Can I make "F1" as the Create New Folder shortcut key in Windows 7?
Also can I customize Windows key shortcuts?
Hm. I don't think there's a way to do that without installing third party utilities. You can create customized keyboard shortcuts to open a shortcut to a folder or application ... Right click on a shortcut, click properties, and put in the shortcut you want. F keys work, or pressing a letter or number key will put in "ctrl + alt + *"
I'll elaborate on @Urinprobe's answer by providing a working AutoHotKey v1 script, potentially saving hours of effort:
#IfWinActive ahk_exe Explorer.exe
F1::
SendInput {Blind}{F1 up}
SendInput {Blind}{Alt}2
Here's the line by line explanation:
You can put this script in a ".ahk" file and double click it to start it. Follow these instructions to have it run automatically when Windows starts.