Tip #3572 - Key Tweak
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Q:
Often times, when I'm playing a game on my computer, I accidentally hit
that key on my keyboard that has the little flying flag on it. Whenever
I do that, my game gets messed up. Is there an easy way to disable that
key while I'm playing my game and then maybe turn it back on when I'm
finished? Please help!
A:
That is a very good question. (You guys really do ask a lot of great questions!)
First off, I'm going to tell you what that key with the little flying
flag on it is. It's called the Windows key and it can
be found in two locations on your keyboard. On the left side, it is wedged
in right between the Ctrl and Alt keys
and on the right side, it is placed right beside the Alt
key. It does look like a flying flag and it is also one of Windows' main
symbols.
Now that you know
where to find the Windows key, what does it do? Well, push on it and see.
Its main function is to bring up your Start menu. It
can be used in conjunction with a lot of other keys to do several other
functions as well though. You can read here
for some of those, if you're interested. So, as you can see, the Windows
keys are located in pretty common areas of the keyboard, so it's very
easy to accidentally hit it while you're trying to do other things. And
as the person who asked this question pointed out, it can sometimes mess
things up. Whether you're playing a game or working in another program,
an accidental push of the Windows key can really throw things out of whack.
To try and prevent
that from happening, you can relocate the Windows key when you know for
sure you won't need it. There are actually a couple ways of doing this,
but it really comes down to what type of keyboard you have. It depends
on the keyboard, as well as, the kind of software you may have installed
on your computer for the keyboard. Okay, I think I've prepped you enough.
What do you say we get started?!
The easiest way to
do this is to use a program called KeyTweak. It is a
small, yet strong, utility that allows you to remap where the keys on
your keyboard are. KeyTweak is also 100 percent free, so you don't have
to worry about paying any fees to make this work. Now, I know we're mainly
talking about the Windows key today, but with KeyTweak, you can play around
with any of the 108 keys that are found on your keyboard. So, if you're
having trouble with another key, you can follow these same instructions
for that too.
Also, if you've ever
tried to do this procedure through other Web sites' instructions, your
keyboard may be all out of sorts. If that's the case, you probably haven't
been able to get it back to normal yet either. Well, KeyTweak will also
help with that. It will help to correct any improper remaps that you may
have tried to do before. How cool is that?!
The first thing you
need to do is download KeyTweak, which can be done right here.
Click on the link at the top of the page that says "Download:
KeyTweak - Keyboard Remapper v2.2.0." Click Run
twice and then hit the I Agree button when the next window
comes up. Click Install and then Close.
Next, go to your Start menu and find the KeyTweak
entry. (It won't put an icon on your desktop for you, so you have to find
it through the Start menu). Once you have all that done, you can go about
finding the keys you want to tweak.
The keyboard you'll
see on your screen is numbered, so you'll have to kind of guess which
key is which. But, if you roll your mouse over the number, it will tell
you what key that is. Just click on the number you want to remap and then
choose where you want to put it. Just for your information, the Windows
keys' numbers are 59 (on the left) and 63 (on the right). If you accidentally
hit one of those more than the other, remap that one only. The choice
is yours, but it's better to keep the remapping to a minimum, since there
are two Windows keys.
So, you'll want to
choose a spot for the Windows key to go. If you don't use the whole left
side of your keyboard very often (like the numberpad) area, remap it to
a key over there. For example, you may want to remap number 59 to number
105, which is the minus key on the numberpad. That's a key that is not
used a whole lot and chances are, your fingers won't accidentally hit
it while you're trying to play your game, etc.
That's just one example,
but you can remap whatever you'd like. If there are other keys that really
bother you sometimes, move them around. That's what KeyTweak is for. Now,
it may take a little bit of time to get used to this new program, but
read it over and familiarize yourself with it before you take any drastic
measures. There is a Help file, so if you have any further
questions, just click on that and you should be able to find your answer.
Also, if you run into any problems and you don't like the way you did
something, just hit the Restore Defaults button and it
will all go back to normal.
Once you get the hang
of KeyTweak, I think you'll really like it. It will really help you to
keep your keyboard keys in line and from now on, you can have them just
the way you want them. You can't complain about that, can you?!
~ Erin
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