trouble with wireless keyboard and F-buttons

[Eddie G]

I have the Wireless Multimedia Keyboard 1.0A (and the mouse that came with
it) and the F buttons are not working. I have a game that uses the F
buttons for quick saves, etc. and nothing happens when I press them. Also
when booting my machine the F buttons do not work to allow me into the CMOS
setup, boot options, etc. The keyboard is USB and also has a PS2 cable, but
PS2 does not work either. I have a wired keyboard that I plug into the PS2
port for boot options but I really do not want 2 keyboards cluttering my
desk.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

Thanks!!

Eddie G

 

[Mike Hall, MS-MVP]

Have you found the F-LOCK key yet?..

 

[Eddie G]

Yes...do I have to press that EVERY time I re-boot? During the boot-up
process I have to press the F-Lock in order to get into the CMOS/BIOS?

Eddie

 

[Mike Hall, MS-MVP]

Some Microsoft keyboards remember the last state of the F-Lock, and some
don't.. however, all is not lost.. try this website for brief explanation
and fix..

http://jtsang.mvps.org/flock.html

 

[frodo]

Yes...do I have to press that EVERY time I re-boot? During the boot-up
process I have to press the F-Lock in order to get into the CMOS/BIOS?

yup - you need to press that every time to make it light up, then the keys
have their usual F# function rather than the special MS function
(new/open/close/etc). If you want to get into the bios you have to lock
it fast, then hit F2 (assuming that's your bios key; many use del
now-a-days), or to get into Safe Mode press F8. You get the idea.

this is a common complaint, you're not alone. MS has done it this way from
the beginning of their line of "enhanced" keyboards, which IMHO was a
bone-headed move, and of course totally non-standard; but that's MS...
They also changed the F keys to four groups of three instead of three
groups of four, so any f-key templates you might have no longer line up.
rememeber keyboard templates? another lost industry, taken down by MS.
thanks. [Logitec stupidly followed suite, but has regained their senses
and has gone back to the 4x3 layout]. AND, the home/end keypad is now two
columns instead of 3, with the insert key moved up to the top right. No
one ever uses that insert key, do they? sorry; rant off. ;-)

I have a shortcut in my startup folder that pops up a reminder dialog
every boot to remind me to press f-lock - works fine for xp, I still have
to remember to do it if I want to get into bios or Safe Mode. You get used
to it, and you can always think of it as a secret security measure to foil
passers-by or your kids from getting into the bios. yeah, that's what
they were thinking...

All bit**ing aside, I do love my MS Office Keyboard (now discontinued and
non-supported, thanks again... oh right, I said no bit**ing). When I had
a major coffee spill and had to replace it, I missed it so much I spent
hours taking it apart and cleaning it up to make it work again - old
habits, good or bad, are hard to quit!

Good Luck