Swap Control and Alt Keys

[frameexpert]

On my host machine, I use a registry patch to swap my Control and Alt keys. I want to do the same thing on my guest machine (Windows XP SP3 32-bit). I run the registry file inside of the guest, but it doesn't swap the keys, even after a restart. Is there something in VirtualBox that may prevent this from working? It is awkward to have host and guest machines with different Control/Alt mappings. Thank you very much in advance.

BTW, I am loving VirtualBox! It really works great.

Rick
585-659-8267

[Sasquatch]

Ehm, any modifications like these are unsupported and never done before, so you're on your own here. I've already told another user who changed his caps lock key behaviour (act like shift instead of the original purpose) something similar. Why you swap them beats me, it's just something you have to learn to work with. Why divert from the standard?

[frameexpert]

I switched from Mac to PC years ago, and used to use a ton of Command+key shortcuts on the Mac. Many of the corresponding Windows shortcuts use the Control key. On a PC keyboard, the Alt key is positioned where the Command key is on a Mac keyboard. So, I have always found it easier to use (and reach) the Alt key, and thus my swap. When you say "divert from the standard", there really is no standard between platforms.

I am surprised, though, that once my keyboard is sending keys to the virtual machine, that it doesn't recognize the guest machine registry swap. Thanks for your reply.

Rick

[Sasquatch]

Apple doesn't stick to standards anyway, they do their own thing. But the actual 'standards' I was talking about was the standard PC keyboard layout. If you want to change it all to your likings, you might want to look at the Optimus Maximus keyboard. I believe I read that you can program each key to have a specific function, so swapping ctrl and alt should be no problem with that.

If you used a Mac years ago, that means that you're at age and it is really rusted into you.

[frameexpert]

I am rusted alright . I just found this link

http://alanhogan.com/tips/swap-left-alt ... in-windows

which refers to AutoHotKey (http://www.autohotkey.com/). I just installed it and set up a quick startup macro and it works. For those that might be interested, here is the macro:

LCtrl::Alt
RCtrl::Alt
LAlt::Ctrl
RAlt::Ctrl

Thanks again for your quick reply. I am really loving VirtualBox. Keep up the great work.