After becoming sufficiently annoyed by one too many instances of accidentally pressing the CAPS LOCK key, I finally resolved to remove this little nuisance once and for all. Naturally, I did not feel compelled to pay money for software to fix a problem which I knew could be solved through the "master key which unlocks most of Windows secrets".... of course, I'm talking about the Windows Registry. Beginning my quest with Google, I found several pages dealing with Windows XP registry tweaks for remapping your keyboard.

In XP (and 2000), Windows introduced a feature called the Windows Scan Code Mapper. You can read about it on the MS Web site at www.microsoft.com/hwdev/tech/input/w2kscan-map.asp and also download the MS scan code listing (if you can't download from MS, try http://www.shoshin.co.jp/computer/cons/scancode.doc )

In short, this was the answer to how to disable the CAPS LOCK key.... well, not completely disable, but at least turn it into the much more benign (and useful) Shift key.

Right click Start, select Run, type in "regedit" and hit enter. You will be presented with the Registry Editor, which will enable you to edit the Windows Registry (which is really nothing more than a huge database of parameter values used by Windows and various programs). Be very careful here because editing your Registry can be very dangerous and can completely disable and screw up your computer.

Anyway, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout. If you do not see a REG_BINARY value called Scancode Map, then create one.

Now, edit Scancode Map and enter in the following string of Hex-based numbers:

00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 2A 00 3A 00 00 00 00 00

I will not explain what everything here means, but I will note that the word "02 00 00 00" contains the number of remappings (which is the number of mappings plus the null; i.e., 2), whereas the word "2A 00 3A 00" is the actual remapping of the CAPS LOCK key into the Shift key - caps lock's scancode is 3A (shown as 3A 00) and that is mapped to the left shift key (scancode 2A, shown as 2A 00). This is always in the form of "Target key, Key to Remap".

Of course, with Windows Scan Code Mapper, you can remap your keyboard anyway you want. Just find the relevant scan codes for the keys you want to remap, and alter your registry accordingly. Note that remapping changes require a reboot before they take effect.

Thanks Shawn - I've waNTED TO BE ABLE TO THIS FOR YEARS!

But surely on the keyboard you already have two Shift keys...

Oooo I understand... though I must say although this is irrelevant for me... thanks for helping me find where the registry is :)

Here are the various scan codes originally defined by IBM (you can see from the layout these were defined for the very first keyboard)...

hex 01 = Escape key
hex 02 = 1 or ! key
hex 03 = 2 or @ key
hex 04 = 3 or # key
hex 05 = 4 or $ key
hex 06 = 5 or % key
hex 07 = 6 or ^ key
hex 08 = 7 or & key
hex 09 = 8 or * key
hex 0A = 9 or ( key
hex 0B = 0 or ) key
hex 0C = - or _ key
hex 0D = = or + key
hex 0E = Backspace key
hex 0F = Tab key
hex 10 = q or Q key
hex 11 = w or W key
hex 12 = e or E key
hex 13 = r or R key
hex 14 = t or T key
hex 15 = y or Y key
hex 16 = u or U key
hex 17 = i or I key
hex 18 = o or O key
hex 19 = p or P key
hex 1A = [ or { key
hex 1B = ] or } key
hex 1C = Enter key
hex 1D = Control key (Left if two)
hex 1E = a or A key
hex 1F = s or S key
hex 20 = d or D key
hex 21 = f or F key
hex 22 = g or G key
hex 23 = h or H key
hex 24 = j or J key
hex 25 = k or K key
hex 26 = l or L key
hex 27 = ; or : key
hex 28 = ' or " key
hex 29 = ` or ~ key
hex 2A = Left shift key
hex 2B = \ or | key
hex 2C = z or Z key
hex 2D = x or X key
hex 2E = c or C key
hex 2F = v or V key
hex 30 = b or B key
hex 31 = n or N key
hex 32 = m or M key
hex 33 = , or < key
hex 34 = . or > key
hex 35 = / or ? key
hex 36 = Right shift key
hex 37 = * or PrtScr key
hex 38 = Alt key (Left one if two)
hex 39 = Space bar
hex 3A = Caps Lock key
hex 3B = F1 key
hex 3C = F2 key
hex 3D = F3 key
hex 3E = F4 key
hex 3F = F5 key
hex 40 = F6 key
hex 41 = F7 key
hex 42 = F8 key
hex 43 = F9 key
hex 44 = F10 key
hex 45 = Num Lock key on numeric keypad
hex 46 = Scroll Lock key on numeric keypad
hex 47 = 7 or Home key on numeric keypad
hex 48 = 8 or Cursor Up key on numeric keypad
hex 49 = 9 or Pg Up key on numeric keypad
hex 4A = - key on numeric keypad
hex 4B = 4 or Cursor Left key on numeric keypad
hex 4C = 5 key on numeric keypad
hex 4D = 6 or Cursor Right key on numeric keypad
hex 4E = + key on numeric keypad
hex 4F = 1 or End key on numeric keypad
hex 50 = 2 or Cursor Down kay on numeric keypad
hex 51 = 3 or Pg Dn key on numeric keypad
hex 52 = 0 or Insert key on numeric keypad
hex 53 = . or Delete key on numeric keypad
hex 54 = Sys Req key (on 84-key keyboard)
hex 57 = F11
hex 58 = F12
hex E1 = Pause key (on 101-key keyboard)
The following scan codes are preceeded by hex E0...

hex 1C = Enter key on numeric keypad
hex 1D = Control (Right if two)
hex 35 = / key on numeric keypad
hex 38 = Alt (Right if two)
hex 47 = Home
hex 48 = Up arrow
hex 49 = Pg Up
hex 4B = Left arrow
hex 4D = Right arrow
hex 4F = End
hex 50 = Down arrow
hex 51 = Pg Dn
hex 52 = Insert
hex 53 = Delete