If you have a Microsoft keyboard you will know about Microsoft’s IntelliType Pro, the driver that the company provides with the keyboards. The drivers offer additional functionality and some extra tools and one of them is the ability to create macros for the keyboard-specific keys. To start with, you will need to download the software. If you have a keyboard that is not USB, you will need to download an earlier version. You can find all of them at Microsoft’s site.
After you have downloaded and installed the software, type in “Microsoft Keyboard” at the Start menu and click on the result that appears. A window named “Keyboard Properties” will open. Navigate to the Key Settings tab. You will see a drop down list with Custom Key Settings. Choose any one of them or configure your own through the Options menu. Then it will be time to configure the macros.
Depending on the keyboard that you are using, you are bound to have some special keys. Some keys like the Windows key cannot be configured as macros. After you have found a key that you want to assign a macro to, click on it and then click on the “Assign/Manage Macro…” option at the bottom of the window. On the bottom left corner you will see a New button. Click on it and the Editor will open at the right of the screen. Give a name to your Macro and start editing.
Whatever you press in the Editor window will be the Macro. Some characters like the backspace are reserved by the Editor so if you want to use them you will have to choose them from the Insert Special dropdown menu. When you are done with your macro, simply click OK and it will be automatically assigned to the key that you had previously selected. If you want the macro to repeat itself, be sure to check the “Enable Macro Repeat” option at the top of the editor. Whenever you want to edit the macro, simply choose it from the “Available Macros” list and configure it in the editor.
There are some things you should know about the Macros. First of all, you can easily reset everything by choosing the “Restore Defaults” option in the Key Settings window. Furthermore, macros do not transfer between applications. If you start a macro and then move to another application, it will simply stop even if you have set it on repeat. Furthermore, to stop a macro, you simply need to press its key again or press another macro.
