Member Avatar for Reginald0

Hi, folks!

I'm using a program to set global hotkeys in Windows XP, and it works great from F1 to F11, but my problem is: When I try to register F12 as a hotkey, the following error message appears: "Error. Unable to register the specified Hotkey. The Hotkey is probably busy, already taken by another program. Please choose another Hotkey."
How can I determine which other program has taken the F12 key? Which entry in the Windows registry do I have to check? Is it possible to change the according registry entry by hand so that the program will be able to take the F12 key? I really would like to use F12 as a hotkey.

Thanks in advance.

Reginald0

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Dani AI

Generated

Brief follow-up (adds to ’s fix and the other replies):

If you need to discover which process has already grabbed a global hotkey, run a hotkey-inspection utility rather than hunting the registry. HotKeysList (free, small) enumerates current system-wide hotkeys and shows the owning process/window so you can identify and stop the program that registered the key. (nirsoft.net)

If F12 won’t register for you because the OS/JIT debugger is reserving it, the debugger hotkey can be moved by changing the AeDebug setting so the system stops “stealing” F12. The registry value is under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AeDebug\UserDebuggerHotKey — set it to a different virtual-key code (for example VK_PAUSE = 0x13) and reboot to free F12 for other uses. Back up the registry first and be aware this affects Just-In-Time debugging behavior. (conemu.github.io)

If you prefer a keyboard-level solution (what ultimately used with KeyTweak), Windows supports a Scancode Map binary at HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout\Scancode Map so you can remap one hardware key to another. After adding the value you must reboot. Example: remap the Mute special key (scan code E0 20) so it generates F12 (scan code 58). Apply with a .reg file and reboot; remove the value to undo. See Microsoft’s Scan Code Mapper docs for the exact format and more examples. (learn.microsoft.com)

Always export any registry key before editing, create a system restore point, and test changes with a reboot. For quick troubleshooting, use HotKeysList to find the owner, then either quit/uninstall that app or use the AeDebug/Scancode-Map options above depending on whether the reservation is OS-level or keyboard-level.

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Member Avatar for caperjack

Givin that most of the F keys are used as windows hotkeys already ,and you could change the one from F1 to F11 ,i doubt if that is you problem .The only thing I can find that uses f12 is Word ,for save function,also I think this also would depend on what keyboard you are using ,just a standard one or one with a lot of built in extra functions.

Member Avatar for Reginald0

Problem solved!

The link that point to KeyTweak utility solved my problem. I remapped the F12 key to some key that doesn't exist on my keyboard (mute sound, for example) and the Windows begins to use it's key code, thinking it is F12. Simple but very effective.

PS: Sorry for delay to answer, I was traveling :-)

Reginald0

Member Avatar for soscpd

Hi Reginaldo


http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms646309.aspx

Windows NT4 and Windows 2000/XP: The F12 key is reserved for use by the debugger at all times, so it should not be registered as a hot key. Even when you are not debugging an application, F12 is reserved in case a kernel-mode debugger or a just-in-time debugger is resident.

You probably fix that already, but to future acknowledge of visitors... :)

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