# Remapping goofy keyboard buttons

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remapping-goofy-keyboard-buttons/374451>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 28, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remapping-goofy-keyboard-buttons/374451 "2006-09-28T01:23:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remapping-goofy-keyboard-buttons/374451/1 "2006-09-28T01:23:53Z")

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I could’ve sworn this topic has come up here before but a search yielded nothing. I could also just get a new keyboard for 20 bucks, but I’m lazy.

I have a ghetto keyboard (manufactured by “Memorex”) I got from a friend. This is the oddest keyboard I’ve ever seen – I had to pop off three buttons in the upper right that shut the computer down / restart it / and put it into sleep mode!

Anyway, next to the right shift is a peculiar button called turbo. I have no idea what it’s supposed to do, but it’s not recognized by any program. I’d like to remap this to something useful so I could use it in a PC game. Problem is, I don’t trust any of these shady exes floating around in a page full of porn ads. So, is there a reliable, trustworthy, and free keyboard remapping program anyone can recommend? I’d be very appreciative.

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**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2006, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remapping-goofy-keyboard-buttons/374451/2 "2006-09-28T01:33:11Z")

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This is a legit program that can do it. I don’t think WIndows can do completely custom remapping on its own.

[http://www.klm.freeservers.com/](http://www.klm.freeservers.com/)

That must be a really old keyboard like from a 486 (pre Pentium I) or earlier. If the Turbo key is like some stuff from that era, the processor (or something related) had a Turbo mode that supposedly made it process faster. I think that some things were compatible with that mode and others not so you toggle it.

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2006, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remapping-goofy-keyboard-buttons/374451/3 "2006-09-28T01:58:22Z")

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Are there only ten function keys, in two columns down one side?

Man, that takes me back.

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**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2006, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remapping-goofy-keyboard-buttons/374451/4 "2006-09-28T06:16:39Z")

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[QUOTE=Shagnasty]  
That must be a really old keyboard like from a 486 (pre Pentium I) or earlier. If the Turbo key is like some stuff from that era, the processor (or something related) had a Turbo mode that supposedly made it process faster. I think that some things were compatible with that mode and others not so you toggle it.  
[/QUOTE]

Kind of. It was misnamed, because the purpose was to slow it down for certain games. In other words, you wanted to leave it active at all other times. [Turbo button - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo_switch)