Turn NUM LOCK on at start-up

Anonymous
2009-12-27T01:45:17+00:00

How do you edit InitialKeyboardIndicators in the registry editor so num lock is on at start-up? One instruction I read said to change the value to 2.  The number that is already present is 2147483648 which I have no idea what it stands for!  Can anyone help me out here? Thanks

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2009-12-27T08:21:38+00:00

By default the numlock status is the same as it was in when you properly shut down the computer. If it was on when you shut it down it will be on when you again turn the computer on.

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Richard Urban

Microsoft MVP

Windows Desktop Experience/Security

"BJ55" wrote in message news:b6f5c70d-a053-431 1-946d-ba9e8879f644...

How do you edit InitialKeyboardIndicators in the registry editor so num lock is on at start-up? One instruction I read said to change the value to 2.  The number that is already present is 2147483648 which I have no idea what it stands for!  Can anyone help me out here? Thanks

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Anonymous
2010-06-04T13:27:04+00:00

I haven't read through every reply, but just in case there has not been an answer for this, here is what you do.

By default, NumLock, CapsLock, and ScrollLock are set to off on power up in WindowsXP.  If you want to modify this to allow one or all of them to be on by default at power up, follow the below instructions.

  1. Click Start
  2. Click Run
  3. Type RegEdit
  4. Expand to HKEY_Users
  5. Expand .Default
  6. Expand Control Panel
  7. Expand Keyboard
  8. Find sting value InitialKeyboadIndicators. (By default this will be set to '0' which means Num Lock, Scroll Lock, and Caps Lock are all turned off.)
  9. Double click the "InitialKeyboardIndicators" string value and make the following changes.
  • 0 - Turns off Num Lock, Caps Lock, and Scroll Lock
  • 1 - Turns on Caps Lock
  • 2 - Turns on Num Lock
  • 3 - Turns on Caps Lock and Num Lock
  • 4 - Turns on Scroll Lock
  • 5 - Turns on Caps Lock and Scroll Lock
  • 6 - Turns on Num Lock and Scroll Lock
  • 7 - Turns on Caps Lock, Num Lock, and Scroll Lock

Exit the Registry. When you restart, the new setting will take effect

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-07-11T23:47:43+00:00

    There's a similar nug in Hyper-V because it does not include any such BIOS option, and starts a VM with Numlock off by default.

    Properly setting the Nulock key ON when logged on, and copying the keyboard input layout and language from the current user to the system account used by the logon screen does not work.

    EAch time a VM is started, or when I log off the currenty user in a VM hosted by Hyper-V, the keyboard is reset of Numlock OFF. The keyboard is also reset when I am already logged on in the VM and I just exit the viweing terminal and restart it:: as I reconnect to the desktop with the RDP client or with the Hyper-V console, eahc time Numlock is forced off. In summary, Numlock state is NEVER remembered, but really actively forced (I even see the OSD message shown on screen when Numlock is forced off by the logon screen).

    This is a strange bug of Hyper-V. I wonder why it ever needs to do that when the keyboard is not even a compact keyboard layout for a notebook (I know that some notebooks don't have any numpad, annd the numpad is emulated by presssing Numlock to remap a part of the alphabetic keyboard: this only concerns some old quierky notebooks, most neotebooks that have a physical keyboard have a numpad today or no keyboard at all as there's only the onscreen keyboard which does not use any Numlock)

    Really, this old quirk in Windows for forcing numlock off each time we get to the logon screen is stupid, and obsolete for most people. It is really disturbing. This is a bug for Windows 7, 8, 8.1, Server 2008, Server 2012, Server 2012 R2, and now Windows 10 as well ! I supposed this was a fix only for a few notebook PCs, but it would have been better to use PlugnPlay detection of those PCs that may need sometimes this working mode. For most PCs this behavior is really undesirable

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-08-01T23:39:38+00:00
    • Press Win + R and type in Regedit
    • Navigate to registry key HKEY_USERS\Default\Control Panel\Keyboard
    • Right click on the “InitialKeyboardIndicators”, select Modify and change Value data from 2147483648 to 2147483650.
    • Exit Registry.

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