Caps Lock Message

I live in New York(USA). I'm using a MS Natural Keyboard Pro which 5 years old. Maybe the caps lock function is built into newer keyboards? Could that be a possibility?

 

Hi, lj50.

Interesting idea. Thanks for sharing! At this point, I think just about anything's a possibility. We might be onto something.

Another possibility is it might be a BIOS setting. That would certainly explain why Pete has "always" had the on-screen notifier. Pete may have forgotten or even not known about the BIOS setting (if there is one for the notifier). Then again, it didn't show up in his Vista install. Maybe the BIOS manufacturer has to code such a setting for certain OS's. Maybe the feature is hardcoded into Pete's BIOS without any ability to disable it via his BIOS settings.

I checked my BIOS and there was no such keyboard setting. The only keyboard BIOS features for my motherboard (Asus A7V600 with Award BIOS rev. 1008) that I can control are

• Boot Up NumLock Status [On], [Off]
• Keyboard Auto-Repeat Rate [x/sec] (where x can be 6,8,10,12,15,20,24,30)
• Keyboard Auto-Repeat Delay [1/4 sec], [1/2 sec], [3/4 sec], [1 sec]

Anyway, I'm heading off to get some rest. Maybe I'll dream up other ideas to share.

 

AjsNightmare--Thanks for posting back. Glad to hear the problem is resolved. I hope it was my post #11 which led you to the fix.
http://delltalk.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=pw_input&message.id=273

This reference includes a Registry fix.

 

Hi, Welshjim.

I admit I didn't look at the link you provided which seems would have solved AjsNightmare's problem more quickly. I apparently got wrapped up in my own registry search quest and conversation with Pete and lj50. It's their fault!

Thanks for posting the link again to prompt us to take another look.

I even think the registry fix suggested in your link may be better than the msconfig solution AjsNightmare applied since I think using msconfig to disable startups forces the machine to start up in Selective Startup mode rather than Normal Startup mode.

Thanks again, Jim!


AjsNightmare, if you don't want to apply Welshjim's suggestion and you want to disable your BTTray a different way (that will still allow your machine to start up in Normal Startup mode), I suggest you try using Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel to disable BTTray instead of doing it via msconfig.

• Go into msconfig and select Normal Startup.
• Click the Apply button (and then the OK button if necessary).
• Reboot.
• Then run Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel, look under the various tabs, and UNcheck the box next to BTTray (and any other startups you might want to disable).
• Exit out of Startup Control Panel.
• Reboot.

 

Welshjim, I did indeed skim over that link you provided, but somehow I completely missed the info on BTTray.exe and only saw the the registry fix, sorry about that. It indeed would've sorted my problem straight away.

Are there any drawbacks from running in selective startup mode, rather than normal? I really don't like to go tampering in registry or downloading programs unnecessarily.

 

I checked my software and it states that its for wireless keyboards only and my keyboard is wired. So that's why I didn't have the problem. Thanks PeteC I completely forgot about the keyboard software angle.

 

Hi, Pete.

That's great news! Thanks for following up!

I assume you use a Microsoft keyboard.

Good thinking on checking out the keyboard variable! I mentioned using a no-frills keyboard with my pending XP install test (now unnecessary, thanks to you). Did that trigger your idea? (I like trying to see how problem solvers think.)

Does MS Intellitype Pro automatically install during a Windows install (i.e., PnP with software on the installation CD) or did you install it with a download or keyboard CD?


AjsNightmare, I don't know what potential drawbacks exist with disabling a startup via msconfig instead of Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel except...

I seem to recall reading elsewhere in these forums that some startups will re-enable themselves in the computer's startups on the next boot/reboot if they've been disabled via msconfig. Apparently (if I recall correctly), Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel will prevent that from occuring. Again, if I recall correctly, that's why I use Mike Lin's utility.

How does Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel prevent such persistent/annoying startups from re-enabling themselves? I don't know. I haven't tried to dig up that information yet. That's on my mental "Things To Do" list.

If the msconfig route works for you, I'd be inclined to say there's no potential harm.

(Feel free to skip reading the rest of this message. It's just drivel.)


I'm a bit compulsive about some things like having my machine start up in Normal mode. (I like "Normal ". ) That compulsion sometimes spills over when I offer suggestions to others. (I have to work on that. ) Your desire to refrain from editing the registry or downloading Mike Lin's utility certainly seems sound. In my experience, it's a bit like having a car with a bunch of bells & whistles. Things seem to be more likely to go wrong and troubleshooting becomes more difficult when they do, especially if some of the bells & whistles are aftermarket add-ons. Some people wish they could have a car with simple hand-crank windows. (Do manufacturers make such cars anymore?)

