Here’s a handy registry tweak for Windows 7 to enable or disable the Windows key!
When you press the windows key, it will open the Start menu minimizing any full screen program or game running. It can be very annoying if this happens while you are in middle of some game or work. Like, when I used to play Warcraft 3 (Dota) and it is really annoying if I accidently press the windows key rather than the hotkey I wish to use.
(1) Open Registry Editor by typing regedit in Start Menu search and press enter.
(2) Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetControl.
(3) Expand Control folder and open the Keyboard Layout folder.
(4) Look for this entry “ Scancode Map” and if it doesn’t exist, create a new binary key with this name.
- To create the key, click on the Edit menu, click Add Value, type in Scancode Map, click REG_BINARY as the Data Type, and then click OK.
- Or Right Click > New > Binary Value and change name to Scancode Map
(5) Right-click on the key Scancode Map and select Modify. Type 00000000000000000300000000005BE000005CE000000000 and hit Enter.
The Windows key should now be disabled. To enable the Windows key, simply delete the key Scancode Map.