One of my peeves against propagated obsolete legacy is the caps lock key for computers. I hate it. In the 32 years that I’ve been using computers, I don’t think that I’ve ever hit it intentionally. It is where it is because typewriters used it to mechanically lock down the shift key.
But I have yet to meet anyone who types in all caps, except to indicate online screaming. Even then, it isn’t hard to hold a shift key with a pinky while typing with the other 9 fingers.
But now there is a fix! In every version of Windows since W2K, there is a secret patch that lets you convert any key to another. I’ve chosen to make CAPSLOCK into a simple shift. If I really need to lock caps, I can do it through software, or convert another useless key (e.g. scroll lock) into caps lock.
I found the magical tool in JohnHaller.com’s Useful Stuff essays: Disable Caps Lock. It’s a simple registry tweak that he found at annoyances.org (where they have full technical details).
Just download and launch the tweak. You get warnings, But it works! Just follow the directions and you’ll never be bothered by caps lock again.
Here is where you can get a simple utility that you can put on your desktop in case you actually need to turn capslock on and off: CapsLock v1.00 free from RJL Software (certified for Win95 through Vista, probably will work on W7)
Note: You will need to create a shortcut to pass it the "off" command, but you can just run it to lock caps on.
Dan: Excellent! I'd bet I've backspaced one million keys over my life in order to get rid of errant caps lock capital letters. I'm going to try your suggestion.
For my latest Win7 laptop, I re-researched this issue, and found a better source. This link (Disable Caps Lock Key in Windows 7 or Vista) provides a nice download suite of possible changes, including my fav: Kill capslock, and turn scroll-lock into capslock, in case you ever need it. It also has an Undo option.