19.5 Configuring a Keyboard
Windows
95/98/2000/XP and Windows NT allow you to customize some aspects of
keyboard behavior. To do so, run the Keyboard applet (Start
 Settings Control Panel
Keyboard) to display the Keyboard Properties
dialog, which includes the following pages:
- Speed (Windows 95/98/NT/2000)
-
Includes settings for how long a key must be held down before it
begins repeating and for how quickly it repeats. Also allows setting
cursor blink rate, which controls how fast the virtual cursor blinks
in Windows applications. Change any of these settings by dragging the
associated slider. Changes take effect immediately when you click
Apply or OK.
- Language (Windows 95/98) or Input Locales (Windows NT/2000)
-
These pages are nearly identical except for their names. They are
used to install additional keyboard languages and layouts. Windows
95/98/NT allow specifying a key sequence (either Left Alt+Shift or
Ctrl+Shift) to rotate through available languages from the keyboard.
Windows 2000 provides the same choices, and adds an optional second
key sequence to jump directly to the default language using the same
key sequences listed above, with the addition of one character, 0
through 9, tilde or grave accent. Windows 2000 also allows specifying
the method used to turn off Caps Lock, either by pressing the Caps
Lock key or by pressing the Shift key.
- General (Windows NT only) or Hardware (Windows 2000 only)
-
These pages display the type of keyboard installed. Clicking the
Change button on the Windows NT General page allows you to select
among alternative installed keyboard drivers, or to install a new
keyboard driver from a disk supplied by the keyboard manufacturer.
The Windows 2000 Hardware page instead provides a Troubleshoot
button, which invokes the Keyboard Troubleshooter Wizard, and a
Properties button, which simply displays Device Manager properties
for the keyboard.
Installing a programmable keyboard and driver may install a separate
management application, or may simply add pages and options to the
standard Keyboard Properties dialog. For example, Figure 19-3 shows one of the additional pages of the
extended Keyboard Properties dialog that results from installing the
Microsoft Natural Keyboard driver under Windows NT. If you install a
programmable keyboard, make sure to locate and explore the options
its driver provides. The default driver installation for some
programmable keyboards leaves some very useful options disabled or
set to less than optimum values.
Finally, do not overlook the Accessibility Options
dialog, shown in Figure 19-4 (Start
Settings Control Panel
Accessibility Options). This dialog is available
in both Windows 98/98SE/Me and Windows NT/2000/XP. Although intended
primarily to aid people with various disabilities, some options
available here may be useful to anyone. In particular, anyone who has
accidentally toggled Caps Lock on will appreciate the audible warning
provided by ToggleKeys.
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