback to SharpKeys is that it requires .NET 2.0, which not all systems
will have installed.

Gary, thank you very very much for spending time on this for me. Before
reading your post, someone else referred me to donation-ware called
SharpKeys available at RandyRants.com .

It worked. Next I'll look at my registry as revised by SharpKeys and see if
it wrote to my registry the same change you devised.

If not, I'll undo that and try yours instead.

Thanks again.

- Don

Based on the infomration given on
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/181348/en-us and
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/input/w2kscan-map.mspx, I worked out
a registry change that appears to do what you want. If you save the five
lines between the dashes to a .reg file, you can merge it into the
registry using Regedit. It works perfectly on my system.

I've numbered the lines for clarity and to make it apparent where lines
may have wrapped. You'll need to remove the digit, period, and one space
from the beginning of each actual line. Two of the lines are blank.
There is a single space between "Scancode" and "Map".

==========
1. REGEDIT4
2.
3. [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
4. "Scancode
Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,5d,e0,00,00,00,00
5.
==========

This is a highly technical question; if this is the wrong group, please
point me to the right one:

Please tell me step by step what changes to make in the registry in
Windows
XP to disable the "application key" which is the key between the right
Windows key and the right Ctrl key on keyboards. This is a PS/2
keyboard,
not a USB keyboard.

(Our keyboard is constructed in such a way that we often mistakenly press
the application key while trying to press the right Shift key. We never,
otherwise, use the application key and want to make it dead.)

Some technical information is here but I can't translate that into
instructions I can follow to do what I want:

Thanks in advance to anyone who can and will help.

(Otherwise I shall have to purchase a different keyboard, one shaped such
that it will be harder to hit the application key by mistake. This
keyboard
came with a new Gateway computer and someone designed it who is not a
typist
but likes its looks...so the application key is not lower than the shift
key - instead its surface smoothly blends into the shift key. Not good.)