RemapKey problems swapping CapsLock & Control keys
fred ma
RemapKey problems swapping CapsLock & Control keys
Hello,
I'm running Win2K on the Dell Inspiron 8000
laptop. I used RemapKey to swap the left CapsLock
and Control keys. Seemed to work great for the
longest time (being months when it comes to
Windows). Well, all of a sudden, for no good
reason, it doesn't work anymore. I noticed that
holding down the *logical* Control key (which is
*physically* the CapsLock key), I couldn't click
on things to all them to a selection. Like files
in a folder.
The funny thing is, this functionality is only
missing when I'm logged into an account besides
"administrator". However, the instructions for
RemapKey say that the remapped key takes effect
across all accounts. They describe it as a
disadvantage, even though I would very much
welcome that disadvantage right now. I even
created a new account to see if it properly
inheritted the registry change.
So what happens when I press the physical CapsLock
key? Nothing. It doesn't do CapsLock. It
doesn't allow me to incrementally select things.
The Control key on the right side of the keyboard
still allows me to incrementally select things,
but I use the control key for many other things; I
need the left-side Control key in position of the
physical CapsLock key.
This is what I've tried. As administrator, I used
RemapKey to clear all remappings. Rebooted.
confirmed that remappings were all gone in
administrator and nonadministrator accounts. As
administrator again, I reswapped the CapsLock and
Control keys on the left side of the keyboard.
Rebooted. Things worked fine in the administrator
account, but still not in the nonadministrator
account. I even tried using RemapKey as
nonadministrator, but it won't let me save the new
registry settings.
Why would it stop working after many months?
Fred Ma
>
> alt.os.windows2000
> RemapKey problems swapping CapsLock & Control keys
> Hello,
>
> I'm running Win2K on the Dell Inspiron 8000
> laptop. I used RemapKey to swap the left CapsLock
> and Control keys. Seemed to work great for the
> longest time (being months when it comes to
> Windows). Well, all of a sudden, for no good
> reason, it doesn't work anymore. I noticed that
> holding down the *logical* Control key (which is
> *physically* the CapsLock key), I couldn't click
> on things to all them to a selection. Like files
> in a folder.
I think I found my own answer. The synaptec touch
pad has something call palm detection to smartly
figure out when the touchpad is accidentally being
touched. I turned it on to alleviate some spurious
touchpad taps (they were not being caused by
accidental contact with the touchpad). It seemed
to help, but it also seems to choke out Control-click
on some applications if the Control and CapsLock
keys are swapped.
That is, how shall I say this,
not the greatest of situations. You can either live
with a control key that is guaranteed to give carpal
tunnel syndrome, or you can live with ghost taps on
the touchpad. For the latter, the end result is that
you might be working on a document or drawing and
the mouse suddenly prances all over the screen,
randomly selecting things. If you happen to be typing,
those things will be wiped out and replaced by the
letters you type. This is downright annoying even if
you have multiple undo.
If the application only has
single undo, you can only recover the last group of
wiped out items in the spurious barrage of ghost taps.
Each item can be huge swaths of text encompassing
several paragraphs. So you are at the mercy of fate.
At any moment, a storm of ghost taps can come along
and irrevocably wipe out huge sections of your work.
I think I'll copy this to Synaptec. I do keep up-to-
date with the drivers, but they seem to get worse.
For some reason, the newest drivers mistaken touchapd
activity as accidental and won't let you drag the
pointer around unless you let up for a second. This
is most noticable immediately after some keyboard
activity.
Using a mouse isn't the greatest option, since it just
aggravates carpal tunnel syndrome.
Fred
John Doue
I personally use zdkeys from PC Magazine and never had a problem.
Regards
John