Adjusting the Key Repeat in Windows 95

• What is key repeat?
• Key repeat variables:
  • Repeat delay
  • Repeat rate
• Adjusting key repeat variables

What is key repeat?

In normal keyboard use, holding down a key causes a repeat effect. If you want to type a row of fifty exclamation points, you do not need to hit the key fifty times. Instead, you press down on the key and hold it. Initially, only one exclamation point appears. However, once you hold the key long enough, exclamation points begin appearing one after the other until you release the key. This behavior relates to the key repeat settings.

You can also change key repeat variables using FilterKeys.

Key repeat variables:

There are two independent variables that affect they way your keyboard processes key repeats: the repeat delay, and the repeat rate.

Repeat Delay

The repeat delay is the amount of time you want to hold the key before it begins to repeat. There are four possible delay settings, from Short to Long (actual numerical values are not available).

Repeat Rate

The repeat rate controls how fast you want the key to repeat. In our exclamation point example, this corresponds to how often you want to see another exclamation point once the key has started repeating. There are 32 possible repeat rates, from Slow to Fast (actual numerical values are not available).

Adjusting key repeat variables

1. Press CTRL+ESC to bring up the Start menu. (On some keyboards you can bring up the Start menu by pressing the special Start menu button between the CTRL and ALT keys. This button has the same symbol as the Start menu button on the screen.)
2. Press s for "Settings".
3. Press c for "Control Panel". You should see a window like this:
   
4. Move through the Control Panel icons using the arrow keys until you come to the one labelled "Keyboard":

   

5. Hit ENTER to bring up the Keyboard Properties window shown below:
   
6. If the focus (the highlighted or outlined portion of the screen) is on the Speed label at the top of the screen, press TAB. If the focus is anywhere else, press d to bring the focus to the "Repeat delay" slider bar. There will be a rectangle around the slider bar, as shown above.
7. Use the right and left arrow keys to adjust the repeat delay. The arrow on the slider bar will move.
8. Press r to bring the focus to the "Repeat rate" slider bar.
9. Use the right and left arrow keys to adjust the repeat rate. The arrow on the slider bar will move.
10. To test the settings, press t to move the focus to the test area. Type here to try out your new key repeat settings. If you do not like them, repeat steps 6-9 until you are happy with the results.
11. When all of the settings are the way you want them, press ENTER to save your settings and close the Keyboard Properties window.
12. Hit ALT+F+C to close the Control Panel window if it is still open.

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