NUM LK

[timwinters]

Now, all of a sudden, when I boot up my 1 yr old laptop (Dell Vostro 1510 running window XP pro) the NUM LK is on. It's not a big deal but it's aggrivating.

What did I do (if anything) that made this change?

More importantly, how do I shut it off?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[SkyHog]

Most computers have a BIOS setting that determines whether NUM Lock is on or off at boot. I'd start there.

 

[timwinters]

Most computers have a BIOS setting that determines whether NUM Lock is on or off at boot. I'd start there.

Thanks, Nick but it's not there...unless I'm missing something which is quite possible.

There were four screens: Main, Advanced, Boot & Exit. The only one with toggles is "advanced" and it's not there.

 

[SkyHog]

IF you don't have it in BIOS, there is a registry setting for Windows you can set. This works, don't change anything else in the registry, and you'll be fine:

Start>Run>regedit
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER>Control Panel>Keyboard
Change InitialKeyboardIndicators to 0

Close the registry and reboot.

Voila!

 

[timwinters]

Thanks again, Nick,

I navigated there, it was already "0". Just for grins I deleted the 0, rentered it and re-booted.

NUM LK was still on.

 

[Steve]

Did you page through every BIOS setup screen completely, using the page scroll and Alt-P to view every setting?

Also, have you checked the Dell support site for a BIOS update for your configuration?

Just some suggestions.

Thanks, Nick but it's not there...unless I'm missing something which is quite possible.

There were four screens: Main, Advanced, Boot & Exit. The only one with toggles is "advanced" and it's not there.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Laptop? Maybe the function key+"Num Lock" to toggle it?

 

[timwinters]

Did you page through every BIOS setup screen completely, using the page scroll and Alt-P to view every setting?

Well, I think so but I'll double check.

Also, have you checked the Dell support site for a BIOS update for your configuration?

No but I will and actually I think this started right after an automatic Dell update but can't swear to it.

Jack, function + NUM LK on my 'puter is SCROLL LK. But I just tried doing it anyway.

 

[timwinters]

Steve,

There was a BIOS update available so I installed it...no joy. NUM LK still comes on at boot up.

I scrolled through the BIOS again, twice, and still don't see anything regarding NUM LK.

By the way, I have 5 BIOS screens, not 4: Main, Advanced, Security Boot & Exit.

Thanks to all for the suggestions...I'll learn to live with it.

 

[gprellwitz]

I found a note that said

By default, the NumLock key is turned off as WinXP starts, and keeps it
off until someone logs in and initializes a [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]user [COLOR=blue ! important]profile[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]. WinXP will
remember the NumLock's last state, meaning that if you log out with the
NumLock on, it will automatically turn on the next time you log in; If
you log out with the NumLock off, it will be off the next time you log in.

Now this clearly isn't the behavior you're experiencing. Is it possible that your XP profile got corrupted somehow? What happens if you create a temporary user. Does that user have the same problem?

 

[timwinters]

Update,

Nothing worked, so I just got used to toggling off NUM LK every time I booted up.

Then two weeks ago, after an MS update, it quit coming on.

?

 

[SkyHog]

Update,

Nothing worked, so I just got used to toggling off NUM LK every time I booted up.

Then two weeks ago, after an MS update, it quit coming on.

?

LOL!! That's Microsoft for you. Was an undocumented feature

 

[RJM62]

LOL!! That's Microsoft for you. Was an undocumented feature

"It's not a bug, it's a feature." Man, I don't know how many times I've heard those words.

For what it's worth, I personally wouldn't flash a BIOS for a numlock problem. I've had a few BIOS updates go really bad. Only a few, but those few went really, really bad. I usually avoid them unless there's a real need to apply them. But that's just me.

-Rich

 

[SkyHog]

"It's not a bug, it's a feature." Man, I don't know how many times I've heard those words.

For what it's worth, I personally wouldn't flash a BIOS for a numlock problem. I've had a few BIOS updates go really bad. Only a few, but those few went really, really bad. I usually avoid them unless there's a real need to apply them. But that's just me.

-Rich

Yep. I stopped giving advice at that point, because I didn't want to see anything horrible happen at my advice