[Yokohama]

I bought a new keyboard recently (Sanwa Supply). It's a Japanese keyboard (with most of the same layout and keys as a US keyboard) and I use it mainly in English mode. The problem for me is that the 'help' key is alongside the 'delete' key and when working in Word, I must hit the 'help' key by accident a dozen times a day, which brings up Word's Help menu.
Is there a way to reprogram a single key--or even have a key not function?

[turtle777]

I don't know if the Help that comes up is the same help that you would get from Menu Help - Word Help.
(What Word version are you using ? In Word 2004, it's "Word Help")

If yes, maybe programming the Word Help to be mapped to a different key could help.

Go in System Preferences - Keyboard Shortcuts, chose Application Shortcuts on the left and then click the + button to create a new shortcut. Chose Word, then enter the Menu item's name exactly as it appears in the Menu. Then click in the keyboard shortcut field, and press your help key, together with command and shift. That way, it will bring up Word Help only when you press CMD + SHFT + Help.

-t

[Yokohama]

Turtle--Thanks very much. I'm using Office 2008. I'm almost there but need a little more clarification in the procedure. I've reached your "enter Menu item's name exactly". I'm not sure which Menu you mean. When I press the help key the window Word Help comes up (though under this in the text is the title Word Help Home). I tried keying in Word Help but nothing seemed to happen.
Also, my keyboard board doesn't have a Command key, but rather a Control, Option and 4-leaf (loops) key. Which key should I use?

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Yokohama 

I'm not sure which Menu you mean. When I press the help key the window Word Help comes up (though under this in the text is the title Word Help Home). I tried keying in Word Help but nothing seemed to happen.

I mean the Word 2008 Menu bar at the top.
Go in the Word 2008 Menu "Help" (should be the last menu entry, the most to the right), then see what entries there are inside.

What do you have there ? "Word Help" or "Word Help Home" ?
Whatever the menu item entry is, this is what you enter.

Originally Posted by Yokohama 

Also, my keyboard board doesn't have a Command key, but rather a Control, Option and 4-leaf (loops) key. Which key should I use?

The 4-leaf (loops) key is the Command (CMD) key.

-t

[Yokohama]

Turtle--Okay, it is Word Help, which I keyed in. Then pressed cmd (4 loops) shift and help buttons in the Keyboard Shortcut filed (which is active) but nothing happens. The cursor blinks in the middle of the active box. It is as though I have to press something else to complete the procedure. In fact, only the amber button (between the red and green buttons) at the top of the window is available along with the cancel button.
Sorry to be a pest.

[turtle777]

I'm not sure what you're doing wrong.
I tested it with Word 2004, and it works.

Well, I don't have a "Help" key on my keyboard, so I used Shift + CMD + H.

This is how it should look like when you enter the shortcut (in Snow Leopard):



-t

[Yokohama]

(I was delayed in replying.) Turtle, I followed your advice by using the 'h' button and to my joy the correct symbols appeared. Yet when i test it out, the Word Help window still comes up! This is even when 'Word Help' appear below in the set-up window (the one you show above) to show I've added a procedure. But I noticed that when I went back to the set-up window 'Word Help' had disappeared. So somehow the change hasn't been saved and is deleted when I return to Word proper. Perhaps this is a problem of using a Japanese keyboard? Even though I am in US mode? I'm also using Leopard not Snow Leopard.

[turtle777]

I don't know.

It is possible that the "Help" key on your keyboard will bring up Help, even if the Menu item Word Help is mapped to a different shortcut.

What kind of keyboard is it ? Can you remove the "Help" key, so you can't accidentally press it anymore ?
(I have done that with a lot of CAPS LOCK keys).

-t

[Oisín]

If it’s a hard-coded key (like CAPS LOCK or F1–F4 on the new Apple keyboards, etc.), you might have to resort to using Ukelele to make your own keyboard layout, but leaving out the Help key. Honestly, though, I don’t know if even that would work. Probably not.

[Spheric Harlot]

doublepost

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

If it’s a hard-coded key (like CAPS LOCK or F1–F4 on the new Apple keyboards

Caps lock is reassignable using Apple's own keyboard system preference.

[Simon]

Which is pure awesomeness™. One of the first things I do when I set up a new Mac: disable caps lock.

Alas, they partially broke it in Snow Leopard. On a MBP if you set it to ignore caps lock, it will work properly with the internal KB but an external USB KB (even if it's an Apple KB) will not follow the setting.

[reader50]

Report the bug to Apple.

[Simon]

Already did that.