Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Mac hardware: How do i print screen on a PC with a Mac Keyboard??

I have a Apple Mac Pro, but when I'm booted directly into Windows Vista (using Boot Camp) how do I do a Print Screen?

The Apple Keyboard is missing the "Print Screen", "Scroll Lock", and "Pause/Break" keys that a normal PC Keyboard has.

I'm using Windows Vista Ultimate x64, and apparently this issue has NEVER been addressed or fixed by Apple, because I've seen posts dating back over 4 1/2 years on this same issue/problem, and I've seen fixes for Windows XP, but nothing for Vista. I found this article addressing the issue:

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7592_102-0.html?forumID=25&threadID=12105&messageID= 137974

I did find this software application, but it only works on Windows XP (not Vista):

http://www.dieselstation.com/software/

Is there any Easy way to Map and allow the use of Apple keyboards in Windows Vista?

AppleKeys allows the use of Apple keyboards on a Windows machine. It properly emulates the F13 - F15 keys to "print screen, scroll lock, and pause/break" accordingly.

Why hasn't Apple just added a "Keyboard Emulator" in the Boot Camp client that gets installed Vista? I'm currently running Boot Camp client version 2.1, why doesn't Apple just add a keyboard emulator/keyboard mapper inside the Boot Camp version 2.1 client?

This way the F13-F15 keys will automatically emulate the "print screen, scroll lock, and pause/break" keys properly like on a PC keyboard.

I've searched everything, and this has turned into such a time consume and HEADACHE of a project, and I'm really disappointed that Apple has "dropped the ball" on something so simple.

If a third party person, had to create the "Apple Keys" program (to run under Windows XP) you'd think that this is a problem, and that Apple would finally address this problem?

Could someone from Apple, please take the time and fix this? At least copy, or make something similar to the "Apple Keys" program that automatically install inside the Boot Camp client, so when a person installs Windows Vista, and the Boot Camp client installs inside Windows Vista it will automatically run a keyboard emulator (similar to Apple Keys) so that you can properly use the F13-F15 keys on the Apple Keyboard as "Print Screen", "Scroll Lock" and "Pause/Break".

Could Apple do this, and push out a Boot Camp Version 2.2 update with this feature added to Boot Camp? I would greatly appreciate it, as would most of the other Windows Vista users I'm sure.

Apple Keys does not work for Windows Vista, only Windows XP and I've been unable to find an alternative Fix, and I wish that Apple developers would just get off their tail and finally FIX this problem!

C'mon guys, you've known about this 4 1/2+ years, and why does it take some third-party person to create an application like "Apple Keys" just to fix the issue?

Well the author of that program is no longer available, the website is gone, and I've been unable to find a way to contact him (or ask him to update his program for Windows Vista), but all these headaches shouldn't be necessary. All this stuff should just "WORK" right out of the box, and Apple developers really should have thought of this, and just added something this simple to Boot Camp plugin/client, that way when the Boot Camp 2.1 installs inside of Windows Vista, it will install the Apple Keyboard Emulator which will automatically emulate the PC keyboard, and emulate the F13-F15 keys as "Print Screen, Scroll Lock, Pause/Break". The normal PC keyboard doesn't even have a "F13-F15 keys" and only goes up to F12, so you would think that Apple could just do something SIMPLE like emulate the keys on the PC Keyboard, and just use the F13-F15 keys as the "Print Screen, Scroll Lock, and Pause/Break" keys.

I would greatly appreciate it if a Apple Developer could begin working on this, and just push it out as a Boot Camp Version 2.2 update. So that it will fix these problems for all Apple/Windows Boot Camp users running Vista.

Thank-you!

Apple Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.4)

Posted on Nov 20, 2008 10:35 AM

Reply
3 replies

Nov 20, 2008 10:46 AM in response to nextech

AppleKeys allows the use of Apple keyboards on a Windows machine. It properly emulates the F13 - F15 keys to "print screen, scroll lock, and pause/break" accordingly. Unfortunately AppleKeys only works on Windows XP and earlier, and it has been discontinued by the author.

Why hasn't something as simple as this been addressed or FIXED by Apple?

Why hasn't Apple just added a simple "Keyboard Emulator" (identical to AppleKeys) inside the Boot Camp client that automatically gets installed on Vista or Windows XP? I'm currently running Boot Camp client version 2.1 in Vista Ultimate x64, why doesn't Apple just add a keyboard emulator/keyboard mapper inside the Boot Camp version 2.1 client? So that the Apple Keyboard properly emulates the F13 - F15 keys to "print screen, scroll lock, and pause/break" automatically when the Boot Camp client is installed in Vista?

Are the Apple Developers "sleeping on the job"? Surely something SO SIMPLE wouldn't be hard to add or fix. VMWare Tools guys seem to do a great job, I would think that Apple would begin working on a fix for this, and finally address the issue and fix this. Give us a client application that we can install that will work on Windows XP and Windows Vista that will allow our Apple Keyboards to map/emulate a Windows PC Keyboard inside Windows XP or Windows Vista automatically. This could easily be done when Vista installs Boot Camp client (automatically) inside of Vista, Apple could then install a PC Keyboard emulator to support the Apple Keyboard that would map/emulate the F13-F15 keys on a Apple keyboard to the standard "Print Screen, Scroll Lock, and Pause/Break" keys on a PC Keyboard.

C'mon Apple, please just fix this problem and make life a little easier on your users. I just bought a Mac Pro, and I'm a new Apple Mac user and I'm just really disappointed that something so simple still hasn't been addressed or FIXED by Apple. It should be automatic, and I shouldn't have to hunt and search the internet trying to find a solution, just to fix something so simple.

Apple Developers really dropped the ball here, and I would like to see them create an Apple Keyboard Client that will automatically be installed in Windows XP or Windows Vista that will properly map/emulate the PC Keyboard, so that the F13-F15 keys can be properly used as "Print Screen, Scroll Lock, Pause/Break".

Thank-you, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE fix this issue!

Nov 27, 2008 11:06 AM in response to nextech

nextech wrote:
I have a Apple Mac Pro, but when I'm booted directly into Windows Vista (using Boot Camp) how do I do a Print Screen?

The Apple Keyboard is missing the "Print Screen", "Scroll Lock", and "Pause/Break" keys that a normal PC Keyboard has.


There are several things that we all want to do at one point or another after booting to Windows Vista or XP utilizing Boot Camp on a MacBook Pro (MBP). Things that we find we cannot do, because the keys we need are not on the built-in portable keyboard.

One of these things is to PRINT SCREEN or PRINT ACTIVE WINDOW when running Windows. In order to print screen, you need to hold down fn-shift-F12 simultaneously, this will put a copy of the screen on the clipboard, which you can now paste into a program such as Paint (Start menu-All Programs-Accessories-Paint app). For just the active window, include the alt key for the following four key combo, fn-shift-F12-alt

These and several other keyboard equivalents are listed in the Apple Support document: “Boot Camp: MacBook Pro built-in keyboard mapping in Windows” found at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1220

I have two blog posts that cover this issue more in depth, as well as how to address the missing right-click mouse key on the MacBook Pro at http://www.gehr.info

Mac hardware: How do i print screen on a PC with a Mac Keyboard??

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.