Keyboard mystery keys

Is it something like this?

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/productdetails.aspx?pid=083

Perhaps hot keys, or media keys, or user assignable keys?

Or, as you often suggest, read the manual.

oooh you little tease monkey...
We've been taken over by another company and this just turned up on my desk...
Manual ..you are havin' a Steffi Graff.

Del

It's the Gates Empire trying to screw with your mind.

Its almost as bad as getting one of those crazy German keyboards, where the "|" & "~" are swapped (no big deal) and the "Z" and "Y" keys swapped (ARGHHHhhhhh)

Then, you cannot have number lock active every time you turn on your computer, along with the "F" key active so your function keys work as function keys not the wacky alternative keys that should not be the default function.

You should try it with VMWare, you enter the session, it re maps your keyboard, and every time I exit, the number lock, unlocks ;o(

No wonder some keyboards have a key called "F-Lock" ... UCKN its bad...

I find the best keyboards are still the $9 cheapo ones I use at home, last longer too

German keyboards! I hate to write to my principal while I was over in Germany on an exchange this past winter. It took me five full minutes to find/figure out how to type @ in her address.

I just told most people back home they would have to deal with Z and Y being inverted.

Hello Del the cat

Throw it out, buy yourself a replacement keyboard from http://www.geniusnet.com

I use their Model KU210 Keyboards here, quite cheap, and very good.

Kind Regards....

Microsnot eh?

Me thinks you'll need to clear out its nose so that it can breath easier and function normally like other keyboards.

Or is it not Mickeymouse? BTW, cats shouldn't be playing with mice at work.

Rather than thowing out the keyboard, just ignore the extra keys. As someone pointed out elsewhere, these are just "undocumented features".

Someday Mickey will document them and we can begin the debugging process.

Does it have a 'Format C:' key?

'Order catnip' key?

Otherwise POS.

Order a replacment from the KrisDel^TM catalogue.

If you've got QuickBASIC on there, you could use the INKEY$ function to find out what the keys are sending.

Del

One thing I can tell you is if you hit the "Print Scrn" it loads the last thing you opened to the clip board. If you open wordpad or word and then use the right click on (sorry I have to say this) MOUSE click on paste and viola, there it is. It helps when you can't actually print something without the whole screen being involved.

As for some of the others I still haven't figured out all of them.

What I really don't get is..the keys with 3 functions on...which other keys select which function...

Lke the insert on the front face of the key does nothing...'ahift+key' does now't 'Ctrl+key' does now't... 'Smash furry head against it' does now't....

Maybe it needs a little crossbow bolt adjustment?

Del

Show me Show me Show me ....!

'Insert' changes the way words are edited, in Word or whatever, if you click within a word & start typing letters will be added in the word, if you press 'insert' your typing will now overwrite the existing letters.

If all else fails, try adding a panic key to your keyboard. I'm still looking for one of Homer's 'any' keys.

Actually, the "Panic Key" is not located on the keyboard, its the little unlabeled button close to the power button

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Print_screen

Has a pretty extensive explanation of most things keyboard.

_m.

I think I see the need for a new product from Consolidated Gookumpucky... keyboard sealer! Use this product on nonfunctioning keys, and you'll never have to worry about them again! They won't move when you press them. Since they can't move, you won't worry about them, because you know it won't do any good to worry!

I'll get my team working on it right away!

Get a Turkish keyboard. In no tyme at all you wyll be talkying wyth a Turkysh accent

i find shift+PrtScn very usefull for making specifications

Or those sites that have right mouse click disabled

After all these comments, nobody has mentioned the standard key combinations:

The four letters closest to the control key (ZXCV) have long been Undo, Cut, Copy, and Paste. Just look at the Edit menu! Ctrl-Z is Undo, Crtl-X is cut, etc. I like to think of the V as an arrow pointing down to the document to remember it is paste...

Now I'm a Mac Guy, where instead of control it is Command-Z, but same concept. Now I'll have to switch over (very temporarily) to Windowz to make sure I haven't stuck my foot in my mouth!

Editing CAD drawing, yes, its correct, but I'm quite happy to design a "Foot-in-mouth" extraction tool if you want ;o)

Since my last post I have checked several programs, both on my Mac with Windows NT and on a Dell. None of those programs were CAD (nor drawing of any other kind) and they all used the same Ctrl-ZXCV.

I also have similar Key Board. Unfortunately M.S has not given any manual in the box.

I was also wondering about so many unknown keys.For CAPS LOCK there is light on right side top indicating 'A".

Hi Del

Have you activated the F Lock key so that the extra functions work?

It's a little key on the top left of my keyboard. Yours may be different.

Have a nice one (mouse)!

