Need to turn Num-Lock off on startup
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Thread: Need to turn Num-Lock off on startup

  1. #1
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    Need to turn Num-Lock off on startup

    I'd like to turn off the Num-Lock, when my PC boots up.

    I went into the registry "HKEY_USERS\DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard" and InitialKeyboardIndicators was set to "0", I then went into the BIOS and set NumLock to "off".
    Still "on" after startup. is there something else?
    WinXP/98 dualboot - P4 2.4b 533FSB
    Asus P4PE/L MoBo
    512MB Corsair DDR PC2700
    HDD1 - 160gig Seagate HDD2 - 60gig Maxtor
    Antec SOHO File Server w/400 watt PSU

  2. #2
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    MPTech, See if the info at the link below is of any help. It's for "Enabling NumLock on by Default" but just reverse it to disable NumLock.

    http://www.onecomputerguy.com/window...ps.htm#numlock

    Maybe you didn't do this:

    Turn Numlock on manually
    Log off and back on again.
    For all users, make the same change to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard\InitialKeyboardIndicators

    Tufenuf

  3. #3
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    I tried all of that before, but to be fair, I tried it again.

    I turned it off (set it to 0 in the registry) for the user account, the admin account, and the .DEFAULT users. Logged of and turned it off in the BIOS too.
    Did not work.
    I then went thru and turned it ON again for all of the afore-mentioned accounts and turned it back on in the registry. And rebooted. Num-Lock was "ON" (I expected that). Then I went through and turned it all OFF, AGAIN.

    NO LUCK, STILL ON! (but when I check the BIOS and the Registry, it is still set to OFF!?!?!?!?!

    Any more suggestions?? (this is killing me, seems so simple)
    My main PC is not having this problem.
    WinXP/98 dualboot - P4 2.4b 533FSB
    Asus P4PE/L MoBo
    512MB Corsair DDR PC2700
    HDD1 - 160gig Seagate HDD2 - 60gig Maxtor
    Antec SOHO File Server w/400 watt PSU

  4. #4
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    If you have a Microsoft Keyboard (with MS IntelliType software installed) try this:

    HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\Microsoft Input Devices
    Create a new key Keyboard
    Create new String Value NumLock = OFF in
    HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\Microsoft Input Devices\Keyboard

  5. #5
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    Any other options, none of these worked. This is not a MS keyboard.
    It is a Micro Innovations, Internet Access Elite, KB565BL.
    I bought it primarily because it is black and has a small footprint.
    It has a lot of auto butons at the top that I never installed and a diskette came with it. I was trying to find the diskette to see if there was any config / default settings that could be programmed, but I can't find it now. I tried doing a google on it, but could not find the diskette / software there either. (all I found was for-sale sites)

    Any thoughts?
    Last edited by MPTech; June 4th, 2006 at 10:52 AM.
    WinXP/98 dualboot - P4 2.4b 533FSB
    Asus P4PE/L MoBo
    512MB Corsair DDR PC2700
    HDD1 - 160gig Seagate HDD2 - 60gig Maxtor
    Antec SOHO File Server w/400 watt PSU

  6. #6
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    Got the drivers / software from their website, but nothing in the software to turn-off the Num Lock.

    This is driving me crazy.

    ANY Suggestions???? PLEASE
    WinXP/98 dualboot - P4 2.4b 533FSB
    Asus P4PE/L MoBo
    512MB Corsair DDR PC2700
    HDD1 - 160gig Seagate HDD2 - 60gig Maxtor
    Antec SOHO File Server w/400 watt PSU

  7. #7
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    Set or Unset NUM LOCK in Windows
    http://www.somacon.com/p339.php
    Here are two programs to turn on or off the NUM LOCK key state in Windows. These programs work in Windows 2000/XP/2003 and beyond. The NumlockOn.exe program will set numlock on when it is run, and the NumlockOff.exe program will set numlock off. These utility programs can be run automatically when the user logs on to set the numlock key to the desired state.
    http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1058145879
    re: Question about 'Force NumLock to Behave'
    Sunday, April 3, 2005 at 5:21 pm
    Posted by Perry C (1 messages posted)

    You need read no further. I have the fix. Instead of messing with all those icky
    registry keys, there is a simpler solution. (prepare to bang head on wall)

    to permenently change the NumLock state at startup simply put NumLock in the state
    of preference (On/Off) and then, when you log off, instead of using Start/Log Off,
    Press "Ctrl + Alt + Del", and click on Shut down, and click Log Off from the drop
    down menu. This PERMENANTLY sets the NumLock state at Startup.
    (At lest it did on my Dell 3000 w/ XP Home Ed.)

    re: Question about 'Force NumLock to Behave'
    Thursday, April 7, 2005 at 9:44 am
    Posted by Mario (1 messages posted)

    After banging my head on the wall many times about this, going through all the suggestions
    posted above didn't help. I checked all the registry "InitialKeyboardIndicators"
    entries were set to "0", I deleted the user profiles from the "Document and Settings"
    so that they are recreated and everything started fresh AND STILL the Numlock came
    on at Logon.

