my num lock keeps shutting itself off by itself can i stop this

My defaut value is 2147483648.

When i try to change the value to 2. This Error message comes up....

"Error Editing Value."

"Cannot Edit InitialKeyboardIndicators: Error writing the value's new contents."

What do i do now please?

Thanks

You need to be logged in as an administrator. If you are and you still cannot edit the field, try right clicking on the registry key ("Keyboard" in this case) and click "Permissions...". Click Administrators and make sure it is set to Full Control. You can also do this globally for all keys with the Permissions option in the Edit menu.

The value was 2.

This is most annoying because when the num lock switches itself off and you type on it, the cursor jumps to another spot in your document.

Hi Celia, the registry fix provided in this thread is not intended to address the numlock key spontaneously toggling states. It is only intended to fix a situation where the numlock key is disabled at startup.

The problem you describe stems from a bug in Microsoft Office that Microsoft has been unable to fix and unwilling to provide a work around (for ten years *cough*). It may be triggered when running a macro enabled workbook, Access front end, or any other Office product/file. Frankly it's very hard to track down.

The easiest solution is to install a third party utility called NumLocker.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Miscellaneous/NumLocker.shtml

Again, to anyone reading, there are two separate problems described in this thread.

1. The initial keyboard state; numlock is disabled at startup.
2. Numlock spontaneously toggles itself during normal use.

The former is corrected with the registry fix described at the front of the article (set InitialKeyboardIndicators = 2). The latter is corrected by identifying which macro-enabled Office file, VB front end, or other related application is triggering the state change, or by installing the handy NumLocker utility.

Finally, a fix suggested by Microsoft that actually worked!

Thank you, thank you. thank you.

Hi vargatron,

a. Was it working fine earlier?

b. Do you remember making any recent changes to your computer?

Important: This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the windows help article below.

Back up the registry**http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Back-up-the-registry**

1. Go to start and type regedit.exe.
2. Navigate to HKEY_USERS.Default\Control Panel\Keyboard.
3. You'll see an entry on the right called InitialKeyboardIndicators. The "usual" default value is 0. Double click on this entry and change the value to 2.
4. Close registry editor.

Restart the computer. The issue should be fixed by now.

Regards,

Divya R – Microsoft Support.

where on this white HP keyboard is the numbers lock key.