Apple Wireless Keyboard - ctrl-alt-del in XP?

the delete key on a mac keyboard and a windows keyboard are not the same. Look for something called rktools.exe- it's a collection of windows tools including one which will allow you to change the mapping of keys on your keyboard so that you can set one to send the signal a windows delete key sends.

I used keyswitch (probably something similar to what Dana mentioned) to remap the right option key to be DEL and the right command key to be INS so I can use my wireless keyboard with XP

Pressing fn-delete will create an actual delete, rather than a backspace. Useful for synergy as well.

Hi,

Here's what I did to get my keyboard working with Ctrl-Alt-Del.

Workaround for missing keys:
I prefer to have no background applications for remapping keys. Three Keys that I have remapped are:

1) Delete Key
This is essential if you want to depress Ctrl-Alt-Del to lock or access the task manager of your XP workstation! The delete key in an Apple Keyboard is actually the Windows Backspace Key. The two Apple Command Keys are equivalent to the Windows Key. I never use the Windows key, hence I remapped the Left Command Key to the Windows Delete Equivalent. I now can easily Lock my workstation Ctrl-Alt-Del in a very quick motion with three fingers on one hand.

2) Page Up / Pg Down. I remapped F12 and F11 to a Page Up and Page down respectively. These keys are a must for me in my daily Work routine for Office Applications.

I highly recommend Sharpkeys to make the remap. Keytweak is something more graphical, but does the same job. The neat thing about these two tools are they are not memory resident. These involve registry changes to WinXP upon a userlogin, hence no apps resting in the systray to get them to work.

Help: I'm unable to remap the Eject Key, Windows can't seen to read the scancodes on that key via sharpkeys or keytweak. If you manage to have a solution, drop me a note. I'd love to program that key as a hotkey to turn off my monitor or run a script.

More on how I setup my wireless keyboard on an XP Machine at:
http://edwinder.multiply.com/journal/item/1/HOWTO_Connect_the_Apple_Bluetooth_Wireless_Keyboard_2007_to_a_Windows_XPSystem

I would like to share my experience while trying to set up the Apple Wireless Keyboard with my "work" IBM T-42 laptop (in a docking station) that runs Windows XP professional. I purchased a D-Link DBT-120 dongle and was able to successfully pair the Apple wireless keyboard with my machine. Ctrl-alt-del did not work on the Apple keyboard, but I would pop open the laptop and use the laptop keys to perform this function. I also noticed that every once in a while the "a" key would stick and in the middle of typing a document or e-mail the screen would develop a mind of its own and "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...." would appear line after line and it was un-stoppable unless I re-booted the machine. I think I was accidently pressing the caps-lock key to initiate this action! This became too frustrating to me so I searched the internet for a solution. I downloaded Sharpkeys to remap the keyboard to disable the caps lock key and remap the delete key to the left windows key, all as recommended. To do the remapping I used a full sized external USB IBM keyboard. Thinking I was good to go, I rebooted my laptop to make the settings take effect only to discover I had no del key what so ever and I could not log into my computer!!! TOTAL PANIC had set in! I called my work's desktop support guys for help. After many hours in the "lab" my wonderful technician was able to hack into my hard drive and delete the change from the registry file and restore the default settings. Thus this lengthy story is a warning to all who try this. BE CAREFUL when making changes to a laptop or you could be totally hosed.
I shall be patient and hopefully Apple will release a driver for a PC that is applicable to laptops that do not have Windows keys. In the mean time I will use the wireless Apple keyboard on my MacPro desktop. Whew!!

MBDaines: I had the same problem as using using the DBT-120 and Apple Wireless Keyboard under Windows. The keyboard would get "stuck" all the type repeating the character (like AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA) and only a reboot would stop it. The keyboard would also continuously drop its connection after using Windows for only a few minutes.

The trick is to uninstall the Bluetooth drivers that come with the DBT-120 (it's the Toshiba stack) and let Windows XP install its own Bluetooth drivers (you need at least Service Pack 2). Just uninstall the Bluetooth drivers from Control Panel->Add Remove Programs, reboot, and let Windows pick up the DBT-120 on its own. You'll need to pair the keyboard with Windows again and set the properties for HID drivers in the Bluetooth settings for the Apple Keyboard. The Toshiba drivers are horrible and seem to cause a lot of problems with the Apple Keyboard.

As for sending CTRL-ALT-DEL in Windows, I found a great utility from Japan called "Apple Wireless Keyboard Helper for Windows". It's available here:

http://www.misuzilla.org/dist/net/applewirelesskeyboardhelper/index.en

You need to play with the default script in order to get CTRL-ALT-DEL mapped, but out of the box it does some great mappings like fn-Delete doing an actual delete the volume keys, etc. Everyone with the Apple Wireless Keyboard and Windows should check it out. I'll try mapping CTRL-ALT-DEL and posting the script if I can get it working.

Kirs: I greatly appreciate your response to my post. I followed your suggestions. I uninstalled the Toshiba stack of Bluetooth drivers (from the DBT-120), rebooted my IBM T-42 PC and let Windows pick up the DBT-120 on its own. I paired the Apple wireless keyboard and set the properties for HID drivers as you described below. The keyboard now works flawlessly, except for CTRL-ALT-DEL. My solution is to pop open the lid to the laptop and use the laptop keys for CTRL-ALT-DEL when needed. After my very sad experience with remapping keys (registry editing) and getting completely locked out of my computer, I am reluctant to try again (but I could be convinced....I am curious...). Thanks again. --M.