Num Lock not turned on when booting Windows 8

Anonymous
2012-10-28T00:32:05+00:00

Hi everyone,

After turning on my system after loading Windows 8, the Num Lock does not turn on automatically as it is set in my BIOS.  I followed suggestions given in the forums and changed the registry entries for the InitialKeyboardIndicators key in the registry to have a value of 2.  This still does not work.

What I noticed is that if I sign off in Windows 8 and then select shut down after signing out, the num lock light will be on after rebooting my system.  However, if I go into settings and power off directly without signing off, num lock is turned off when I reboot my PC.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Michael

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2012-11-11T14:46:28+00:00

Try:

Control Panel => Hardware and Sound => Power Options => System Settings

Uncheck (Turn on fast startup).

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Anonymous
2016-08-28T18:06:06+00:00

I cannot find the suggested path in Windows 8.1's Control Panel.

See my hints on page 1 of this thread?   There is no direct path there.   You must take the detour via the "Choose what the power buttons do" link.   That's what I described as:   Win-X O, Tab, Tab, Enter.

BTW I am now using the W8.2 on Surface RT and although it has the above link it doesn't have any way of achieving the ultimate objective (of turning off "Fast Startup").   I do remember that I would have been using a real W8.1 to make my observations.  However, since this is essentially a BIOS function I now suspect you are more likely to be able to do something similar via the Advanced Restart function.   So, see if instead you can do what you need via  Win-w Advanced Startup Enter (and then Restart from there).

Good luck

Robert Aldwinckle

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-12-24T09:51:27+00:00

    Here are the steps to turn it on for anyone still looking:

    NOTE: Before modifying the registry it is recommended to back it up, just in case something goes wrong.

    • Hold the Windows key and press "r"
    • now type "regedit" and click "OK"
    • If prompted my the User Account Control (UAC) click "Yes"
    • In the left frame navigate to HKEY_Users/DEFAULT/Control Panel/Keyboard
    • In the right frame locate "InitialKeyboardIndicators" and right click on it.
    • Select "Modify..." and change the "Value Data" to "2"
    • Click "OK"
    • Close out of the registry editor and restart your computer.
    • You should now find that your NumLock key remains active.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-12-07T20:09:34+00:00

    while all the registry editing and stuff has worked so-so for people it seems, does anyone know if you can just set up an event in Task Scheduler? just some script to activate Num Lock at start up? The Task Scheduler does have the option to set up an event at start-up, I just don't know what the script could be, or if there even is one... I feel like if you were to just set this up, it would bypass all the registry stuff and any changes the Fast Boost makes (which how isn't there a way to edit what Fast Boost does, too? crazy), and I'm assuming it would run the script/activate num lock before you even get the prompt to enter your password/PIN

    or for example, a scripted task set to run at start up that does what they're talking about on this site. apparently it'll run in command line, so if you could do "numlock.exe on" at start, this should be a fix for all situations, right? i mean except for maybe if you do safe mode or something, because I'm guessing it doesn't run any of those things at start... 

    because the problem some people seem to be having with the registry fixes is that depending on where you edit it (the InitialKeyboardIndicators can be found under several locations) is that some of the edits don't take effect until you log in, and others say the problem occurs again after switching users.

    and again, if anyone knows how to do this it'd be a great help, because I don't know the first thing about scripting/command line/tasks/any of that, especially when it comes to writing them out

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-12-07T19:49:29+00:00

    while all the registry editing and stuff has worked so-so for people it seems, does anyone know if you can just set up an event in Task Scheduler? just some script to activate Num Lock at start up? The Task Scheduler does have the option to set up an event at start-up, I just don't know what the script could be, or if there even is one... I feel like if you were to just set this up, it would bypass all the registry stuff and any changes the Fast Boost makes (which how isn't there a way to edit what Fast Boost does, too? crazy), and I'm assuming it would run the script/activate num lock before you even get the prompt to enter your password/PIN

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