Eric S

I posted this info via Usenet before, but it never seems to get to BE. So I'm posting it directly here this time.

If you use Windows, there is an easy way to set up an alternate keyboard layout for almost any language. And it doesn't cost anything. See here for instructions on how to do it: http://erickeyboard.home.comcast.net/. The instructions are for the Spanish keyboard, but it is similar for any other language. Just pick the one you want from the list.

We've set up my wife's computer with the Spanish keyboard and she loves having the layout (with accents and 'ñ') the same as it was on her computer back home.

- Eric S.

Noorah101

Hey Eric,

Thanks for that. I tried to do this, and followed the correct procedure for Windows 2000, then followed the link to the way the screen looks for XP (even though I don't have XP at work, that's how the screen looked as opposed to the NT version). But then it says to open the "Regional and Language Options", but all I have is "Regional Options"....not Language. When I clicked on Regional Options, it looked different than in the instructions. So...I guess it won't work from my computer here at work...

Rene

Eric S

Rene,

When you open the Keyboard Properties window from the Control Panel, try clicking on the "Change..." button. Then, see if you can follow the XP instructions from there.

- Eric S.

Noorah101

OK, I tried that, and the only language in the pull-down menu is English. Evidently there's nothing else installed on my work computer. I'll look at mine at home tonight.

Thanks,
Rene

Eric S

When you got to the Text Services and Input Languages window, did you click the Add button? Or did you just try to open pull-down menu directly from there?

- Eric S.

Noorah101

Aha! It worked this time. I guess you have to reboot the computer to make it start up in the new language?

Thanks Eric, I set it up for Turkish on my keyboard.

Rene

HunterGreen

Thank you Eric! I missed that a lot!

Karma for you.

Elaine

Hypertweeky

Cool, Thanks Eric!

Just Jenney

This is what we've done, but in reverse. Mark brought his keyboard (and other computer components) from the UK, then it up so when I'm logged in under my account, the keys are American English.

For instance, when I type Shift-3, I get a # and not a £ -- even though the "3" key has a £ on it. It works for me, though. I imagine it would be a bit harder for people who aren't very good typists and have to look at the keyboard every 2 seconds, because what's printed on the keys won't match up with what they're trying to type.

When Mark's logged in under his account, he gets to use the keyboard as-is, so Shift-3 is £ and the key I'd use for a backslash (\) is # for him.

If I want to type a £, I can't do so directly from the keyboard, so I use Alt codes instead.

~ Jenney

Eric S

If you installed both layouts on your account, you could switch back and forth. And then it would be a lot easier for you to type a £ when you needed to.

- Eric S.