    However, eventually I figured out that I had a group policy buried somewhere in my
    domain controller's Active Directory running a vbs script to turn on the numlock...
    DUH! I forgot I had added this a long time ago to my Active Directory so I just restricted
    the username that logs on to the laptops so that the policy doesn't apply to that
    user. However, I want the other users on regular desktop computers to have Numlock
    on automatically. But for the laptop user, adjusting the group policy properly took
    care of this annoying problem.

    I just think this is something to look at in case anyone of you has a domain environment.

    re: Question about 'Force NumLock to Behave'
    Sunday, September 4, 2005 at 5:39 pm
    Posted by Anthony (1 messages posted)

    Probably because people find this to be nothing more than an annoyance. It appears that this issue is resolved with a previous post. Start the computer up, but DO NOT log on. Toggle the num-lock so that it is OFF. Reboot the computer, and the num-lock should remain off.

    re: Question about 'Force NumLock to Behave'
    Friday, December 23, 2005 at 6:45 pm
    Posted by Jay McMunn (1 messages posted)

    Ok, I will combine ALL of the posts here into one successful solution. I tried several
    of the above posts and had moderate success on different occasions. But recently
    I joined a different domain than usual on my laptop and this NumLock problem cropped
    up again...and now I have the solution.

    First the reason: I beleive one of the previous posts is correct, this is due to
    a domain policy usually. But, I am not the admin so I can't change that policy for
    my user. I do not usually log into this domain, so once I disconnected from the
    domain and did the steps below, I was able to resume normal NumLock behavior.

    1. - Log on to Windows with your normal user. Turn off numlock, and use Ctrl-Alt-Del
    and LOGOFF, NOT Shutdown.

    2. - Notice now that you are back to the login window and NumLock is ON again. Turn
    it off and then hit Ctrl-Alt-Del again and choose Restart.

    By turning it off in both of these locations and in this order, you can be assured
    that it shouldn't be on anymore. Doing it in any other order left me with Numlock
    on in just about any combination of the steps above in previous posts.

    That said, if you have to log into this domain all the time you will still likely
    have to deal with this NumLock policy even when not connected to a docking station.
    My suggestion at that point is to learn a little C# or VB.Net programming. You
    can easily write a service that starts up at the Windows login screen and turns off
    NumLock for you, and then have it run at startup again once windows starts. This
    service can turn NumLock off for you. For the non-programmers out there, it may
    not be worth the time to learn, but it'll only take 10 minutes of research to figure
    out how for the programmers.

    If you ask me, the domain policy really has no business forcing NumLock ON. That's
    why the BIOS and Windows have the settings that they do...so the USER can choose!

  8. #8
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    I'm actually excited about trying these this evening when I get home!

    Sounds like 2 soultions that are logical and I haven't tried yet.

    I'll post back this evening.

    Thanks in advance!
    WinXP/98 dualboot - P4 2.4b 533FSB
    Asus P4PE/L MoBo
    512MB Corsair DDR PC2700
    HDD1 - 160gig Seagate HDD2 - 60gig Maxtor
    Antec SOHO File Server w/400 watt PSU

  9. #9
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    STILL NO LUCK!!!!!!!!!!

    I don't know if there is any significance, but I am on a User Account with Admin rights. (It is my home computer, but for some reason, I cannont figure out the Admin Account password. I didn't reset it, but I've tried everything!! but that's another post).

    Anyway, I tried the NumLock On/OFF .exe's above. If I have the NumLock OFF, the NumLock ON.exe will turn it on. BUT, if I have it ON, NumLock OFF.exe, will not turn it off. I tried this repeatedly. I don't know if it is relevant, but when it is OFF, I only need to press the key once to turn it on. If it is ON, I need to press it twice to turn it off. My other PCs do not respond this way.

    I also tried "Press "Ctrl + Alt + Del", and click on Shut down, and click Log Off from the drop down menu. This PERMENANTLY sets the NumLock state at Startup."
    This was also not successful. I tried it repeatedly too. Followed the instructions to the "T".

