Got a Beef With Your Setup? Fix It Your Way

Back in 1974, Burger King launched its famous “Have it your way” commercial, inviting customers to order their burgers any way they wanted.

Although most people use their software pretty much the way it comes from the publisher, PC users also have choices. There are ways to customize Windows and some application programs so that you--not just the software publisher--have control over how they operate.

Even the layout of your keyboard can be modified. Keyremap, a little-known, free program from Microsoft, enables you to swap certain keys. I use the Ctrl key a lot and hate having to hyperextend my pinky every time I press it, so I used the program to swap the left Ctrl key with the Caps Lock key, which is just to the left of the A key. It’s not the way the keyboard designers think it should be, but that’s how I like it.

You can get Keyremap by going to any major search Web site or the Microsoft Web site (https://www.microsoft.com) and searching for “Windows 95 Kernel Toys Set.” Don’t let the name fool you; it also works with Windows 98 and Windows ME, although it doesn’t work with Windows 2000 and NT. After you download and run the program, right-click on the Keyremap.inf file and select “Install.” Then click on the Keyboard icon in the Windows Control panel and select the Remap tab.

If you’re a Microsoft Office user, you have a lot of control over the way the programs work. I use Word to write my columns and have modified it to suit the way I work. For example, before I can submit a column to this newspaper, I have to enter a number of special codes. Rather than do that by hand, I have created a “macro” to automate the process. It’s a very long and complex sequence, but, thanks to the “record” feature, I had to type it only once.

You can create a macro from the Tools menu by selecting “Record New Macro.” Give the macro a name, perform some actions or type some text and, when you’re done, press the tape recorder-like stop button on the toolbar that pops up. Then select Macro from the Tools menu and double-click on the name of the macro you created. It should faithfully replay your keystrokes and mouse clicks. You can then assign a keystroke to that macro, place it on a menu or assign a button to it on a toolbar--or all three if you like. To find out how to do that, just look up macro in Word’s Help system.

I created my own custom menu for commands I use frequently. When my children were in elementary school, I created a special toolbar for them that made Word extremely easy to use with just the commands they needed for their schoolwork.

Don’t worry. You can always reset Word back to the default if you don’t like what you create.

As you may know, Windows allows you to create shortcuts that make it easier to launch your programs. If you don’t know how to do that, select Help from the Windows Start menu, click on the Search tab and type “creating a shortcut.”

What many people don’t know is that you can assign a hot key to a shortcut that lets you launch or switch to programs just by pressing a function key or a letter key in conjunction with the Ctrl and Alt keys. You start by right-clicking any shortcut icon. Select Properties and then click the Shortcut tab. In the line that says “Shortcut key,” type any function key or any letter key. If you type a letter, you’ll have to use it along with both the Ctrl and Alt keys. Then select OK and press that function key. With any luck, the program should start running.

If you have Windows 98 or later, you also have control over the Windows Start menu. Use your mouse to go to the Programs area of the Start menu and right-click on a program you use frequently. With the right mouse button held down, drag that icon to the top half of the main area of the Start menu. Let go of the right mouse button and select Copy here. A copy of that icon now appears on your main menu, making it easier to launch the program in the future.

Now, like those Burger King customers, you can “have it your way.” Just be careful not to spill ketchup on the keyboard.

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Technology reports by Lawrence J. Magid can be heard between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. weekdays on the KNX-AM (1070) Technology Hour.