# Why Do I Still Have a Scroll Lock Key? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2000, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338 "2000-08-30T15:00:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/1 "2000-08-30T15:00:58Z")
I was staring at my keyboard desperate for any distraction that would prevent me from doing actual work when I began to wonder: Why do I have a scroll lock key and is it still good for anything? The answer to the first part of the question is probably “Because keyboards have always had a scroll lock key”, it probably goes back to some mainframe/dumb-terminal need. I’ll buy that, but why is it still there? Granted, it does make a pretty light go on and off when pressed. But I’ve never said to myself “Gee, I wish there was a way I could lock my scroll.” You could probably reprogram it to do other neat stuff, but with the small amount of keyboard real estate, couldn’t we come up with a better key to take it’ place; maybe a “Death Ray” key, or a “Close that annoying pop-up ad window” key. Pete ======================================================== Laugh and the world laughs with you… Cry, and the world looks sheepish and suddenly remembers it had other plans. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/2 "2000-08-30T15:09:09Z")
And whoever can answer the good OP, can you also tell me what the hell the “Sys Rq” key is supposed to be used for? ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/3 "2000-08-30T15:27:44Z")
Using MS Excell, if you click on say cell E31 and use the up/down/left/right arrow keys with “scroll lock” off, the highlighted cell changes from E31 to E30, E29 etc. With “scroll lock” on the whole screen/window scrolls up/down etc. while the highlighted cell stays the same. Using “scroll lock” on you could for example have cell E31 selected, scroll to cell G100 to view the data and then enter data in E31. E31 will automatically appear when you begin to enter data. Maybe not too useful. I use window/freeze panes or window/split myself. GaryM ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/4 "2000-08-31T04:58:24Z")
My guess: As I recall, Scroll Lock was useful in DOS because it could stop the screen from scrolling when displaying large amounts of information so you could actually read it. These days, there are probably still people who use DOS, as well as using UNIX, Linux and other text command line based operating systems. Scroll lock my still serve a function for those who aren’t using graphical OS’s with a scroll bar on the side. No idea about Sys Rq though. Mine has it as well and pressing it doesn’t do anything noticable. With my luck, it stands for “delete a random file off the hard drive”. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/5 "2000-08-31T05:07:48Z")
SysRq stands for system request. It is just part of keyboard becuase standards require that the Ascii code there still is accessable. It will actually do various system interrupts on Linux, but I never heard of anything that a MS system will respond to involving the key. ---
**Author:** ![annalamerino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@annalamerino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/annalamerino)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/6 "2000-08-31T05:38:28Z")
All th old keys are just for mainframe use, emulating ancient dumb terminals that the corporate world is still stuck to. I still see lots of bureaucracies, like banks and insurance agents that have slick personal computers tied to Cobol programs with all upper case and “line editors” without wordwrap! ---
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/7 "2000-08-31T05:47:55Z")
Some companies have systems so old and outdated that they require special keyboards with keys no one else has ever heard of. Airlines spring to mind. I mean, how complicated is the database they use to track reservations? I ask if there are any aisle seats available… _clickity - clackaty…_ What’s with all the typing? I think I could whip up a reservation system in MS Access in about 3 hours… and I’m not very good with Access! [/RANT] ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/8 "2000-08-31T07:43:07Z")
I actually did notice a difference in the MS-DOS editor depending on whether I had Scroll Lock pressed. Nothing besides that, though. BTW, speaking of unused keys; I have an old 486 in the room next to me that has a MACRO key! I have no idea what it does/did, but no program I know has ever used it, and I made a program that printed the scancode of the key pressed, and it didn’t even detect it. Me and my friends are still convinced that it’s really a “set off an atomic bomb in a random city” key. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/9 "2000-08-31T09:34:51Z")
I think a macro key is just there so that you can program it to be used in place of a set of keystrokes. For example, you could (and I have no idea how) program it to be CTRL-ALT-DELETE, so that you don’t have to hit all those keys. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/10 "2000-08-31T10:23:45Z")
As others mentioned, the “SysRq” key stands for “System Request”, and dates back to the 3270 class of terminals used for connecting to IBM mainframes. If I remember correctly, on an actual 3270 terminal you pressed the System Request key to get the mainframe’s attention, which then allowed you to type in your next request. Many of the original IBM PCs were also used as 3270 terminals to access a mainframe–I believe there was even an “IBM PC3270” model which was an IBM PC with built-in 3270 terminal emulation. IBM also sold a 3270 emulator for its standard PCs. So it was helpful to have a SysRq key handy on the PC keyboard. However, I remember using another 3270 emulator package, from an IBM competitor, which went out of its way to be different, so you pressed something like alt-F3 for System Request for that package, and the SysRq key didn’t do anything. