ESC key on laptop keyboard not working - use a macro instead

Question

I spilled beer on my laptop and now the esc key on my laptop’s keyboard does not work. I have Windows 8 installed on the laptop.

Is it possible to define a macro to simulate the esc key? I am wondering if the function keys can be used for this? For instance, I am wondering if Windows allows me to configure fn+f11 to—in effect—cause an equivalent of an esc key press.

I cannot repair my laptop’s keyboard. I am hoping for a software solution to the problem.

Solution

First, I hope that was a good beer. Your computer seemed to enjoy it! But seriously, you are looking to remap the esc key and a tool like SharpKeys seems to be up to the task:

SharpKeys is a utility that manages a Registry key that allows Windows to remap one key to any other key. Included in the application is a list of common keyboard keys and a Type Key feature to automatically recognize most keyboard keys. It was originally developed in C# using .NET v2 but has been updated to support .NET 4.0 Client Profile

Also, this answer seems to explain how you can do this yourself without the need for another software tool. With more details here.