Numlock issue at startup and ways to fix it

I tried using my Acer Aspire 4920 the other day and was flabbergasted when I could not seem to log in. Damn! Did I change and then forget my new password after having been away for almost a month????

After minutes of trying and getting more frustrated by the minute (not to mention microsoft xp doing that account freeze/security measure thing), I finally realized that my numlock was turned on!! Basically that meant that I was typing in numbers instead of alphabets for my password which was clearly not my intention!!

Fine! I grumbled as I unhappily held onto the Fn key + F11 (to disable the numlock) and gained access to my computer. Lo and behold, that measure was only temporary and then I realize that I had to do this almost every time I start my my computer.

Being an extremely lazy person, that would have totally bugged me (if I had to repeat that step every single time) so here is what I did to fix the problem once and for all.

Go to Run and type “regedit” to fire up the Registry Editor
In the Registry Editor, search for HKEY_USERS
Under “.Default” folder, enter “Control Panel” then “Keyboard”

You will see on the right panel, a StringValue:InitialKeyboardIndicators.

Set the value as “0”.

Explanation of numbers:
0= Truns Off, Num Lock, Caps Lock, Scroll Lock
1= Turns On Caps Lock,
2= Turns ON Num Lock,
3= Turns On Caps Lock, and Num Lock
4= Turns ON Scroll Lock
5= Turns on Caps Lock, and Scroll Lock
6= Turns On Num Lock, and Scroll Lock
7= Turns On Caps Lock, Num Lock, and Scroll Lock

Mine was miraculously set at 2 so no surprises there.

Though I haven’t quite exactly figured out what it was I did that created this Numlock on Boot issue but at least the problem is gone for now.

Oh well…..till the next time. :B

Note: I think there are other solutions online that say you can also fix this problem at the BIOS level. Personally, I haven’t tried it but I think that the idea is similar. Just look out for the option that turns NumLock on Boot to OFF instead of ON. That should fix the problem.

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