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/11 "2000-08-31T12:20:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Some companies have systems so old and outdated that they require special keyboards with keys no > one else has ever heard of. Yep! In early 1998 I worked on a machine doing data input. Horrid ancient clunky old thing, proprietary or long-forgotten OS, 4 MHz processor, and a keyboard with a Clear Screen key and an Insert Line key (among others that were strange, but I had to USE those two). I’d hit Tab and about a second and a half later, the cursor would move to the next row to the right. Type some text, a couple seconds later it would appear on screen. You could not backspace or reverse-tab if you made errors: mess up and you have to DELETE THE LINE and start over. Find out you messed up 14 lines earlier and…yep! Nuke all 14 and start over. Folks in the office would hear me WHOPPING the keys and wonder what the hell I was doing, but to get any speed on the project you had to make SURE each key you hit was pressed completely, given the price of having one not register. ---
**Author:** ![dylan\_73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@dylan\_73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dylan_73)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/12 "2000-08-31T16:00:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jophiel \* > \*\* > No idea about Sys Rq though. Mine has it as well and pressing it doesn’t do anything noticable. With my luck, it stands for “delete a random file off the hard drive”. \*\* I don’t get this? How do you press Sys Rq? It just acts as Print Screen for me (they’re on the same key). Is it CTRL+PrintScreen? (I assume everyone knows what Print Screen does 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/13 "2000-08-31T16:47:53Z")
For those who don’t know what “print screen” does (it’s not readily apparent), in Windoze, at least, it takes a screenshot of the screen and places it in the clipboard, where you can then paste it into your favorite graphics program. I believe that in DOS it tried to send the text on-screen to a printer, but I’ve never tried it there. ---
**Author:** ![TampaFlyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71e660/32.png) [@TampaFlyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TampaFlyer)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/14 "2000-08-31T18:40:58Z")
\> I believe that in DOS it tried to send the text on-screen to a printer Yes. And a lot of old DOS users think that key doesn’t have any use in Windows. ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/15 "2000-08-31T19:06:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*For those who don’t know what “print screen” (…) \*\* I had NO IDEA. How odd. Almost…useful, even. K. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/16 "2000-08-31T22:25:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sdimbert \* > \*\*I think I could whip up a reservation system in MS Access in about 3 hours… and I’m not very good with Access! > \*\* Yeah, but it would crash about 8 million times. SQL Server is difficult enough to run on two servers at once, let alone the couple hundred you’d need for an airline (and that’s before you even start thinking about overseas clients). Also, that clickety-clack noise you hear…surely if you used Access you’d still have to, uh, use the keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/17 "2000-09-01T00:52:58Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Duke \* \*\* > [@](#): > > [Also, that clickety-clack noise you hear…surely if you used Access you’d still have to, uh, use the keyboard. \*\* Of course… but _that many times?_ ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/18 "2000-09-01T01:33:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gravity \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > > \*\*For those who don’t know what “print screen” (…) \*\* > > I had NO IDEA. How odd. Almost…useful, even. > > K. \*\* _Very_ useful; I use it for all kinds of stuff - probably most often for extracting graphical info from data manipulation software to include in presentations. An old trick for those (I don’t count myself amongst’em - I consider fucking with somebody’s machine a capital offense) so inclined was to take a screen shot of somebody’s desktop and set it as their wallpaper and then hide all their shortcut icons - the result is their machine looks normal, but no icons appear to function - bad, very, very bad. In DOS a print screen would send output to the printer, but if it was not enough (55-56 lines) to fill a page you would need to use form feed to get it out of the printer. Jophiel mentioned Scroll Lock being used to stop the screen from scrolling when a DOS command’s output was running tons of text past you; that sounds reasonable, but I seem to remember using the Break key for that(?). ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/19 "2000-09-01T02:41:22Z")
Yup, I remember printing from DOS. I remember if you needed a form feed, the command was Ctrl-l. Another little trick with the Print Screen button: in Windows, Alt-Print Screen sends _just the active window_ to the cut & paste buffer. Comes in handy when composing help manuals with screen examples. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Sheepshead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@Mr.Sheepshead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Sheepshead)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338/20 "2000-09-01T02:50:38Z")
As far as I remember, **beatle** , the only way to stop scrolling text was by _quickly_ slamming Break. Just tested it all out on DOS 6.22 and 7.x. I have older DOSes laying around, maybe one day I’ll try it out on 'em and let y’all know. Oh and another use for Scroll Lock: I wrote this little program. I’d run it and all people would see is a black screen. They’d be like “wtf?” until their eyes finally went down to the keyboard where I had all three lights (NumLock, CapsLock, and ScrollLock) flashing in different patterns. btw- Anybody know how PrintScreen and SysRq got jammed onto the same key? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-still-have-a-scroll-lock-key/31338.md?page=2)