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Controlling Num Lock status at startup

Ever try and figure out why some NT workstations automatically boot up with Num Lock on and others don't? Sure, you can play with BIOS settings, but there really is an easier way.

The Num Lock status at startup is controlled by a registry value. You can manually set the value on a specific machine, or you can control groups of machines by using a system policy that contains a reference to the registry value.

Using Regedit or Regedt32, you'll find this value in the HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard registry key. Look for the subkey InitialKeyboardIndicators that's of type REG_SZ.

Typically, the default value is 0, which is NumLock Off. To enable NumLock, change the value to 2.

This tweak will work on Windows 2000 Professional machines as well.

Note: As always, we'll remind you that Microsoft doesn't support registry editing and that we all do it at our own risk. Always be sure you have a verified backup before making registry changes.