One of the few things that I hate with my time in front of the computer is the accidental enabling of the Caps Lock key. It’s in a location that’s very close to the often used Tab key and that makes it more vulnerable to accidental turn on. Wouldn’t it be nice if Windows XP notifies you, or at least make a beep, when you accidentally hit the Caps Lock key (or Num Lock key and Scroll Lock key for that matter)? Follow these steps to make Windows XP make a beep sound when you press the Caps Lock, Num Lock or the Scroll Lock keys,

Step-1:

Click the “Start” button and click on the “Control Panel” menu option.

Step-2:

Windows will popup the “Control Panel” dialog. Go ahead and double-click on the Accessibility Options entry.

Step-3:

Windows will popup the “Accessibility Options” dialog. At the “ToggleKeys” section make sure to check the “Use ToggleKeys” option (make sure to have a tick mark in front). Then hit the “OK” button.

From now on, when you press the Caps Lock, Num Lock or Scroll Lock keys on your keyboard Windows XP will make a beep sound to indicate you that one of those keys has been pressed.

I can hear you saying that it would be nice if we can turn on and turn off this feature with a simple key press than to go thru these steps every time. Well, just follow these steps,

Step-1:

Only for the first time just follow the above steps from 1 to 3 to arrive at the “Accessibility Options” dialog and make sure to have the “Use ToggleKeys” option checked. Then click on the “Settings” button.

Step-2:

Windows will popup a “Settings for Toggle Keys” dialog. Make sure to check the “Use Shortcut” option (make sure to have a tick mark in front). Hit the OK button to dismiss all dialogs.

From now on, whenever you want Windows XP to notify you when the Caps Lock, Num Lock or the Scroll Lock keys get turned on just press and hold down the Num Lock key for 5 seconds. Windows will beep to acknowledge that the Toggle Keys are effective. To turn the notification off just press and hold the Num Lock again for 5 seconds.

Hope it’s useful to you and if you have any questions please let us know in comments below.

Read about how to let Windows Vista warn you when you press the Caps Lock key.