How to unmap command (window) key ?

[hawbaker]

I searched the forums, and seems that this is a common problem since last year and has not been fixed yet.

When Fusion is the front, and I hit command-tab to switch to another OS X application. OS X switches as it should, but the command leaks through to VMware Fusion guest as window key (WinXPPro). This causes the Start button to be opened. When I switch back to VMware and start typing right away, usually I got bizarre result such as restarting the guest, bring up some win app, or whatever keys i hit that goes to something in the Start menu. Very Very Very annoying.. did I say "Very" ? This is getting very old too.

Is there a way to unmap command from windows key. I don't even use Windows, nor I ever used it in the past even on a real windows keybaord. It is a useless key in my opinion so would be glad to see it go away in VMware. So how about it, is there a workaround to unmap this key ?

bob

[WoodyZ]

Is there a way to unmap command from windows key. I don't even use Windows, nor I ever used it in the past even on a real windows keybaord. It is a useless key in my opinion so would be glad to see it go away in VMware. So how about it, is there a workaround to unmap this key ?

FWIW I find the Windows Key quite usefull as it enable may functions quickley however if one is not a power user then I can see it may be a useless key.

Windows Logo: Start menu

Windows Logo+R: Run dialog box

Windows Logo+M: Minimize all

SHIFTWindows LogoM: Undo minimize all

Windows Logo+F1: Help

Windows Logo+E: Windows Explorer

Windows Logo+F: Find files or folders

Windows Logo+D: Minimizes all open windows and displays the desktop

CTRLWindows LogoF: Find computer

CTRLWindows LogoTAB: Moves focus from Start, to the Quick Launch toolbar, to the system tray (use RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW to move focus to items on the Quick Launch toolbar and the system tray)

Windows Logo+TAB: Cycle through taskbar buttons

Windows Logo+Break: System Properties dialog box

Anyway sometimes when you read something you just know it's doesn't sound right... I tried to reproduce your issue and I have to say when using the keyboard properly I just couldn't reproduce your issue.

With the Virtual Machine having focus pressing CommandTab should have no effect at all as WindowTab is not a programmed key sequence in Windows. If the Virtual Machine is on top in the Z Order without focus Command+Tab acts as expected it switches applications.

FWIW the windows key doesn't activate until the keyup event and with another key depressed at the same time of the windows keyup event if it's not a qualified modifier then there should be a null event and as such nothing should even happen.

Anyway for some reason yours may not be functioning properly and if you feel you need to do something then you could remap the command key however this may have unwanted consequences.

KeyTweak () doesn't require anything other than itself to be installed in order to work.

Or

Scan Code Mapper for Windows and the white-paper below describes how to do this without installing anything.

Key Support for Microsoft Windows Operating Systems and Applications

Last on my list is SharpKeys however...

SharpKeys requires .NET Framework 2.0 to be installed. Something just isn't right about having to install what amounts to over a 80 MB footprint to run a 72 KB file!

[hawbaker]

Actually I'm a power user big time (developer) however I despite windows (Another topic for another time.. heh) So I do most of my work in the OS X land and go to Windows (vmware) to do something that cannot be done in OS X land such as building or running whatever i'm developing.

Anyways, here's more info on how to make it happen:

Windowed mode

turn on 'Enable Mac OS Keyboard shortcuts"

Make sure the gust window is up front with focus and mouse INSIDE the guest window area

Hit Command-Tab to switch.. After you release command, OS X switches app AND VMWare passes the command through at same time.

You can also do this: Press and hold Command.. then press tab (either one time or few times), then press Esc to cancel this OS X app switching. The OS X task icons go away but command then passes through to guest.

If you do this while mouse cursor is not within the guest window, you get the correct behavior. I want this same behavior even if mouse cursor is within the guest window. VMware needs to be a bit more smarter about the command key. I.e. if Command is pressed along with a OS X specific function such as tab, then it should be ignored by VMware.

I think i'll try one of the scancode mods. Thanks

[WoodyZ]

Based upon the scenario you presented I'd expect the exact behavior you're getting as the Command (Windows) key is responding to its keyup event as it should if you cancel the command+tab with a esc sequence. This in essence makes your issue an End User Error not something programatically wrong with the Windows Logo Key in Windows. If you are primarily a Mac User I can see how you'd think something is wrong about this however as primary Windows User/Programmer before switching, as my Windows Friends say, to the Dark Side I can tell you it's the expected behavior in Windows.

