Enable an Audible Caps Lock Warning in Windows XP

Being a little heavy handed on the keyboard, I often find that I've hit the Caps Lock key by mistake and input several words or sentences in all capital letters. This can be irritating and fixing such errors wastes precious seconds of productive output. Also, unknowingly hitting the Caps Lock key while inputting passwords can result in puzzling login errors.

Windows XP has a handy little option that can help you avoid these errors. Enabling the "ToggleKeys" option configures the keyboard so that an audible warning sounds every time the user hits the Caps Lock, Num Lock or Scroll Lock keys.

Here is how to enable ToggleKeys:

Open the Windows XP Control Panel (Click "Start" and then "Control Panel").


If the Control Panel is in "Category View":

1. Click "Accessibility Options".
   
   
2. In the "Accessibility Options" category window, click the "Accessibility Options" Control Panel icon. The "Accessibility Options" properties window should open.
   
   
3. With the keyboard tab active, put a tick in the "Use ToggleKeys" checkbox.
   
   
4. Click "OK" to exit the properties window.
   
   
5. Close the Control Panel.

If the Control Panel is in "Classic View":

1. Click the "Accessibility Options" Control Panel icon. The "Accessibility Options" properties window should open.
   
   
2. With the keyboard tab active, put a tick in the "Use ToggleKeys" checkbox.
   
   
3. Click "OK" to exit the properties window.
   
   
4. Close the Control Panel.

The keyboard will now "beep" at you when you press the Caps Lock, Num Lock or Scroll Lock keys. The beep has a different tone depending on whether the chosen key function is on or off.

To turn off the ToggleKeys option, reverse the procedure outlined above by removing the tick in "Use ToggleKeys" checkbox.