    I'm not on a group NetWork (this is my home PC, not even connected to my home network / internet), so I don't think the last suggestion applies.

    I'm getting desperate, this shouldn't be so hard and I don't understand why it is. I even tried swapping keyboards (I didn't think it would work, but wanted to try anyways).

    Could it be related to the Admin Account??? If I could figure out what the da^^@!& password was, I'd try that too. (I don't set passwords on my home PCs! How do they change?!!?!?!?!

    I thought about setting up another User Account (with Admin) and seeing if I could get it to work. (If I do this, is there an easy way to copy all of my current settings from the first User Account?)

    PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help
    WinXP/98 dualboot - P4 2.4b 533FSB
    Asus P4PE/L MoBo
    512MB Corsair DDR PC2700
    HDD1 - 160gig Seagate HDD2 - 60gig Maxtor
    Antec SOHO File Server w/400 watt PSU

  10. #10
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    Does the BIOS-set state of the NumLock key work correctly when booting from say a Windows 98SE Boot (System) diskette?

  11. #11
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    I haven't tried booting it from a diskette, but I can.
    I also have this machine set-up as dual boot (w98se/xp) as well (this is not the PC I have identified in my sig, but is similar).

    Hmm, so let me try booting to w98se and see what the status is. I can also boot to a w98 diskette, if that would provide additional info.

    What do you mean by "Does the BIOS-set state "? (ie: what is the result when I boot from a diskette??)

    I have checked the BIOS repeatedly as well, and it is set to "OFF".

    As you stated, this is a head-banger.

    AGAIN, THANK YOU very much, for your help so far. I've consistantly stated this is a great site for help!
    WinXP/98 dualboot - P4 2.4b 533FSB
    Asus P4PE/L MoBo
    512MB Corsair DDR PC2700
    HDD1 - 160gig Seagate HDD2 - 60gig Maxtor
    Antec SOHO File Server w/400 watt PSU

  12. #12
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    seemed like a simple request; reboot to w98 via bootdisk or w98 dualboot (already installed). nothing is ever "easy".

    I tried it and realized that I had installed a USB KB & mouse, recently. Problem is I have to move a very large piece of furniture in order to swap them out for PS/2 devices. w98 boots up and hangs at the window that it found new hardware.

    I'll try to move the furniture tonite and retry this (grumble, grumble, grumble)

    really, how hard can "TURNING OFF THE NUM LOCK BE!!??!!??"


    I still think there is something to the requirement to hit the key twice to turn it off, but only once to turn it on. (I even tried executing the NumLockOFF.exe multiple times, STILL NO LUCK)
    WinXP/98 dualboot - P4 2.4b 533FSB
    Asus P4PE/L MoBo
    512MB Corsair DDR PC2700
    HDD1 - 160gig Seagate HDD2 - 60gig Maxtor
    Antec SOHO File Server w/400 watt PSU

  13. #13
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    Maybe this very basic vb script will come in more handy.
    It will toggle between off and on.

    Save as numlock.vbs

    set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
    WshShell.SendKeys "{NUMLOCK}"


    Or maybe installing the drivers after all?
    Last edited by XOR; June 13th, 2006 at 05:51 PM.

  14. #14
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    Thanks! I'll try that.
    It works great on my laptop at work (I'm assuming I could put this in my startup).

    my only concern is that, as I said, my home PC requires me to hit the NumLock twice to turn it off (very suspicious). But, it it works, I won't complain.

    thanks again
    WinXP/98 dualboot - P4 2.4b 533FSB
    Asus P4PE/L MoBo
    512MB Corsair DDR PC2700
    HDD1 - 160gig Seagate HDD2 - 60gig Maxtor
    Antec SOHO File Server w/400 watt PSU

  15. #15
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    My PC is possessed!

    I tried this .vbs on my work PC and main home PC and it toggled the Num Lock on and off perfectly. I loaded it on my "Problem PC" and it would only turn it on. I tried and tried, but it never turned it off.

    WHAT AM I MISSING????


    IF........ I ghost my drives and re-install them, I'm assuming it will not address this problem. I would almost need to re-install winXP????? OMG
    WinXP/98 dualboot - P4 2.4b 533FSB
    Asus P4PE/L MoBo
    512MB Corsair DDR PC2700
    HDD1 - 160gig Seagate HDD2 - 60gig Maxtor
    Antec SOHO File Server w/400 watt PSU

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