what is "Fn" key?

[kerwin nailor]

We have a Dell inspiron 2500, which has been doing odd things; it has now
responded to a lot of tech support and knowledge base and PC World attention
and seems to be OK. A number of posts and articles refer to "Fn" key as a
function key. I do not see it. Will some one enlighten me? Thanks.

 

[Another Brian]

Laptops have a key labeled Fn or Function.

 

[kerwin nailor]

Aha! There it is on lower left. Thanks. Where do you suppose the
function/usability details are? Microsoft help, or Dell help?

--
Kerwin Nailor aka Nails Nailor
(e-mail address removed)

Laptops have a key labeled Fn or Function.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

We have a Dell inspiron 2500, which has been doing odd things; it has
now responded to a lot of tech support and knowledge base and PC
World attention and seems to be OK. A number of posts and articles
refer to "Fn" key as a function key. I do not see it. Will some one
enlighten me? Thanks.

Because laptops almost always have fewer keys than a regular desktop
keyboard, some key functions are doubled up on some keys.You access the
secondary function of the key by holding down the Fn (short for "Function")
key )sort of like another kind of shift key) while you press the key.

Desktops normally don't need and don't have this key.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Aha! There it is on lower left. Thanks. Where do you suppose the
function/usability details are? Microsoft help, or Dell help?

Dell will have this information; it changes from manufacturer to
manufacturer. Check your manual.

You'll see that the Fn key has a different colour text. You'll see that
same colour text on other keys, usually with symbols. For example, on my
thinkpad, Fn+F7 switches between monitors and Fn+F4 puts it to sleep.

HTH
-pk

 

[Phil Weldon]

I used 'Help and Support' in Windows XP Pro to search for information. When
I selected a KB article, I was required to sign in to access the article. I
emailed Microsoft for an explanation of WHY it was necessary to sign in to
access KB articles, especially with the customer reaction to the 'phone
home' feature of WGA, and received a reply that asked for my PID!

Phil Weldon

| kerwin nailor wrote:
|
| > We have a Dell inspiron 2500, which has been doing odd things; it has
| > now responded to a lot of tech support and knowledge base and PC
| > World attention and seems to be OK. A number of posts and articles
| > refer to "Fn" key as a function key. I do not see it. Will some one
| > enlighten me? Thanks.
|
|
| Because laptops almost always have fewer keys than a regular desktop
| keyboard, some key functions are doubled up on some keys.You access the
| secondary function of the key by holding down the Fn (short for
"Function")
| key )sort of like another kind of shift key) while you press the key.
|
| Desktops normally don't need and don't have this key.
|
| --
| Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
| Please reply to the newsgroup
|
|