How to reinstate audible caps lock warning

Q I have just had to reinstall Windows XP and have lost an important function, which was to make the computer bleep and show a message when the caps lock key was pressed.

Norman Mason

A Click on the Start button and then on Control Panel. Left-click on the Accessibility Options icon twice in Category view, or double-click on it in the Classic View. Click in the box labelled ‘Use Togglekeys’ so that a tick appears and click on Apply.

This will enable the bleep when you hit the Caps Lock, Num Lock and Scroll Lock keys. The bleep will sound from the speaker built into the computer, not from your separate speakers or headphones and will not be affected by muting the sound from the PC.

Windows Vista can be set to display a message on screen when Caps, Num or Scroll Lock is enabled but this is not available in Windows XP. Many keyboard utilities include this feature so you will need to install the software that came with your keyboard, or download it from the manufacturer’s website.

The Logitech Setpoint software includes this function, for example. It comes with the Logitech Wave keyboard, which is relatively inexpensive.

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