numlock not on at start?

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

XP saves the state of numlock during shutdown and restores it when rebooted.


"Cynthia G" <cynthiag31DONTREAD@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news Bcjd.29171$dj2.2058792@news20.bellglobal.com...
> Dimension XPST800r, PIII.
>
> I've noticed on my sister's system (which was once mine and it worked
> then) - the numlock is noton when windows starts.
>
> It is set to On in the BIOS and the light is on during boot, but goes out
> when we get to XP welcome screen and stays off until pressed to come on.
>
> What am I missing?
>
> TIA
> --
> Cynthia
> I don't read Hotmail - To mail me: cynthiag at canadiensfan dot com
>

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Bill Joy" schrieb:

> "Cynthia G" <cynthiag31DONTREAD@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news Bcjd.29171$dj2.2058792@news20.bellglobal.com...
> > Dimension XPST800r, PIII.
> >
> > I've noticed on my sister's system (which was once mine and it worked
> > then) - the numlock is noton when windows starts.
> >
> > It is set to On in the BIOS and the light is on during boot, but goes out
> > when we get to XP welcome screen and stays off until pressed to come on.
> >
> > What am I missing?
>
> XP saves the state of numlock during shutdown and restores it when rebooted.

Thats not completely right.

XP saves the state *for a user* when he logs off or shutdown the
computer. This saved state is restored, when the user login into XP.
As long as the XP-login screen is shown, the state of the numlock is
off! Just after login the last state is restored.

(E.g. what should XP do as long as the login-screen is shown, if there
are 2 user accounts on the machine, one user has enabled and the other
disabled num lock...).

I think there is a registry key, which enabled the numlock state on
login screen. Save this as "numlock.reg" and doubleklick on it:

----- numlock.reg -----
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard]
"InitialKeyboardIndicators"="2
-----------------------

Regards,
Manuel

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Manuel Fischer wrote:
> "Bill Joy" schrieb:
>
>> "Cynthia G" <cynthiag31DONTREAD@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news Bcjd.29171$dj2.2058792@news20.bellglobal.com...
>>> Dimension XPST800r, PIII.
>>>
>>> I've noticed on my sister's system (which was once mine and it
>>> worked
>>> then) - the numlock is noton when windows starts.
>>>
>>> It is set to On in the BIOS and the light is on during boot, but
>>> goes out
>>> when we get to XP welcome screen and stays off until pressed to come
>>> on.
>>>
>>> What am I missing?
>>
>> XP saves the state of numlock during shutdown and restores it when
>> rebooted.
>
> Thats not completely right.
>
> XP saves the state *for a user* when he logs off or shutdown the
> computer. This saved state is restored, when the user login into XP.
> As long as the XP-login screen is shown, the state of the numlock is
> off! Just after login the last state is restored.
>
> (E.g. what should XP do as long as the login-screen is shown, if there
> are 2 user accounts on the machine, one user has enabled and the other
> disabled num lock...).
>
> I think there is a registry key, which enabled the numlock state on
> login screen. Save this as "numlock.reg" and doubleklick on it:
>
> ----- numlock.reg -----
> Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
>
> [HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard]
> "InitialKeyboardIndicators"="2
> -----------------------
>
> Regards,
> Manuel

Thank you. I found instructions on Kelly's Korner website (can't
believe I didn't look there first). Since I've nver had the numlock off
on any of my systems, I thought this was peculiar to this one - never
occurred to me it might be a common issue.
--
Cynthia
I don't read Hotmail - To mail me: cynthiag at canadiensfan dot com

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Cynthia G" <cynthiag31DONTREAD@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Thank you. I found instructions on Kelly's Korner website (can't
>believe I didn't look there first). Since I've nver had the numlock off
>on any of my systems, I thought this was peculiar to this one - never
>occurred to me it might be a common issue.

Erm. There's "peculiar" and there's "peculiar". For those of us
for whom the AT keyboard was a new-fangled invention, numlock
*on* is peculiar. Many of us never got into the habit of using
the "T" cursor keys and the movement key-set that the AT keyboard
inserted between the asdfjkl; "typewriter" keyboard and the god
[aka IBM] mandated multi-fuction cursor/number keys. For us,
numlock on is abominable, and we have spent the time needed to
set numlock off as the boot-up state in the BIOS on every
80286-Pentiumwhatever machine we have ever bought/been assigned
to on our jobs.

Even in my declining years, it is always a psychic shock when
have to use someone else's computer [most often either a
bookkeeper/accounting machine or an engineer's machine] and find
myself seeing numbers when I hit page down when I open a
document. "That @_$&*U#_$ idiot has the numlock on."

ObWinkie: ;->
--
OJ III
[Email to Yahoo address may be burned before reading.
Lower and crunch the sig and you'll net me at comcast.]