However, my compulsion to start up in Normal mode apparently has required me to modify my computer with a 3rd-party application which, in turn, makes my computer less "normal ". Now I have a dilemma! I'm going to go mow my yard now so I can stop obsessing about it.

BTW, I sometimes use excessive emoticons too. (I just discovered a maximum of 8 emoticons are allowed in these forums.)

 

mailman--

Just guessing, I think the reinstallation of a program into MSCONFIG is because of a setting within the program itself (like Options or Preferences). I would not think this would be any different in MSCONFIG|Startup compared to Mike Lin's program (which I would think would also be a deletion for the time being before a reboot), but if you find Mike Lin's program to be able to control the program itself, that would be most interesting news.

 

Hi, Jim.

Thanks for your heads-up. I thought I had recently read something about Startup Control Panel preventing startups from re-activating but I suspect my memory or understanding of what I read is inaccurate. Good thing I put all those "if I recall correctly" disclaimers in my post.

I popped open my browser history and there are waaayyy too many Windows BBS items to go back searching through all of them. However, I did poke through a few of them and also used the forum search...to no avail.

I'm sorry if I misled anyone.

 

Pete, thanks for sharing. I can now let that Caps Lock issue rest. Good thing it started bugging you though. Otherwise, we'd probably still be wondering/experimenting. I can even put off getting those new hard drives!

Thanks for reminding me. I have to register the jv16 PTs. I like 'em! I think I also have disabled startups in both apps, some in one and some in the other. I expect it's best I decide on one or the other so all the settings are in one place.

Thanks again!

 

msconfig and any 3rd party app disable startups the same way - resetting the registry for an app.

Some programs try to re start themselves the same way malware does, with a .dll file.

The difference is that Mike lin's program and others keep re setting the registry entry on the subsequent attempts.

I also use autoruns which lists the most auto-starting locations of any app I've seen so far: http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Autoruns.html

Regards - Charles

 

charlesvar--I understand from what you say that Mike Lin's program will stop the unwanted program from starting on subsequent boots. Very interesting.

 

Hi, Charles.

I don't understand the details about how DLL files are involved with startups.

I have a little background in programming (a few introductory Pascal and Fortran classes in college, even an introductory assembly language class ). I hypothesize these DLL files associated with these startups are similar to program subroutines with data included. Correct? (Here's a related discussion about DLLs.)

Would it be possible for 3rd party startup control programs to rename/remove the DLL file(s) associated with a startup program and then save a backup of those DLLs in case the user wishes to re-enable the startup program? It seem this would be a way to prevent a startup program from carrying out its task (unless the main startup program uses its own routine or another DLL to replace the renamed/removed DLL).

Wouldn't simply renaming/removing the main executable startup program file or removing the registry startup key for the main executable program (and saving a backup for restoration by the user) prevent such startups from becoming active?

I suspect malware often creates many copies/variations of it's main program, startup registry keys, and/or DLLs so in case one (or more) such item is removed, another one takes over and/or restores the item(s) if possible.

 

AjsNightmare:

I just ran across this thread that contains some cautions and opinions you may be intersted in.

 

Hi mailman,

I suppose, but one consideration is just because you don't want an app to start at boot up doesn't mean you won't want to use it on demand.

Sure, there are others you never want to see. I renamed Word's look for updates program's executable (forget what the name was) because I got tired of dealing with it and never wanted see it again. This was when I was running 98/WinME.

Deleting the registry is done by autoruns as an option, keeps a backup.

There are limitations to all startup blockers though, may work in the majority of instances, but they can be defeated in the way you describe.

A better way for the time being, are behavior blocking apps. The newest paid firewalls have that ability. I use both ZA Pro and Kerio (on different installations) and they will monitor file executes but not as comprehensivly as SSM - see below.

I use an app, System Safety Monitor http://syssafety.com/ which for a want of a better term is a Process Firewall. Untill the user gives permission, SSM will ask Permission/deny to allow/deny once or permanently. This also includes parts of the OS and OS calls - Notepad, or the sub routines of processes like System Restore for example.

An example: a start up monitor wouldn't concern itself with something like Roxio's updater which only starts if Roxio itself is started. So I created a permanent block on this particular executable from starting thru SSM.

Regards - Charles