Remapping keys Dec 15, 2004 11:22
About 8 months ago I switched keyboards. I had been using an old-skool 101-key standard keyboard. A long time ago I had tried some of my friend's ergonomic keyboards: the Microsoft Natural keyboard and the Kinesis Ergo keyboard. I didn't like either of them.
But I decided to make an honest effort to try another ergonomic keyboard. I have never had any physical problems as a result of using a particular keyboard; I just wanted to see if I would be more comfortable using a different keyboard. I wanted to have a fairly standard keyboard layout so I decided to try a TypeMatrix keyboard. At the time the only keyboard they had was the EZ-Reach 2020.
So I got my keyboard off ebay and started using it at work. I continued to use my old-skool 101 at home. After a few weeks I got pretty used to the typematrix keyboard. It probably took longer because I was still using my old keyboard. Regardless, I got used to it and actually really liked it except for one thing: the home/end keys required a 2-key combination. That sucks since I use home/end all the time.
I really love the layout of the arrow and home/end/page up/page down keys on a standard 101 keyboard. So hitting "function" and "F9" to go home was a PITA. But I lived with it for a while until my left hand and wrist started to hurt. :( Ironically, I had never had any pain or discomfort in my hands/wrists until I started using an ergonomic keyboard. If you look at the key layout you can see that I had to really stretch my left pinky to hit the function key in the corner. This was causing the problem.
So I bought an external numeric keypad and used it as a navigation keypad. I also got a more supportive chair at work since my tailbone started to hurt. I started to do RSI stretch exercises and things got better; they got a lot better. I have to say that despite this one problem, I really do like the typematrix keyboard, the keys are more spread out and it is very comfortable to use. Perhaps I am just getting old and the keyboard change was just a coincidence...but I doubt it, no one ages that fast.
So I lived with this setup for a while until I saw the new model TypeMatrix just introduced. It looked good from a navigational perspective, except they moved the function key up and the control key down!! Argh. As a programmer, I would argue that Alt/Ctrl are just as important as the Enter key. I emailed them with my comments, they replied courteously, but didn't really offer any solution besides using software to remap various keys. Duh, I should have thought about this before.
Looking into the possibility of remapping keys, I found that 2k and XP support remapping by modifying the registry. Here is another link; I ended up using the "USB HID to PS/2 Scan Code Translation Table" to find the right key codes to remap. The disadvantage of this approach is that it does it for all users of a computer, but I don't share my __personal__ computer with anyone. Besides, they can't type on the keyboard anyway. :)
After a few reboots and experimentation, I have remapped the right-alt and right-ctrl keys to home and end. This works nicely because I very rarely use the right alt/ctrl keys. The actual value that goes into the registry is a bit convoluted to figure out, but it's not that hard. I removed my numeric keypad and am now painfree...at least so far. I have also ordered another EZ-Reach 2020 for home.
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