Can't tell, 'cos aS with cAps LoCk there is no indicator LeD

I have a load of LEDs on my work bench...I've tried sprinkling them over the keyboard but it doesn't help....

In defence on the keyboard it is wireless..which makes my desk look tidier less messy. The wirless mousey is good too, but there is no wire 'tail' to bite on.

Ooooh it has a 'calculator button' which pops up the calculator... you know the one with the x and - signs so small you can't read 'em and no scientific functions, hex or 'owt usefull.
Oh what a grumpy cat.....where's the 'vitriolic tirade' key???

Del

Hello Del the cat

<"....the one with the x and - signs so small you can't read 'em and no scientific functions....">

You definitely need a larger monitor, and a pair of better glasses, take these with my compliments.

Kind Regards....

With my calculator you can go to the view menu & select standard or scientific. I can't quite remember now (old age you know) if that is normal, the scientific bit might be a free Microsoft download.

Hello Nigh

The Calculator arrives as a standard item with Microsoft Windows, from the latest Windows Operating Systems, right back to Windows v3.1

When you open the Calculator, left click on "view", and select standard (default) or Scientific Calculator, that's easy to do.

Kind Regards....

Oooh yes, it does do the scentific thing from 'view' .
Purrrrr purrrr, < rubs up aginst monitor in appreciation...>

Del

I use a Logitech wireless setup and maybe the microsoft set is a little bit similar (though Logitech is far superior). The LED indicators are not located on the keyboard, but are located on the wireless receiver. Have a look at that and see if it has caps lock, scroll lock, and function lock LED indicators there.

Ahhh!
You win tonight's star prize .

I geddit now... of course! If they were on the keyboard they'd drain the battery..so they are on the receiver where they get power off the USB line_{....(and you cant see 'em).}

I wondered what them pretty lights were....purrrrr purrrrr rub rub.

Nice wolfie... _<gulp>

Del

I put my receiver almost on eye level next to my monitor so I can see it, but out of long years of habit I still look at my keyboard expecting to find the indicators there instead. I'm sure it makes a big difference locating the LED's off of the keyboard. I have been using the same wireless setup for over a year and I have not yet had to change the two non-rechargeable AA batteries in my keyboard. The mouse on the other hand I charge everynight just to be sure.

I have a wired keyboard at work & cordless at home. The cordless one has the lights in the keyboard but I can't remember having to change the battery recently. I don't rely on the lights, I've enabled the windows option so that it beeps when I hit caps lock, num lock or scroll lock, mainly because my fat fingers often hit the caps lock at the same time as shift. Don't you have the same trouble with your paws?

Nope, at least not with your standard off the shelf QWERTY style keyboard. The only time I have sausage digit problems is when I use the micro-mini keyboards, like the pullout keyboards in rack-mount systems that have the keys arranged a little funky with the number pad right under the enter key and such.

I have wireless keyboard and mouse on my Gateway desktop. Only problem: a battery cell contactor in the mouse gets what looks like battery corrosion deposits . . . when the cells are not installed! I call it my Illogitech mouse.

Print Screen/System Request goes way back to early PC. It is a hardware implementation. Before Windows, tapping print screen would send a copy of the current monitor display to the printer. In Windows, tapping print screen saves a copy of the current visible display to the clipboard. From there you can paste (and resize) it anywhere you want: emails, applications, paint,...just about anywhere. (A saved image could then be posted right here on CR4 if that suited your purpose. Screen saving software, as I understand, actually invokes that key to load display screen images for subsequent editing/saving to a file.

• The Function 2 (F2) and other function keys only function are they are programmed by certain applications. Open a game in your games folder, for example, and click on Games tab. You will see that F2 (keyboard shortcut) starts a new game. (In Windows it opens an option list so undoing F2-new game would have no applicability.) In other applications where F2 (in particular) is assigned a function, the Undo F2 would simply serve to reverse any change caused by invoking F2. In the Works spreadsheet, for another example, F2 opens a cell entry/cancel tool. In this case "escape" undoes that action; so it could be said that Undo F2 acts to escape from the action caused by using F2. So, simply put, if you ever open an application which uses F2, Undo F2 will do just that: Undo whatever F2 caused to happen.

Also, I would guess that UndoF2 would be tailor made for working in Word Perfect, a much more efficient word processor that makes full use of the Function keys and is far more keyboard oriented. There the F2 functions are (starting from the bottom):

• Fwd Search (F2)
• Replace (Shift F2)
• Spell (check/correct a word) (Ctrl F2)
• Reverse Search (Alt F2)

You can readily see how undoing any such action as these could come in very handy both for navigating and editing . . . with only one (toggling) key stroke to go back and forth between actions.

