no_nonsense4857
Contributor
Apple mini Keyboard - A typist's Delight!
The apple mini keyboard is nothing but the apple wireless keyboard with USB connectivity. This is compact and does not have the dedicated numeric keypad found in full sized keyboards.
Unfortunately this being an apple product - it does not work out of the box for windows users. And this is where help comes in. This thread is in good company of techies here
The compactness has some advantages and disadvantages too.
On one side you can now position your mouse much closer to the keyboard resulting in a much better ergonomic layout for both your wrists.
This comes at a cost of not having dedicated keys for:
Page Up
Page Down
Home
End
Insert
Print Screen
Delete (the Delete button on the apple keyboard is in fact the Backspace in Windows environment)
Due to the Del key being absent on the apple keyboard, it is impossible to log into a windows installation which has been configured to log in via the CTRL+ALT+DEL key combination.
The functionality we miss due to the above keys can however be restored by other means.
The first option is Remapping – making registry level hacks to fool windows into looking at a key from your perspective (eg. The RIGHT WINDOWS key can be converted to perform the Print Screen command). Hacking into the registry is always a risky affair. But there are a few tools which would help do the remapping without delving into the hardcore registry edits. These tools have an advantage of reverting back to the original state if you want to undo all your changes.
The second option is to use programs that would sit in your system tray and then code scripts for these programs to perform the key customization. In this case, the program should always be active sitting in the system tray and above all, you need some patience to code a script or copy a script from the internet and make changes to suit your taste.
The third option is to use a combination of both.
What works for me:
I used AutoHotkey (AutoHotkey - Free Mouse and Keyboard Macro Program with Hotkeys and AutoText) and googled up a few scripts making edits to suit my requirements.
No matter what I did – I was not able to get the Fn key and the Eject key to be recognized by the windows system.
Also, though the Del action could be achieved it did not work while trying to log into windows (CTRL+ALT+DEL). The obvious reason being – at the time of logon the AutoHotkey program has still not being launched to understand the script.
This brought me looking into the second option – registry edits.
I initially used Sharpkeys (RandyRants: SharpKeys) and it does most of the key re-mappings successful. BUT its RISKY.
After remapping a few keys successfully, I went ahead and remapped the F12 key to be my new DEL key. And like in all previous cases, you are supposed to restart the system for the new registry changes to take effect.
After restart, I am shocked to see that neither the original DEL key nor the F12 key (on the normal IBM keyboard is performing the DEL function). Hence, I was stuck in the logon screen unable to press the CTRL+ALT+DEL combination. Luckily, since I was working on my desktop with a IBM keyboard having the FULL Layout, I used the DEL key that is present in the dedicated numeric keypad (This key also acts as the decimal / a DOT when you are using the calculator).
Though I was really shaken initially, now I knew I had a safety option (the DEL key on the numeric keypad). So I moved on to see if there were other programs that could successfully map any available key on the apple keyboard to perform the DEL function.
I finally managed to successfully re-map the RIGHT WINDOWS key (to the right of the SPACE key) to perform the DEL function using the tool Key Tweak by Travis Krumsick (Index of /krumsick).
This tool helped me do the CTRL+ALT+DEL using the apple keyboard.
My present customization has AutoHotkey running a script which achieves:
Page Up
Page Down
Home
End
Home with the SHIFT key pressed (to do text selections)
End with the SHIFT key pressed (to do text selections)
The Function key F10 MUTES the speakers (to mimic the mute icon on the apple keyboard)
The Increase and Decrease volume works out of F12 and F11 keys.
I’ve used Key Tweak to:
Remap the RIGHT COMMAND key to function as the DEL key (the command key on the apple keyboard seamlessly works as the WINDOWS key on a windows operating system)
Remap the RIGHT ALT (also seen as the RIGHT OPTION) key to function as the PRINT SCREEN key.
The apple mini keyboard is nothing but the apple wireless keyboard with USB connectivity. This is compact and does not have the dedicated numeric keypad found in full sized keyboards.
Unfortunately this being an apple product - it does not work out of the box for windows users. And this is where help comes in. This thread is in good company of techies here
The compactness has some advantages and disadvantages too.
On one side you can now position your mouse much closer to the keyboard resulting in a much better ergonomic layout for both your wrists.
This comes at a cost of not having dedicated keys for:
Page Up
Page Down
Home
End
Insert
Print Screen
Delete (the Delete button on the apple keyboard is in fact the Backspace in Windows environment)
Due to the Del key being absent on the apple keyboard, it is impossible to log into a windows installation which has been configured to log in via the CTRL+ALT+DEL key combination.
The functionality we miss due to the above keys can however be restored by other means.
The first option is Remapping – making registry level hacks to fool windows into looking at a key from your perspective (eg. The RIGHT WINDOWS key can be converted to perform the Print Screen command). Hacking into the registry is always a risky affair. But there are a few tools which would help do the remapping without delving into the hardcore registry edits. These tools have an advantage of reverting back to the original state if you want to undo all your changes.
The second option is to use programs that would sit in your system tray and then code scripts for these programs to perform the key customization. In this case, the program should always be active sitting in the system tray and above all, you need some patience to code a script or copy a script from the internet and make changes to suit your taste.
The third option is to use a combination of both.
What works for me:
I used AutoHotkey (AutoHotkey - Free Mouse and Keyboard Macro Program with Hotkeys and AutoText) and googled up a few scripts making edits to suit my requirements.
No matter what I did – I was not able to get the Fn key and the Eject key to be recognized by the windows system.
Also, though the Del action could be achieved it did not work while trying to log into windows (CTRL+ALT+DEL). The obvious reason being – at the time of logon the AutoHotkey program has still not being launched to understand the script.
This brought me looking into the second option – registry edits.
I initially used Sharpkeys (RandyRants: SharpKeys) and it does most of the key re-mappings successful. BUT its RISKY.
After remapping a few keys successfully, I went ahead and remapped the F12 key to be my new DEL key. And like in all previous cases, you are supposed to restart the system for the new registry changes to take effect.
After restart, I am shocked to see that neither the original DEL key nor the F12 key (on the normal IBM keyboard is performing the DEL function). Hence, I was stuck in the logon screen unable to press the CTRL+ALT+DEL combination. Luckily, since I was working on my desktop with a IBM keyboard having the FULL Layout, I used the DEL key that is present in the dedicated numeric keypad (This key also acts as the decimal / a DOT when you are using the calculator).
Though I was really shaken initially, now I knew I had a safety option (the DEL key on the numeric keypad). So I moved on to see if there were other programs that could successfully map any available key on the apple keyboard to perform the DEL function.
I finally managed to successfully re-map the RIGHT WINDOWS key (to the right of the SPACE key) to perform the DEL function using the tool Key Tweak by Travis Krumsick (Index of /krumsick).
This tool helped me do the CTRL+ALT+DEL using the apple keyboard.
My present customization has AutoHotkey running a script which achieves:
Page Up
Page Down
Home
End
Home with the SHIFT key pressed (to do text selections)
End with the SHIFT key pressed (to do text selections)
The Function key F10 MUTES the speakers (to mimic the mute icon on the apple keyboard)
The Increase and Decrease volume works out of F12 and F11 keys.
I’ve used Key Tweak to:
Remap the RIGHT COMMAND key to function as the DEL key (the command key on the apple keyboard seamlessly works as the WINDOWS key on a windows operating system)
Remap the RIGHT ALT (also seen as the RIGHT OPTION) key to function as the PRINT SCREEN key.