FWIW if your using Fusion 1.1.1 you may encounter issues remapping the command key also to modify the default behavior in 1.1.1 you can do the following...

In Fusion 1.1.1 Edit the "~/Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/preferences" file adding the line:

pref.mapMacShortcutKeys = "FALSE"

[hawbaker]

I didn't mean to imply the problem was with Windows. It is the VMware Fusion.app that has the problem. When you hit command-tab and let it go, BOTH OS X and VMware handle it. I do not want to disable the mac shortcuts because that would make me less of a power user I like being able to hit command-tab to switch out of VMware to another app even if the guest has the focus. This is very useful when you are using say Visual Studio for building in vmware and Textmate for editing in OS X.

VMware at least should offer one or both of those 2 options: 1) disable command as a window key but treat it as command/apple for OS X 2) move window key to another key - some of us have big keyboard with many keys, or even extra input devices

[Phuongca]

this is usually because something happened to vmware tools. terminate and re-run it. works for me all the time.

also, check out Fusion's preference menu, there's an option that deals with keyboard & mouse

[hawbaker]

I tried it with both ways, the Mouse shortcut preference turned on or off with same result. The mouse shortcut is really for dealing with middle/right buttons and option key (as it says on the preference dialog) which I do not need because I have multi-button mouse.

I did some more tests this morning and have better idea of how this is happening. Again, with guest up front, mouse in within the window, if i hit cmd-tab very quickly (i.e. task switcher icons do not show up), then there is high chance of cmd being passed thru to guest. If I do the cmd-tab slowly (task switcher icons shows up), then there is low chance of cmd being passed thru. If I hit cmd-tab, then esc (any speed), then cmd is passed thru 1005 of the time.

Guess I'm too much of a power user for it.. heh

Can anyone confirm this ? I already have support request with VMware on this. They asked me to try it again with both mouse/keyboard shortcut turned on which didn't have any effect. Hopefully they will find out what is happening.

bob

[Phuongca]

the command key is supposed to work entirely as a Ctrl key when Fusion has focus. i can even Ctrl-select files in the Windows Explorer without any problem. and not suprisingly, i can copy text content from, say, Firefox in OSX and then paste it into MS Word 2007 that's running inside Fusion.

From time to time, this doesn't work. that is, when i try to Ctrl-select, the Start menu is activated. and when i Ctrl-V to paste, i get contents from inside Windows, not from OSX. Whenever this happens, i terminate VMWare Tools and run it. This works most of the time. If it doesn't, i restart Windows and everything is back to normal again. (Restarting Windows is how i solve many of my problems when i used to have a PC)

[hawbaker]

That does sound odd.. If Command is supposed to be control key, then what becomes of control key ? If command is control, then how do you do OS X specific commands such as command-space (for spotlight) while VMware has focus ? (that is if you have Mac keyboard shortcuts tuned on)

on my keyboard (logictech), i have 3 keys: Control, Window & Alt. In OS X land, Control is Control, Window is Option and Alt is Command/Apple. In Windows(guest) land, Control is Control, Window is Alt and Command is Window.

I forgot one more detail - i have Option/Command (Window/Alt) swapped in OS X Keyboard preference so that option/command are in the correct position compared to apple's keybaord.

bob

[Phuongca]

i didn't say Control key. i said Ctrl key. that's how Windows people call it.

so:

with respect to OSX, regardless of which application is in focus, every key functions as usual. so your control-space, or whatever combination you wanted, are not affected.

with respect to Fusion, whenever Command key is pressed, it takes it as Ctrl key, and whenever Control key is pressed, it does nothing (but i'm not 100% sure about this point. it appears to me that way though).

[hawbaker]

Control Key and Ctrl Key are the same thing... Ctrl is short for Control. There is no separate Control & Ctrl Keys.

as said here in wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_key

"control marked as ctrl"

If i recall correctly, OS X Spotlight defaults to command-space. I don't think control-space maps to anything in OS X. In Fusion, Command/Apple is supposed to be Window key (or possibly Alt key if swappd in SO X keyboard i think).

After rereading your message, I think you meant/referred 'Ctrl' as 'Window' key ?

