SharpKeys

SharpKeys is a very simple application supposed to help you modify a certain key in order to perform the action assigned to a different key on the keyboard.

Although it may sound a bit more complicated, the idea behind this program is rather simple: in case you wish “Caps Lock” for example to act as a “Shift” button, SharpKeys is the right way to do that.

The program’s GUI is the one that makes everything a breeze, especially because it all comes down to selecting the key you wish to modify and the new task to be performed. What’s more, you can turn the key off completely and thus disable the assigned tasks.

SharpKeys supports basically every single key, including “Function” keys, but extra care is recommended when setting up the new mappings.

Once you’re done with the new configuration, SharpKeys prompts you to hit the “Write the Registry” button, which means that it rewrites the registry to handle the new keyboard settings. Administrator privileges are obviously required on Windows 7 workstations, but the problem is actually the lack of a backup tool.

There is no built-in tool to reset the key mapping, so users have no other choice to return to the standard configuration than to take the settings one by one and reassign the original performed action.

On the other hand, SharpKeys works flawlessly on all Windows versions and doesn’t affect system performance at all.

All things considered, the program may come in handy to many users, but beginners clearly need backup utilities to make sure they are on the safe side. A help file could also help them a lot.