Keyboard Remapper KeyTweak
Keytweak is a keyword remapper that is compatible with all NT based versions of the Windows operating system including Windows XP, Windows Vista and even newer versions of the Windows operating system even those were never officially supported by the developer.
The main difference between Keytweak and Sharp Keys, the remap keyboard tool that we reviewed a week ago, is mainly the graphical user interface and the better help system that Keytweak is offering.
KeyTweak
KeyTweak displays a full keyword plus specialty buttons in its interface when you launch it on your system. A click on a button on that virtual keyboard will display the current keyboard mapping of the key and the option to remap the key using a pulldown menu. One interesting and very helpful feature of the software program is that it is showing the default keys of the selected keys so that you can undo any of the changes made and restore the original mapping.
This means that it is possible to remap keys and undo the changes easily by either remapping the key to the default one again or by clicking on the restore Default button in the lower half of the interface.
The interface looks a bit crowded as it lists lots of buttons and options. It is not that complicated once you understand that the "specialty buttons" section lists keys that you may find on some keyboards only.
Another option provided by the keyboard remapper is to disable a key completely. Could be used to disable keys that you don't require at all or hit accidentally at times. The specialty buttons section contains buttons for many multimedia and specialty buttons that are available on several keyboards. It is possible to remap those keys as well.
Keytweak comes with a teaching mode that can be used to remap keys as well. It works by simply pressing two keys on the keyboard with the option to remap key 1 to key 2. The main benefit of Keytweak is the visual representation of the keyboard and that it is easy to restore the keyboard defaults. All remapped keys are underlined in the program interface.
Update: KeyTweak's homepage is no longer available. We have uploaded the latest version of the program to our own download server. You can download the program with a click on the following link. Please note that we don't support it in any way and have done so only for archiving purposes: (Download Removed)
Can one use Keytweak to remap to a key that doesn’t appear on the standard US keyboard? My new HP has assigned another symbol to the key combination that I use to produce the German sharp S, which is usually controlled from the rt-alt + s combination on the US international keyboard. I reassigned the key combination that HP had registered for it (not this one, but ctrl+alt+s) and this freed it up inside microsoft products, but I need a system-wide solution. So I’d like to reprogram the keyboard, but Ii don’t want to have pick a US keyboard key, but rather the sharp s character.
Sue Ellen Wright
Sorry Sue,
Key Tweak cannot do this. It can only remap or disable single keys that already exist on your keyboard. And, it cannot remap a single key to a key combination, such as ctrl+alt+s or even right-alt+s, and further cannot remap a key to a foreign symbol or character.
Key Tweak does its remapping by altering the registry, and this method only provides for single key to single key remapping.
But, you can HOLD DOWN the ALT key while typing 0223 on the numeric keypad, to generate the German sharp S!