Inverted Question Mark in Outlook Express on Windows Laptop?

January 28, 2005 8:30 AM

How do type an upside down question mark in Outlook Express? (for Spanish class)
posted by alball to Computers & Internet (15 answers total)

Character Map is an easy way to get at extended character sets. For the ¿, try Alt+0191 (numberpad only).
posted by bonehead at 8:35 AM on January 28, 2005

Response by poster: I am on a notebook without a numberpad. well actually the number pad is accessed through the function key. Maybe it will work, I will give it a try. Thanks.
posted by alball at 8:39 AM on January 28, 2005

Response by poster: no, this doesn't work, holding alt cancels the function press or something. it just beeps at me .
posted by alball at 8:42 AM on January 28, 2005

Are you using a PC or a Mac? You didn't specify. I only ask because if you do fn-alt and try and type a number on a PowerBook, it'll beep at you and not do anything. Macs don't use those number codes.

In Outlook Express on a Mac (or in any Mac program), you type option-shift-? to get the upside down question mark.
posted by bcwinters at 8:46 AM on January 28, 2005

Go into Word or whatever you have along those lines. From there, Type your sentence or message. Move the cursor to where you want the ¿, and in the menu, select Insert>Symbol. Look through the table until you find ¿ (on my computer it's a little after the lower-case alphabet, next to the fractions), and click on it to insert it into your doc. Copy and past from there to Express.

The good thing is that if you need to repeat the process, there is a buffer of recently used symbols.
posted by Doohickie at 9:00 AM on January 28, 2005

alball, two choices:

#1: Function-Lock. It should be in your manual somewhere. Then do the Alt+0191. Cancel Function-Lock before typing! :)

#2. Use the character map. Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Character map. You should be able to select a character from any font and use the copy feature after double clicking it to copy it to the clipboard. Then just paste it to your application.

Enjoy!
posted by shepd at 9:34 AM on January 28, 2005

I've got this page bookmarked, and I copy & paste.
posted by GeekAnimator at 9:42 AM on January 28, 2005

According to the standard extended ASCII codes the corresponding number for the inverted question mark is 168.

If you're using windows, hold down the ALT key, then type 168 in the number pad. ¿¿
posted by purephase at 9:47 AM on January 28, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks for the help everyone. I got it to work, but it is kinda cumbersome. By the way, I am using a pc notebook.
posted by alball at 10:20 AM on January 28, 2005

I have a similar problem. I recently started writing in German - I was fluent a decade and a half ago and just started picking it up again.

Of course, there aren't any umlauts (ä ö ü) or sharp s's (ß) on my US layout keyboard, and I don't have a German keyboard, which would really be the ideal solution.

Cutting and pasting during composition was derailing my thought train too much, so I needed something else.

What I do is I write the umlauts out long-hand (ae, oe, ue) and write sz for the sharp s. When I'm done composing, I do a find for ae and see what needs to be changed. Repeat for the other character sets.

What might work for you is whenever you need a ¿, write ??. When you're finished, simply do a global search and replace for every instance of ?? with one ¿.

As an aside, I've tried logging into some of my accounts using foreign language keyboards and found myself incapable of typing my passwords. Does that mean my password is secure if I can't even remember it myself?
posted by cactus at 10:31 AM on January 28, 2005

When I was in Mexico some of the PCs I had used had a little button on the bar next to the clock that let you change the keyboard layout. They would be in Spanish by default [a little ES]. The physical keyboard was said up for Spanish, but the keys could be changed to changed to English so I could touch type similar to what I was used to in the States.

I use my Mac primarily and haven't checked to see if the US version of Windows lets you change the keyboard layout in a similar manner. Macs rule when it comes to needing to type in non-English languages.
posted by birdherder at 11:02 AM on January 28, 2005

¡Sí es posible con Windows XP!

Follow the instructions here. It takes some getting used to.

You can switch between English and Español with hot-keys or by clicking on the button on the task bar.
posted by birdherder at 11:28 AM on January 28, 2005

I have a Spanish keyboard, so here's a quick fix, copy these:

¿? ¡! á é í ó ú ñ
posted by sic at 11:40 AM on January 28, 2005

If you have a symbol that you use repeatedly, a good option is Word's autocorrect function. Under the Tools menu, Autocorrect options (and Autocorrect tab), create an entry by using (enter in the "replace" box) two characters that you would never type together - for example: ?S

Now, in the "With" box, enter the symbol you want (in this case, the upside-down question mark). [If you can't enter it directly, get this into the clipboard, via copying -- then you can paste it in the "With" box using [Ctrl] plus v ]

After you done this (and clicked "Add"), then all you need to do, in Word, is type ?S, and viola!
posted by WestCoaster at 12:50 PM on January 28, 2005

if you do enable multiple languages, remember the hotkey combination because (if i remember rightly, win2k) it's not obvious what language you're using when you enter the password at, say, the screensaver login prompt. as cactus has found, if you change keys that are part of your password, you're in a mess if it's in the wrong language - so use the hot keys to step through until you can get back in...
posted by andrew cooke at 1:37 PM on January 28, 2005