Remapping keys without external software

Question

It seems my keyboard keys do not match up to their actual outputs, it's a UK keyboard, with the UK language installed on the operating system. In this case Windows 8.

for example the AT key on the keyboard is actually " and the tilde is | .

I recognise the mismatch of the at symbols being out of line with American keyboards, so I have tried the US layout also but that was also incorrect to the standard key layout I have on my keyboard.

Maybe it's a driver issue with the keyboard?

Or if not, is there a way I can remap the keys without using an external program, I'd prefer to keep the number of boot programs to a minimal if possible.

Thanks!

Solution 1

The best tool for the job is Microsoft's own remapkey.exe, available as part of the Windows Resource Kit. (That link is for Windows 2003; I've used it successfully over the years on many versions of Windows, including Windows 7; have not tested Windows 8).

remapkey.exe will write the mapping directly into the registry, I believe, and does not require a running process. You simply drag from actual key to desired key, and save.

Solution 2

There is a free tool that I used in Windows 7 and Windows 8 when I could no longer use the Windows Server 2003 remapkey utility. It's called SharpKeys. It does the same thing (with a different UI.

BUT, it doesn't work in Windows 8.1, and I have yet to find anything that does. It makes me sad, because MacBook Pro's don't have a Del key and I used to remap that to Right-Windows. Now I have to use the On Screen Keyboard to login.

Anyway, if you don't upgrade to Windows 8.1, then SharpKeys should be good for you.

Comments

[samayres1992]

thanks for sharing this but there's compatibility issues with win 8 using this

[angularrocks.com]

@samayres1992 using with windows 8.1 on macbook no probs. Just remapped left alt key to left command key. You have to run it as Administrator.

[yanigisawa]

FYI, remapkey still works in Windows 10.

[mike3996]

Sharpkeys worked for me on Windows 10

[Weiming]

Works in Windows 10, but I found I need to run remapkey.exe in an administrator console, for it to be able to save the settings in the system registry.

[Jim Balter]

@Weiming No need for a console, just run it as administrator.

[dbc]

The Windows Resource Kit link is dead. We're sorry, this download is no longer available. Is there an alternative?

[dbc]

Seems like it's still available through the wayback machine: web.archive.org/web/20200804140757/https://www.microsoft.com‌​/…