Hope this helps.

Oh yes. I too am in the process of discovering a new laptop and the Vista system...not a bad system either if one is not pathologically hung up on XP or other previous NT systems before Vista. The Help and Support applications (from start menu or by F1) can provide hours of discovery about your hardware and operating system . . . including info about the keyboard questions you asked here.

Hope that helps even more.

cheers...
You can probably tell, work is a tad quiet at the moment but all education is usefull..I'll be able to impress my colleauges with my keyboard mastery skills...then I'll take over the world..<exits monitor left cackling wildly>

Del

With regards to the keys with three symbols on them, there should be a key labeled "Fn" or something similar, usually with the same color as the third symbol.

Doesn't that stand for "function"? The mists of time cloud memory, but that glimmers thru...

Yes... yes it does.

And I believe our friend cwarner is referring to a calculator as I have seen many different types of computer keyboards, but none with an 'Fn' key.

If memory serves me right, my Casio's and TI's had 'Fn' keys but I've long since abandoned those models for the RPN HP models that have served me well for many years.

They do not have 'Fn' keys but rather shift keys that are color coded. My current model, the 48GX, has two... one green'ish and one purple'ish in color.

JavaHead

Hi, JavaHead,

My Acer Travelmates (laptops, one ancient, one modern) both have 'Fn' keys.

My Casio calculator does not.

Just goes to show ...

*smacks himself on the forehead* You're right... I had a predisposition to only visualize peripheral keyboards used on desktops. Now that you mention it, my laptop has an 'Fn' key as well.

I stand corrected... (well, sit - typing standing up when there is an empty chair nearby is, well... foolish)

JavaHead

I have a spanish keyboard and the keys with three functions are used by Right Alt. (or Gr Alt)and the key.

Very bad when typing an email address ! @ is Right Alt + 2

Try 'cntrl-c' for copy, 'cntrl-x' for cut and 'cntrl-v' for paste

"Am I just a grumpy old git or is it a crock of excrement?"

Not much of a choice there - I'd guess both...

Del,

The 'SysRq' function should come automatically disabled on your computer. That is why no other combination of augment keys is working for you and all all you get is the 'Print Scrn' functionality.

From a Linux OS standpoint, the 'SysRq' has some nice functionality but it bypasses some security features you may have on the PC. From the keyboard, using the 'alt+SysRq+[other key combinations] you can do a plethora of tasks. But, then again, only after you enable the functionality. By default, on all computers and OS's, the SysRq function is disabled.

As for the 'F2 Undo' do you also have a 'Meta' key?

Standard keyboards for Microsoft PC's sold for home use should have neither and it sounds like you may have received one that was meant for use on a Linux or Solaris OS based sytem. Specifically, what other keys did you have questions about?

JavaHead

"If the Cops did see me... I didn't do it."

When all else fails with a computer don't use the instruction manual. Just ask a teenager. They grew up with the things and they all seem to have completely absorbed Mister Microsoft's way of thinking.

I always try to ask an older one as the younger ones tend to try and rub my nose in my ignorance. Most uncomfortable. No decorum, no respect etc.

If your pride can take it, it is so much quicker than the help menu or that hard copy thing and it is really good for their ego.

BAB

No offense Dell, but I typed "F2 undo" +keyboard in Google and got 251 hits explaining how to use the keyboard that you have.

Sometimes, the simple solutions just escapes us.

always loved the ctrl + alt + right arrow. I've had people put there monitors sideways after this. Didn't know to hit the up arrow!

Just tried it...Mrs Cat made me put it back

Just tried it (about 10 times). Nothing happened .

non-problem with XP?

problem with vista?

It didn't work for me either.

I am bitterly disappointed. I was going to have so much fun running around the office tilting everyone's world for them while they were not looking.

I am the only engineer on this floor so I deserve some sympathy and I am sure it would help their perspective on the world if it was off set 90 degrees.

Has anyone got another suggestion how to achieve the desired effect on XP Pro?

BAB

I like to rub week old dead fish under their swivel chair, but that's just me.

I have use prawn shells inserted into the tubing of the swivel chair to achieve the desired effect. I wonder if it is something to do with red hair? Or do you call it ginger or auburn where you come from?

Here in the land of OZ, if you have a brick top you get called Blue. Blue is also a colloquialism for a fight. Fortunately it is going grey and I will be able to see if blonds do have more fun.

BAB

I tried my home PC (XP Pro SP3) & that didn't work either. I can rotate the display if I go into the Nvidia control panel but there's no shortcut method. My work PC has a higher spec Nvidia card & the system tray has a settings icon, one of the options in there is to rotate 0°, 90°, 180° or 270°.