Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
2 Posts
0
11685
January 29th, 2004 08:00
Re-Mapping Windows key and Fn Key
I've recently purchased a Dell Inspiron 5150, and on the whole am very happy with it.
Unfortunately the keyboard layout it less than perfect. I am getting increasing frustrated by the moving of the Windows key from the bottom left of the keyboard (where it has been for approximately nine years) to the top right.
This means that I can no longer open Windows Explorer with one hand from the keyboard, something which in the course of my work I do tens of times a day.
Is it possible to remap the Windows key back down to the bottom left of the keyboard, swapping it with the position of the Fn key? If so can you direct me to the relevant software please? A new driver perhaps?
If it is not possible to swap these keys round can anyone give me a reason why you'd want to move the windows key from the bottom left to the top right of the keyboard?
Thanking you in Advance
Jim Hill
Dant2k
3 Posts
0
January 29th, 2004 20:00
hello.
Well, since DellBob's response really wasn't helpful..at all, I did some looking around, since this is an issue that annoys me, too. (The win key rocks). The end result was while you can remap keys, you need the hardware scan code for the Fn key. I couldn't find it, though. I wrote a program to probe for it, but didn't get anything. Nothing on the net. As near as I can tell, its a purely hardware function - it doesn't tell windows anything, it only tells windows the combinational results (i.e. fn-pagedn for volume down). So until someone can verify that, we are out of luck.
However, you can move the delete/insert keys around. I'm personally thinking on doing that. Reply if you want me to share the info on it.
-Dan
Jimahill
2 Posts
0
January 30th, 2004 15:00
Dant2k
3 Posts
0
January 30th, 2004 16:00
Alrighty, READ CAREFULLY!
So I haven't really worked on it too hard, but here is all the information. NOTE!! This requires you to edit the registry! This is *really* dangerous, and can cause the whole system to stop working if you make a basic mistake! Dell probably won't help you other than to say "reinstall", which very well may be your only option if you change the wrong thing. This is an advanced bit of stuff. If you aren't very computer savvy, DON"T TRY IT. I wouldn't suggest this to anyone who doesn't have at least a bit of programming knowledge. Also, you'll need administrator access, as this mapping will affect every user on the system.
Now thats out of the way.
First off, I wrote another program to get raw input from windows (pre scan code mapping, i believe), and no dice on the Fn key.
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hwdev/tech/input/Scancode.mspx This is the place where you get the scan codes you want. Look for the link a little ways down called "Keyboard Scan Code Specification". Download that (word doc), and towards the bottom there is a table for the keys. Quick note, the byte prefix (E0 I think) might cause some greif. Try it with and without if it exists.
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hwdev/tech/input/w2kscan-map.mspx These are the directions. Be SURE to note the fact that the binary registry value is little endian! If you don't know what that is, look it up. It has to do with byte ordering.
Good luck! I havent had time to move mine around, but I'm looking forward to it. TO UNDO what you've done, just hit the registry in HKLM/System/CurrentControlSet/Control/Keyboad Layout/ and remove the Scancode Map value.