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I run Windows 7 and I use Vista Virtual Desktop (VVD) for multiple virtual desktops. I'd like to have keyboard shorcuts Win-arrow for moving between desktops.

But it is not possible because VVD complains these shortcuts are in use. I have turned off all Win shortcuts in Group Policy Editor but it did not help (Control panel - Edit group policy - User cofiguration - Administrative templates - Windows components - Windows explorer - Turn off Windows+X hotkeys).

The same situation is with Win-P shortcut - it has not been turned off too.

Does anybody know how disable the above shortcuts?

4 Answers 4

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try AutoHotKey - a free keyboard macro program.

AutoHotKey will also allow you to override Windows default hotkeys.

Tutorial: Windows Hot Keys with AutoHotKey (incl. configuration file)

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  • AutoHotKey can change it - thanks. I accept this answer until somebody finds a way to switch it off directly in Windows 7. Sep 20, 2009 at 19:25
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As of Dec. 6, 2013, AutoHotKey does NOT disable the Win+P shortcut on the Lock Screen. It only disables it when the screen is not locked. This is bewildering since the Lock Screen is where it's most important to have this shortcut disabled.

(The ability to invoke Win+P from the Lock Screen is a security hole because it allows an unauthorized person to make changes to the desktop. Using any of the Win+P options, the user's desktop is altered, frequently resulting in resizing of the desktop, resizing and repositioning of open applications, and rearranging desktop icons.

It's staggering that such a security hole cannot be sealed.)

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I don’t know (yet) how to disable Win+P (it is thus far resilient and immune to my greatest of efforts), however disabling the Win+Arrow hotkeys is simple.

  1. Open the Control Panel
  2. Open Ease of Access Center
  3. Click Make the keyboard easier to use
  4. Check the Prevent windows from being automatically arranged… box
  5. Click [OK]

(The same setting appears in Make the mouse easier to use as well; unfortunately the Win+Arrow shortcuts and AeroSnap cannot be decoupled.)

I’ll point out that while the hotkeys no longer snap the Windows to the sides when you disable them, you still cannot normally remap them because for some bewildering reason, Windows retains the Win+Arrow hotkeys as well as Win+Shift+Arrow and apparently just does nothing when they are disabled.

I say “normally” because attempting to register them as global hotkeys the regular way tends to fail and return an error. However as Molly suggested, you can use AutoHotkey to have assign them to some other task, though depending on the complexity, you may be in for some disappointment because you may need to either have AHK run third-party programs to do it or write/find a script to do it programmatically.

In your case, you would need to figure out a way to get AHK to get VVD to perform the switch so that you can assign that to the appropriate hotkey (e.g., #Left::…, #Right::…, #P::…, etc.)

Also, note that the hotkeys may stop functioning at some point after a while. That is, when you run the script, they will correctly intercept the hotkeys and perform the action that you want, but some time later, you may find that they no longer work and the default action is performed (e.g., displaying the Projector dialog when Win+P is pressed). I have seen this loss of hotkey functionality in other programs as well under Windows 7, but the cause is not known. The only solution is to exit the program and start it again.

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I'm not really sure what you're asking, but maybe WinKey Killer can help you?

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