TR Dojo: Disable Sticky Keys and Filter Keys warning messages in Windows

Background noise

>> Bill: If you've ever held down the right shift key while thinking about which key to press next you've probably been stopped in your tracks by a pop-up window. Well, I'm Bill Detwhaler and during this episode of TR DoJo I'll explain what these pop-ups are and how to disable them.

Background noise

>> Bill: Microsoft Windows includes several very beneficial accessibility options that help many individuals use their computers, however, some of those accessibility options can be a real annoyance to users who don't need them. For example, in Windows 7 and some earlier versions of Windows pressing the left shift key 5 times in quick succession will display a dialogue box asking if you want to turn on sticky keys. Likewise, if you hold in the right shift key for 8 seconds or more, which I seem to do all the time, you'll be presented with a dialogue box asking if you want to turn on filter keys. Now, if you don't use these features and would like Windows to stop asking if you want to then I have just the tip for you. With a quick trip into the control panel and a few clicks of the mouse you can prevent the sticky keys and filter keys pop-up warnings from appearing. I'll start with the sticky keys feature. Now, if the sticky keys dialogue box is still on the screen then you can just click the link in the box to get to where we need to go otherwise you'll need to navigate to the control panel and then click the ease of access entry. Now, on the following screen click on the change how your keyboard works link. Then you'll need to scroll down to the section titled make it easier to type. By default most of the items in this section are unchecked but even so that doesn't prevent Windows from asking if you want to turn on the features every time you press the corresponding key sequence. To turn off the notification dialogue box and thus relieve the annoyance you'll need to dig a bit deeper, so click on the set up sticky keys link and then uncheck the turn on sticky keys when shift is pressed 5 times box. Now, this will finally prevent Windows from asking if you want to enable the feature. Now that we've disabled the sticky keys pop-up let's tackle the filter keys warning, which I seem to trigger at least once a week. So navigate back to the control panel, click ease of access and then click change how your keyboard works again. Now, back down in the make it easier to type section click the set up filter keys link. Now, from the following screen just uncheck the turn on filter keys when right shift is pressed for 8 seconds box and you're good to go. As I mentioned earlier the ability to enable sticky keys or filter keys is vital for many people to successfully use a computer, and I don't really recommend that you disable these features on computers deployed within an enterprise or in public places, but if you don't use these features on your personal machine and find yourself annoyed by the pop-up notifications then I hope these tips will help. And as always for more teachings on your path to becoming an IT Ninja visit TRDoJo.TechRepublic.com, sign up for our newsletter or follow me on Twitter. Again, thanks for visiting the TR DoJo.

Silence

>> Bill: beep Microsoft Windows includes several -- ah. Includes several. If you've ever held down the right shift key while someone is walking through the hall and opening the door outside then you probably have the camera man telling you to wait until they move and the noise goes away. laughing

==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====