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Key Remapping in WinXP?

Submitted by davintosh on May 13, 2008 - 3:14am. Development & Software Hacks

This is probably going to sound a bit wacky, but here goes...

At work I use both a PC and a PowerBook, and have them set up using Synergy instead of a KVM switch (link to my blog). It's really pretty slick; the standard mouse and keyboard are connected to the PC, the Mac sits to the right of the PC's monitor, and when I push the cursor to the right side of the PC screen, mouse and keyboard control jumps over to the Mac. Very sweet!

But I needed a new keyboard, and was wooed by the siren song of a shiny new Apple Keyboard. Now that the Apple Keyboard is connected to the PC, everything works fine except the Command and Option keys are swapped. It's weird because with a standard PC keyboard in my setup, pressing the Alt key is equal to the Command key on the Mac; but because the Alt key on the Windows keyboard is in the same physical location as the command key on the Mac, it worked great for me.

So the keyboard is working exactly the way it should, but it feels backward to me. The standard keyboard commands have become so second nature to me that it just feels wrong to have to move one key over.

What I'd like to do is figure out how to remap those two keys so it works as it should. It would be great if I could modify only the driver for the Mac keyboard so that if another keyboard is connected it works as it should. Any PC guru's out there able to help out with this one?

Thanks in advance!

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eeun's picture

Other side

Submitted by eeun on May 13, 2008 - 3:41am.

I've currently got a PC keyboard running both my Mac and PC. Before that, I had several scavenged MacAlly USB keyboards, which seem prone to failure.

link
...a freebie key remapper for XP.
Haven't tried it myself.

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Smiththers's picture

i have used key tweak, works

Submitted by Smiththers on May 13, 2008 - 10:39am.

i have used key tweak, works fine for my basic uses. there is some things that are more advanced then i need them to be, thats for sure.

» -Justin
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davintosh's picture

Doh!

Submitted by davintosh on May 13, 2008 - 12:57pm.

This morning I tried logging into the PC and tried the standard three finger salute (control-alt-delete) and it wouldn't work with the Apple keyboard.. I was holding down the control & command keys.

Duh.

Old habits are hard to break.

I'll try the suggested remappers & report back. Thanks!

» Obsolescence is just a lack of imagination.
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davintosh's picture

Well,

Submitted by davintosh on May 13, 2008 - 2:34pm.

Looks like I'm asking the impossible. Of the key remapping utilities I found, none were able to do anything with the Winders key. So it's either get used to it or get rid of it. The graphics manager already has her eye on the new keyboard, so I think it's a goner.

» Obsolescence is just a lack of imagination.
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eeun's picture

Awright, here's another one:

Submitted by eeun on May 13, 2008 - 3:17pm.

Awright, here's another one:
link
Docs say it will remap the Windows key, and allows swapping of keys (ie it will swap the Alt/Windows keys for using a Mac keyboard).

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Smiththers's picture

are you sure it wouldnt remap

Submitted by Smiththers on May 13, 2008 - 5:00pm.

are you sure it wouldnt remap the windows key? ive used that program specifically for that purpose before.

» -Justin
EVGA 680i (new upgrade!), Q6600 @2.9ghz, 2gb G-Skill, 8800gts 320mb x2 SLIx16, OCZ 700w PS. 250gb + 500gb Seagate Sata, ASUS Sata DVDR.

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chris501's picture

what about the boot camp drivers?

Submitted by chris501 on May 15, 2008 - 2:20pm.

i think it could be worth checking out: try get a hold at the boot camp drivers (either from the leopard dvd or by apple download). i think it can be possible to extract the keyboard drivers apple supplies for boot camp and then install them on your windooze machine...

...just a thought, not that i would know how to do it Smiling

» PM G5 1.8GHz SP / PB 12" 800MHz / Acer 3.0GHz HT / Compaq 386@25MHz / Apple Certified Technician & Help Desk Specialist

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