Windows key alternative?

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Matt · #1 Post by **Matt** » Sat May 22, 2004 5:58 am

One of the obvious omissions from the IBM keyboard layout is the nearly ubiquitous Windows key, which M$ has made more useful in WinXP, and which I've kinda gotten used to using, especially for launching Windows Explorer and the Run command dialog box. Is there any means of reclaiming this functionality in a ThinkPad? Any programmable keys or key combinations? I seem to recall reading someplace that the corners of the trackpad can be programmed with certain functions....can anyone elaborate/elucidate?

csarrasin · #2 Post by **csarrasin** » Sat May 22, 2004 7:00 am

You can use the IBM Keyboard customizer utility to remap some of your thinkpad's keys. Whilst it's no real substitute for having a true Windoze key (and I agree with you that it's useful even though I'm certainly not a M$ advocate or anything), it kind of does the job.

I've got my right-ctrl key remapped to the Windows key this way and it works fine.

Still I wish IBM would stop resisiting and start producing keyboards with the [censored] key... (it's been always 10 years since Windoze 95, come on IBM). I seem to recall that the i-Series had it but AFAIK, that was it...

Look for the utility under http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-41987. There might be some other pre-requisite installs...

Cheers,
Christian

Matt · #3 Post by **Matt** » Sat May 22, 2004 4:55 pm

Awesome. Exactly the sort of response I was hoping for. Thanks very much!

atlacatl · #4 Post by **atlacatl** » Sat May 22, 2004 9:38 pm

I used the IBM key mapper and the only key I never use in a laptop is the rigt side Ctrl key. It works perfect.

About the windoze key missing from IBM keyboards, is due to the cost of licensing the logo in the key for every keyboard out there.

Coming to think of it, I think have the licence for the letter 'E'

gpvillamil · #5 Post by **gpvillamil** » Tue May 25, 2004 10:49 am

Have you tried Ctrl - Esc? It brings up the Start menu for me.

Chun-Yu · #6 Post by **Chun-Yu** » Tue May 25, 2004 2:53 pm

That's not why the WIN key is useful...it's really because of all the other shortcuts like:

WIN+R
WIN+D
WIN+BREAK
etc.

that you can't get otherwise.

benz · #7 Post by **benz** » Tue May 25, 2004 3:07 pm

does Win+D do the same thing as Win+M??

Conmee · #8 Post by **Conmee** » Tue May 25, 2004 3:20 pm

I don't see why IBM can't put a Blue Dot key or IBM logo'd key that maps like the windows key, or at least comes with an applet/driver to make it assignable.

<<UPDATE>> In addition to a possible introduction of blue and grey as alternate colors to the venerable black that the ThinkPad has always been made of, there may very well be a Windows key on thinkpad keyboards in 2005. Stay tuned.

cynic · #9 Post by **cynic** » Tue May 25, 2004 7:57 pm

Conmee wrote:<<UPDATE>> In addition to a possible introduction of blue and grey as alternate colors to the venerable black that the ThinkPad has always been made of, there may very well be a Windows key on thinkpad keyboards in 2005. Stay tuned.

Nooooooo...

hopefully if they go this route, you'll be able to purchase non-Windows-keyed keyboards.

Eliot Noyes is rolling in his grave somewhere (actually, I don't know if he's dead yet... so maybe he's just rolling his eyes at this change.)

Chun-Yu · #10 Post by **Chun-Yu** » Wed May 26, 2004 9:33 am

benz wrote:does Win+D do the same thing as Win+M??

It is similar, but not quite the same. For example, another press of WIN+D brings everything back up (provided you don't open any new windows in the meantime) but to undo Win+M, you have to use Shift+Win+M. Also, some programs "ignore" Win+M but respond to Win+D (I have 3 right here - Post-it Notes, Rainlender, and Mobile Meter).

dcdomain · #11 Post by **dcdomain** » Wed May 26, 2004 2:17 pm

I recall the IBM Desktops having Windows keys... how much more could it be to just license it for the laptops? And screw the logo then... put the blue dot like someone said...

Matt_ · #12 Post by **Matt_** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 2:26 am

Hi

I have two questions about mapping the Windows key to one of the keyboard keys. Like many of you, I had decided on using the right CTRL key.

I have read several threads that discuss this topic:
"thinkpad button remap aka 'access ibm'"

"What keys do you re-assign using the Keyboard Customizer?"

