The following works in XP, should work in win2k as well:

----------------------------------------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout];
"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,05,00,00,00,1D,00,38,00,38,00,1D,00,1D,E0,38,E0,38,E0,1D,E0,00,00,00,00
----------------------------------------------------------

Copy this to a text file and save it as "swapkeys.reg". 
Doubleclick to open it and confirm that you want to 
insert the contents in your registry. 
Reboot, and your Ctrl and Alt keys will be swapped.

The idea is to create a "Scancode Map" key in 
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout". 
This should contain a series of hex codes on which keys to exchange 
(boy, do I ever miss the key remap program in the Win95 kernel toys. 
Or even Xmodmap under Unix!).

Details of how this works can be found at

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,65157,pg,3,00.asp

and

http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/tech/input/w2kscan-map.asp

The above article notes the shortcomings of this method: 
it applies to all users and all keyboards and requires rebooting. 
I'd appreciate information on a more elegant freeware or shareware solution.

A caveat with regard to the above registry hack: it swaps Ctrl and Alt, 
but the distinction between right and left Ctrl and Alt is lost 
(specifically, the lefthand Ctrl and Alt are recognized as 
the righthand Crlt and Alt). 
Usually no problem except perhaps for some games. 
Suggestions are of course welcome.

Hope this helps,
John Hendrickx
(formerly Mad Mackx)





On Tuesday, April 2, 2002 at 1:59 pm, mister B wrote:
>neat, but is there anything that works in win2k that swaps the ctrl and alt keys? 
>I am a long-time Mac user and am constantly hitting alt which is where the cmd key 
>is on a Mac. plus the ctrl key is in a really awkward position. whose idea was that? 
>dumb...
>

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