Comments on: How can I paste the number five with a keyboard shortcut?

Question: How can I paste the number five with a keyboard shortcut?

BobsterLobster — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 03:32:15 -0800

The number five suddendly won't work on my laptop, can I program a key combination to paste it whenever I need it?

Obviously, the key combination will need to work across the OS (Windows XP), and any program.
I've taken the key off, and can't see anything obvious, any ideas what may have suddenly caused this?

By: grouse

grouse — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 03:40:37 -0800

You can set up a macro with AutoHotKey.

By: dansdata

dansdata — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 03:53:57 -0800

Could be crud between the contact membranes, or something; it's possible to take laptop keyboard modules apart to clean them, but it can be a big pain.

Fortunately, it's also often possible to buy a new keyboard module quite inexpensively for many popular laptops. EBay dealers sell lots of such things, sometimes brand new and sometimes parted out from busted laptops. Swapping in the new module can be quite easy; laptops are famous for making you take the whole darn thing apart to do something like clean dust out of the cooling fans, but the keyboard is often simple enough. Check the manufacturer's Web site for a service guide; Dell, for instance, have very good online service documentation for their laptops.

(And just as well, too... :-)

By: whatzit

whatzit — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 04:03:32 -0800

Or, if you're brave or skilled, or have a friend who is, go all the way and remap some useless key using regedit. (I used these same instructions to make my computer have a right-side Ctrl button like the gods intended, and it works fine. Copy anything before making serious changes so you can get the computer back in line if you made a mistake.)

By: grouse

grouse — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 04:04:53 -0800

If you want to remap a key, you could always use the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator.

By: jmnugent

jmnugent — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 05:42:02 -0800

Why not just use :

START / PROGRAMS / Accessories / Accessibility / On-Screen-Keyboard

??

By: SlyBevel

SlyBevel — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:43:21 -0800

An easier way to get to On-Screen-Keyboard:

Start key + R, then type "osk", then press Enter.

By: advicepig

advicepig — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:19:29 -0800

Most laptops also have the number pad available when you hit num lock. I just checked the nearest laptop and num lock followed by the letter i yields a 5 with no actual change to the computer. Don't forget to turn off numlock when you've finished.

Oh and if there's a 5 in your password, it may be easiest to change the password.

By: stevis23

stevis23 — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:21:40 -0800

I'm using a wireless keyboard with my laptop right now. Obviously that's not a great solution for portability, but it your'e mostly using it as a desktop, it could be useful.

By: dws

dws — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:24:01 -0800

Before you go to the bother of retraining your muscle memory, it's worth checking out how much hassle it is on your model to clean the keyboard. On mine (a Dell) removing keys to clean under them is fairly easy. And getting the keys back on isn't that bad, either. It's amazing what kind of junk can get stuck under keys.

Google for the name of your laptop + "cleaning keyboard" (or something similar). Chances are good that you'll find a set of instructions with some pictures.

By: qvtqht

qvtqht — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:50:17 -0800

Another vote for AutoHotKey, because you'll be able to program a simple key combination.

For example, you could program Win+4 to type 5, and Win+Shift+4 to type %.

By: Nodecam

Nodecam — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:38:13 -0800

SharpKeys is a pretty frontend for the registry hack as well.

By: Leech

Leech — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 22:20:12 -0800

AutoHotkey is the best solution, but faster then is the Texter made by the people of Lifehacker (using AutoHotkey). You write 'five' for example and the word is replaced by the number.