"Better way to remap your windows key"

"How to add Windows Key on a T41p thinkpad"

"Keyboard Customizer Utility for Windows 2000/XP - ThinkPad General"
http://www-3.ibm.com/pc/support/site.ws ... 44185.html

1) Up until the time that I had received my laptop, I had had apparently a misunderstanding -- For my T42 2373-CWU I had thought I was going to have download and install IBM's Keyboard Customizer utility.
But I noticed that it is already installed. So is that link on IBM's website there for people with older thinkpads ? It's the same as what is presently on my laptop, right ?

2) The only thing that is making me hesitate before proceeding with remapping the CTRL key using IBM's utility is that, although generally everyone (in the links I listed) seems to be happy with the job it does, there was one complaint that stood out:
(from the third link "Better way to remap your windows key")

soo... the liek most IBM software, i found the keymapper retarded, as it took more than 30 megs of ram and had 3 sepreate processes running

winodws acatually supports keybaord remapping via the registry so there is no 3rd party application that have to run in the background (esp ones that take up so much resouces)

That sounds like a big potential drawback. Could someone comment on this, please ?

Kenn · #13 Post by **Kenn** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 2:31 am

My windows key migrated east a few times. Started with right-CTRL, but I use that for Photoshop. Same with right-Alt. So I moved it to Right-Shift. After accidentally hitting it as I reached for Enter a few times, and learning that I do use right-shift on occasion for " and ?, I moved it to the grey "forward" key, which is working wonderfully.

Also, I used a keymapper called "Keytweak" to change the key in the registry, so it doesn't need to stay in memory like the IBM remapper. Got enough misc processes running!

Matt_ · #14 Post by **Matt_** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 3:16 am

My windows key migrated east a few times. Started with right-CTRL, but I use that for Photoshop. Same with right-Alt. So I moved it to Right-Shift. After accidentally hitting it as I reached for Enter a few times, and learning that I do use right-shift on occasion for " and ?, I moved it to the grey "forward" key, which is working wonderfully.

Also, I used a keymapper called "Keytweak" to change the key in the registry, so it doesn't need to stay in memory like the IBM remapper. Got enough misc processes running!

Thank you you for your reply and the suggestions.
I looked at the website you are talking about ( http://webpages.charter.net/krumsick/ ) and read the manual.

Two questions. That key you are talking about sounds like a great one to use. You are talking about the one with a silhouette of a web page right -- the key that's next to the up arrow and right arrow buttons in the lower right corner of the keyboard ? So this program didn't have any trouble at all remapping to it ? (The reason I wanted to double-check is that a) I'm new to all this and b) the screen shot of the keyboard at the top of his page is different from the thinkpad's layout.)

Also, while reading the manual, on page "3" under the heading "installation notes" he talks about copying the KeyTweak.exe file to a floppy. After I install KeyTweak to a directory on my hard drive, can't I just run the program from there ?

Also, I thought I'd pass along links that I had saved to three other keymapping utilities:
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article02-022
http://download.com.com/3000-2344-91362 ... ag=lst-0-1
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,764225,00.asp

Thanks again for your help

Elhabash · #15 Post by **Elhabash** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 6:22 am

If you really need all your keys, you can remap the "Access IBM" button. Search the forum, I don't remember where it is.

Must be somewhere in "thinkpad button remap aka 'access ibm'".

Edward Mendelson · #16 Post by **Edward Mendelson** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 8:36 am

There's a PC Magazine utility called TradeKeys (no longer free, but downloadable for a fee from pcmag.com) that lets you remap quite a few more keys than the IBM utility does. I use it to make ScrollLock act as the Windows key on my T42. Works perfectly with the various Win+letterkey, etc. combinations that I've tried.

Disclaimer: I sometimes write for PC Magazine. (But I paid for this utility, because writers don't get them free.)

Edward Mendelson

Kenn · #17 Post by **Kenn** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 10:29 am

Matt_ wrote:Thank you you for your reply and the suggestions.
I looked at the website you are talking about ( http://webpages.charter.net/krumsick/ ) and read the manual.

Two questions. That key you are talking about sounds like a great one to use. You are talking about the one with a silhouette of a web page right -- the key that's next to the up arrow and right arrow buttons in the lower right corner of the keyboard ? So this program didn't have any trouble at all remapping to it ? (The reason I wanted to double-check is that a) I'm new to all this and b) the screen shot of the keyboard at the top of his page is different from the thinkpad's layout.)

