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It seems my keyboard keys do not match up to their actual outputs, it's a UK keyboard, with the UK language installed on the operating system. In this case Windows 8.

for example the AT key on the keyboard is actually " and the tilde is | .

I recognise the mismatch of the at symbols being out of line with American keyboards, so I have tried the US layout also but that was also incorrect to the standard key layout I have on my keyboard.

Maybe it's a driver issue with the keyboard?

Or if not, is there a way I can remap the keys without using an external program, I'd prefer to keep the number of boot programs to a minimal if possible.

Thanks!

Greg
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samayres1992
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2 Answers2

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The best tool for the job is Microsoft's own remapkey.exe, available as part of the Windows Resource Kit. (That link is for Windows 2003; I've used it successfully over the years on many versions of Windows, including Windows 7; have not tested Windows 8).

remapkey.exe will write the mapping directly into the registry, I believe, and does not require a running process. You simply drag from actual key to desired key, and save.

remapkey screenshot

ckhan
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  • thanks for sharing this but there's compatibility issues with win 8 using this – samayres1992 Dec 05 '12 at 03:14
  • @samayres1992 using with windows 8.1 on macbook no probs. Just remapped left alt key to left command key. You have to run it as Administrator. – angularrocks.com Dec 08 '13 at 02:45
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    FYI, remapkey still works in Windows 10. – yanigisawa Jan 04 '16 at 02:54
  • Works in Windows 10, but I found I need to run remapkey.exe in an administrator console, for it to be able to save the settings in the system registry. – Weiming Feb 18 '20 at 02:46
  • @Weiming No need for a console, just run it as administrator. – Jim Balter Jun 06 '20 at 09:03
  • The [Windows Resource Kit](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=17657) link is dead. *We're sorry, this download is no longer available.* Is there an alternative? – dbc Sep 24 '21 at 16:47
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    Seems like it's still available through the wayback machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20200804140757/https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=17657 – dbc Sep 24 '21 at 17:11
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There is a free tool that I used in Windows 7 and Windows 8 when I could no longer use the Windows Server 2003 remapkey utility. It's called SharpKeys. It does the same thing (with a different UI.

BUT, it doesn't work in Windows 8.1, and I have yet to find anything that does. It makes me sad, because MacBook Pro's don't have a Del key and I used to remap that to Right-Windows. Now I have to use the On Screen Keyboard to login.

Anyway, if you don't upgrade to Windows 8.1, then SharpKeys should be good for you.

karel
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Michael
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