Edit: I reread your other message, the first one referred to Ctrl, I believe you were referring the Windows/Command as the Ctrl key. This was confusing to me because, Ctrl is actually short for control ever since 80's. Anyways, I really don't have problems with Command acting like Window Key except that Fusion leaks the Command thru when it is not supposed to. So my option was either remap Window key (now command) to something else or simply disable Windows Key in windows xp as suggested above. But the proper solution is Fusion should not be leaking it through at certain times.

bob

[Phuongca]

you are confused. i did put "Windows people" in italic. i guess i should have put it in bold.

wiki means nothing. i can change it to whatever i want.

but nontheless this is kind of off topic so i'll stop arguing here. perhaps someone else can help you to solve your issue.

[WoodyZ]

wiki means nothing. i can change it to whatever i want.

I haven't followed the thread in detail after my last entry however I try to at least scan all post to glean bits of info I may have not known and I will just say for the record that while it's true in general WiKi's can contain erroneous information and having not look at the quoted source as it is not available from China however I will say this for the record...

Bob's statement re Ctrl and Control is absolutely positively correct regardless of his source! It is also equally true that Esc and Escape, as well as Alt and Alternate are the same in respect to each other.

[Phuongca]

the equivalent of Windows' Ctrl key in OSX is the Command key.

OSX's Control key is one of its kind.

i guess everybody knows exactly what everything is, but unable to express it correctly. either ways, we are not solving the OP's leaking problem.

[boyobach]

I've been getting the exact same annoying problem and a little Googling around solved it (don't know why I didn't do this earlier but well anyway).

All you need to do is set a Windows Registry Key and hey presto your Windows Key is disabled so Cmd + Tab will just operate in OS X and get completely ignored in your Windows VM.

Someone's already put together some .reg files to do this earlier (and reset it back again): http://johnhaller.com/jh/useful_stuff/disable_windows_key

Or if you prefer to do your own registry hacking: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/216893

Obviously the downside is you can't use the Windows (via Cmd) key in your VM any more however I hardly ever use it and don't think I'll miss it.

Cheers

Simon

[davidb2]

I've been getting the exact same annoying problem and a little Googling around solved it (don't know why I didn't do this earlier but well anyway).

All you need to do is set a Windows Registry Key and hey presto your Windows Key is disabled so Cmd + Tab will just operate in OS X and get completely ignored in your Windows VM.

Someone's already put together some .reg files to do this earlier (and reset it back again): http://johnhaller.com/jh/useful_stuff/disable_windows_key

Or if you prefer to do your own registry hacking: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/216893

Obviously the downside is you can't use the Windows (via Cmd) key in your VM any more however I hardly ever use it and don't think I'll miss it.

I am primarily a Mac user with little knowledge or expertise in Windows. I have the same problem as the OP, but would like to keep my Windows setup as stock as possible to avoid unnecessary problems.

Does making changes like this in the Registry affect Windows stability or lead to other complications? Is there a better alternative?

Thank you,

David

MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo 2.33 GHz, 3 GB RAM

OS X 10.5.4

VMWare Fusion 1.1.3

Windows XP Pro SP3

Quickbooks Pro 2007

[admin]

I am primarily a Mac user with little knowledge or expertise in Windows. I have the same problem as the OP, but would like to keep my Windows setup as stock as possible to avoid unnecessary problems.

Does making changes like this in the Registry affect Windows stability or lead to other complications? Is there a better alternative?

Without being that familiar with Windows either, I would expect changing key mappings via the registry to be fairly safe - it shouldn't be doing anything which could affect stability.

[SmithJamesA]

Since this post is about four years old, I just wanted to update that this solution still works for this "problem".

Boyobach wrote:

Someone's already put together some .reg files to do this earlier (and reset it back again):http://johnhaller.com/jh/useful_stuff/disable_windows_key

Or if you prefer to do your own registry hacking: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/216893

I'm running

Windows XP sp3

VMWare Fusion 5.0.1

Mac OS 10.7.5

I'm so grateful as this was a really annoying little issue that I'm so happy to have just go away.

Date:  9/26/12 - Boston, MA

Message was edited by: SmithJamesA

[looter]

I'm seeing this again with VMFusion 5.0.2 running XP.

[SmithJamesA]

Happy New Year!

I will be away from the office on an extended absensce until January 22, without access to email. If you need assistance before I return please contact either of my two colleagues in the HSPH Alumni Office:

David Rogers

Manager of Alumni-Student Engagement

E: drogers@hsph.harvard.edu P: (617) 432-8466

Daphne Mazuz

Coordinator for Alumni Affairs

E: dmazuz@hsph.harvard.edu P: (617) 432-8429

Thank you,

Jim Smith

Assistant Dean for Alumni Affairs

Harvard School of Public Health