Also, while reading the manual, on page "3" under the heading "installation notes" he talks about copying the KeyTweak.exe file to a floppy. After I install KeyTweak to a directory on my hard drive, can't I just run the program from there ?

Also, I thought I'd pass along links that I had saved to three other keymapping utilities:
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article02-022
http://download.com.com/3000-2344-91362 ... ag=lst-0-1
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,764225,00.asp

Thanks again for your help

That's the correct key, grey window-right key by the up and right arrows. It's remappable under Keytweak (or the IBM remapper) as the "web forward" key. Keytweak can run from the HD as well, you just need to run it once and reboot, you can even delete it after you change the key function.

XCoalMiner · #18 Post by **XCoalMiner** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 10:50 pm

I'd advise against using the IBM key mapper utility, only because it consumes resources to do the same thing the Windows XP (and Win 2K) operating system can do more efficiently. Details in an old post.

Elhabash · #19 Post by **Elhabash** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 11:42 am

But the keymapper utility does also handle the Fn+x functions like suspend, hibernate and so on, or am I wrong?

BTW from MS there is a utility to create custom keyboard layouts. It's called "Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator". You cannot remap the Ctrl and other keys, but maybe there is something useful in there. In any case creating a custom keyboard can be cool for other things (ie including μ, η, δ, and the like).

DO · #20 Post by DO » Fri Dec 17, 2004 2:39 pm

No.

TPHKMGR.EXE is required for suspend, hibernate, etc.
TPKMAPMN.EXE - for mapping.

So it's the different utilities.

Plinkerton · #21 Post by **Plinkerton** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 3:51 pm

I want to use the RIGHT ALT key. On that link to the old thread, it doesn't show that code. Only the Left ALT key, and the RIGHT CTRL key.

Does anyone know how? I don't know anything about this stuff.

Thanks a bunch,
Plink

w0qj · #22 Post by **w0qj** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 1:08 am

1. there's also Hot Keyboard utility v2.7 which is US$30, much more convenient than the freeware AutoHotKey mentioned above. but US$30 is quite steep.

http://www.hot-keyboard.com/download/

2. i'm currently using IBM's Keyboard Customizer Utility, and it has one chief disadvantage-- at bootup, you cannot quickly press WIN+E to open Windows Explorer (i'm using it mainly to open Windows Explorer, and WIN+D).

IBM's Keyboard Customizer Utility is just another program to Windows, so at boot-up, it won't respond until what feels like 2 minutes after turning on my T42.

Humpa · #23 Post by **Humpa** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 7:10 am

Matt_ wrote: Also, while reading the manual, on page "3" under the heading "installation notes" he talks about copying the KeyTweak.exe file to a floppy. After I install KeyTweak to a directory on my hard drive, can't I just run the program from there ?

I use that KeyTweak program too. I installed it in my Programs Folder, and it runs from there. No need to save it to a floppy.

One of the posts you linked was the "Better way to remap your windows key" thread. I remember that thread. I liked ZPrime's remapping the CapsLock to the Windows key, and I did the same thing. It makes a lot of sense to have the Windows key in the same general location as you are used to. You can still use your left pinky to hit it - this makes it much more "normal" IMHO. You would then want to remap the CapsLock to another key, though - whatever you dont use (right ctrl or alt?)

puco · #24 Post by **puco** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 5:39 am

Chun-Yu wrote:
benz wrote:does Win+D do the same thing as Win+M??
It is similar, but not quite the same. For example, another press of WIN+D brings everything back up (provided you don't open any new windows in the meantime) but to undo Win+M, you have to use Shift+Win+M. Also, some programs "ignore" Win+M but respond to Win+D (I have 3 right here - Post-it Notes, Rainlender, and Mobile Meter).

The difference is that Win-M minimizes all windows, but dialog boxes cannot be minimized, so the stay open on the desktop. On the other hand Win-D brings dektop to front (as desktop is only a special type of window) and so it comes in front of all other windows including dialog boxes.

Windows key alternative?

Windows key alternative?

Use the Keyboard customizer utility

It's the licensing cost IBM doesn't want to pay to Micro$oft

Ctrl - Esc

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