AutoHotkey. Neat little free Open Source program which lets you automate just about anything on your PC. Keystrokes, mouse clicks, hotkey setup. What’s uber cool is the fact that you can convert any script to an exe file and run it on machines which don’t have the program installed. Nice and definitely worth a download.
AutoHotkey is a free, open-source utility for Windows. With it, you can:
- Automate almost anything by sending keystrokes and mouse clicks. You can write a mouse or keyboard macro by hand or use the macro recorder.
- Create hotkeys for keyboard, joystick, and mouse. Virtually any key, button, or combination can become a hotkey.
- Expand abbreviations as you type them. For example, typing “btw” can automatically produce “by the way”.
- Create custom data entry forms, user interfaces, and menu bars. See GUI for details.
- Remap keys and buttons on your keyboard, joystick, and mouse.
Even if you use it for nothing else, everyone should install AutoHotKey to block the obnoxious F1 key in Windows. On many older computers, accidentally hitting F1 (help) instead of F2 (rename) will cause your computer to stall for a few seconds while the help file loads. Use this to block it: F1::return
To disable F1 key, just download Sharp Keys
http://www.randyrants.com/sharpkeys2.msi
on section "Map this key" choose "Function F1",
on "To this key" section choose "Turn Key Off"
you're done!
Actually Usman I’d rather block the obnoxious Windows key, which seems to get in the way of my fingers rather too many times as far as I am concerned.
To disable the left and/or right Windows keys, put the following into a script:
LWin::return
RWin::return
You can also keep Numlock, ScrollLock, or Capslock always-on or always-off:
SetNumlockState, AlwaysOn
SetScrolllockState AlwaysOff
SetCapslockState, AlwaysOff
I forgot to mention that due to the way a script executes, you should put any commands such as “SetNumlockState, AlwaysOn” above hotkeys such as “LWin::return”.
Ah, thanks Chris. :-)