A quick question, but one that is driving me crazy. I have a Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard, and was wondering if there is a way to lock-on the ‘F Lock’ key, so it is on by default when the computer is started? The computer is running Windows XP Professional.

I understand your frustration, since I also use a Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard and always have to remember to press the F Lock key when Windows starts. As you have discovered, the default state of the F Lock key is ‘off’, so whenever the keyboard loses power (e.g. when restarting or shutting down the computer), when the keyboard turns on the next time, the F Lock key is ‘off’ by default. The bad news is the F Lock key cannot be controlled by software, since it is a hardware switch in the keyboard itself. However, there is a clever registry hack that can be used as a workaround to ‘flip’ the function keys. That is, when the F Lock key is ‘off’ (the default position), the function keys will have their normal function (e.g. F1 will be F1, F2 will be F2, etc’¦). When the F Lock key is ‘on’, the function keys will have their other functionality (e.g. F1 will be Help, F2 will be Undo, etc’¦). As you can see, you are essentially flipping the functions of the function keys. You can download the registry hack from www.mvps.org/jtsang/flock.html. I encourage you to read the whole article (if not just for academic interest) but also to ensure you download the correct file for your keyboard. You also must read the limitations of the method, near the bottom of the article as this explains some very important points.