wELL, i DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT i HATE IT WHEN MY cAPS lOCK KEY ON MY KEYBOARD GETS STUCK TO ‘on’.

Frankly, I’ve lost my ability to touch type thanks to this byproduct of the computer era – so when a fellow asked about disabling it, I did a quick search.

If you use Open Office, there’s an option to set chars to lowercase, found in the ‘Format’ menu, ‘Change Case’ option. But that just sets it all one way or the other (note to Open Office Folks – please help me out and add a menu option like ‘Swap Case’).

And older typewriters actually moved the button down with a click – and it stayed down – so there was no doubt what you were doing. But I suppose it’s too expensive to do that today.

However, good news – you CAN solve it – no software needed, just a registry edit.

For those technically inclined, the solution is to change the scan code of your keys – in this case, the Caps Lock key is changed into a Shift key – so unless you HOLD it down, no caps.

The tech details (and how to change it) are at Annoyances.org‘s site, but a much easier prepackaged solution is available from John Haller who offers a downloadable registry patch file (he also offers files for other key swaps).

Note that registry files like this are as serious as programs to download and run – DO NOT just grab them and use them. For safety, I’ve downloaded, checked it over, and placed a copy on my website. Using it is simple: just download the Capslock fix file here. When asked to save or run, save it, then run it, and allow the patch. Then, reboot your computer to activate the new key (and if you want to undo it, just download and run this one to clear the key settings back to original).

Simple, easy, and Caps Lock is only now Shift – SO i WON’T BE MAKING this MISTAKE AGAIN ANYTIME SOON…