Enable / Disable Shortcut Keys on Vista

Since Windows has been around, there have been many shortcuts created for the more keyboard savvy people since they got into the mainstream. Many examples include pushing the Windows+E buttons for Explorer and of course Windows+D for the desktop. There are other shortcut keys also that you might not even have thought of. Let me make you familiar with the quick launch. Quick launch is a small section just besides the Start Menu button and contains icons so that you can quickly launch an application with click of a button. By default, this 'Quick Launch' section is disabled but you can enable it. Click the 'Start Menu' button and click 'Settings' and then click 'Taskbar and Start Menu'. A new window will appear, check the box that reads 'Show Quick Launch' and press 'OK' to confirm the changes.

Now, press the following keys to open the application.

Win + 1 = Show Desktop

Win + 2 = Internet Explorer

Win + 3 = Mozilla Firefox

Win + 4 = Yahoo Messenger

If you ever wanted to get to disable these shortcut keys, then proceed further. However, if you don't care and just want to try this out for experimental reasons, then keep on reading.

There is a way to actually get rid of it. It takes a simple registry edit hack, which can either be downloaded but you can also perform a manual registry modification.

Manual Registry Edit Hack

Click the 'Start Menu' button and then select 'Run' option. A new window will appear, there type "regedit" and press 'Enter' key. After the registry editor window appears, browse for the following key and if you are unable to find the key, then you will have to manually create the key.

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer

Next, you have to create a 32-bit DWORD called NoWinKeys and the value has to be 1. For it to properly work and take effect, you'll need to log off and then log back on for it to work without trouble.

Downloadable Registry Hack

You can download the file from the url

http://www.genericarticles.com/shortcut.zip

Disable Win+X Shortcuts

Just unzip the files and then double-click on the NoWinKeys.reg to finally disable all the shortcut keys.

Enable Win+X Shortcuts

Pretty much the same as disabling except you double-click on the RestoreWinKeys.reg and it should be back to normal.

Like previously stated before, you have to log off and then log back on for the changes to take effect, or you can also reboot your computer.