These days multimedia keyboards are some common and cheap. They have
those extra keys to increase our productivity, save time etc. But do we
make use of these keys to the full extend? I bought a keyboard 2 months
ago, it had those extra keys to open internet explorer, mail client,
favorites, search
etc. But i hardly used those things because i was not able to customize
the functions of those keys to suit my needs. I use Google Chrome as
my default browser, but on pressing the internet key Internet Explorer
popped up, which forced me to stop using those keys. Setting chrome as
the default browser can be a solution, but what if you want to consider
using other programs too? Wont it be disgusting to configure each and
every program that you intent to use? But from now on, you dont have to
worry about such a thing.I found a small utility that will help you in solving all these problems cause by those little extra keys. I can now open any program, do any action i want with any of the extra keys i have in my keyboard and Skeys helped me in doing it.
Skeys is a small utility that will let you configure the extra functions/ multimedia keys on your keyboard.
Screenshot Of Skeys
How To Use Skeys to Configure the Special Keys?
The program interface is very simple. On the “Setup Screen”, there are 18 buttons that all have “Use This Key” on them. When you press one of the special keys, the button for that key will change to “!!!Use This Key!!!” letting you know that that is the button for that key.Plus there is a small function called “Autocheck” , when “autocheck” is on, as you press one of the special keys, it will automatically press down the button too, meaning that you can configure which keys you want in under 20 seconds, easily.
You don’t need to configure each and every keys, Just use the ones you want and you can leave the other keys intact, enabling those to do their default functions.
After selecting and assigning the key you prefer just press the done option and you will be presented with the windows to configure the functions of that key.
Skeys supports a lot of good functions such as Open File/Program, Power Function, Logoff, Switch User , Standby, Hibernate, Hibernate/Standby,[uses Standby as a backup if Hibernation is turned off], Shutdown, Restart, Send keystrokes, Send, Paste , Mute, Unmute, Toggle mute, Up, Down and a lot more.
Among all the function there are two really useful function which is use personally. The function for Opening a File/Program and the SEND/Paste Function.
OPEN FILE/PROGRAM: Choose whatever file/program you want to open/run. You can either manually type in the path to the file, or click the ellipses button and navigate there. Please note that in the “Select File” dialog, you may choose either “Programs (*.exe)” or “All Files (*.*)” from the drop down list below the filename field.
-”SEND”/”PASTE” KEYSTROKES: Under the submenu of “Send keystrokes”, “Send” will “type” whatever you want. The only difference between “Send” and “Paste” is that “Paste” types whatever you have specified instantly, like pasting from the clipboard, while “Send” types one character at a time.
For all these function to work you need to have Skeys running in the background. It has the option to start with windows too.
Pros : Skeys uses very less memory and is light of system resources. Really a useful software for a power user.
Cons: There is not much to complain about except that the program interface should have been designed well.
Verdict: Skeys is a must have tool for every windows user who loves to get their jobs done quickly.
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