Want to set 'num lock' to be on and active at Windows 7 Log-in screen on new HP G60-530US laptop.

Anonymous
2009-11-18T21:19:38+00:00

Have tried a number of methods to have num-lock activated at Windows log-on that were suggested for XP and Vista, but with no success. These include making registry changes to set

InitialKeyboardIndicators to a value of 2 at

HKEY_USERS.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard and

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Keyboard

and also running a numlock.vbs script in

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

as per Microsoft support site http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/314879

Regardless of what I have tried, including shutting down with num lock activated, num lock will be 'off' when the computer is rebooted. There is no setting in the BIOS to control num lock. Does anyone have another suggestion?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2010-07-01T17:15:38+00:00

I experienced the same problem myself; fortunately, the solution is simple.  For some reason, the default value of some of the registry keys (not all) were changed in windows 7, which causes the system to apparently ignore the InitialKeyboardIndicators settings in the other locations.  All that is requireded is the performance of a search of the registry using regedit for that key.  It is important to use the find function to locate ALL keyboard keys forInitialKeyboardIndicators and set them to the same value setting.  The value options are as follows:

0 - Turn all indicators Off (NumLock, CapsLock, ScrollLock)

1 - Turn CapsLock On

2 - Turn NumLock On

3 - Turn CapsLock and NumLock On

4 - Turn ScrollLock On

5 - Turn CapsLock and ScrollLock On

6 - Turn NumLock and ScrollLock On

7 - Turn all indicators On (NumLock, CapsLock, ScrollLock)

In my case, the string value was some 7 or 8 digit number such as 21765430.  These entries are the cause of the reboot change in the num lock status.  If you want it on when you boot, set the string value to 2 in all the keys with numeric values.  Problem solved!

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-07-12T08:25:20+00:00

    Since Windows 7 ignores the BIOS setting for NumLock, trying to set the Bios is rather useless..

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-07-07T23:53:05+00:00

    FYI,  I never used a password to sign into my or other users on my computer. I had two email spammer issues in the last year so I took the recommendation to use a password for my account. My num lock is set to turn on in my bios. After creating a password, I noticed my num lock key was turned off before I got to the password screen. I would turn the num lock on and it would shut off as I accessed my account. I normally just press the power off button when I wanted to shut down my computer. I found out through this thread that unless I log off first then the computer will not remember to turn the num lock on after login. That issue is solved. The real problem is that with a password protected account the num lock still shuts off when the password screen is displayed. I either have to use the number keys on the keyboard or press  the num lock key to enter a numeric password. Why would Windows 7 do this and why can't this be addressed by the engineers after all these years?

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-05-11T20:13:31+00:00

    HKEY-USERS

                                                                 DEFAULT

                                                                         CONTROL PANEL

                                                                                  KEYBOARD

                                                                                     INITIAL KEYBOARD INDICATORS

    Change the last two numbers from  2147483648 to  2147483650

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-05-04T03:39:43+00:00

    Wow Shawn, I am a little stunned. The implication in your response here is that keyboard functionality is not or cannot be controlled by the OS. I'm surely no expert but even I know that simply doesn't make a lot of sense. Of course such operations can be edited in the registry to change behavior/functionality. The post by CEPtor correctly points out what and how to change the InitialKeyboardIndicators key.

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