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Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center (MMKC) 2.8 (version supported on Windows 10) no longer recognizes the Natural 7000 keyboard, though it does recognize the Natural 4000 wired keyboard, which is an earlier model. The two models are essentially identical, but one is wireless and doesn't work, and the other is wired and does work.

Even dumber, the Natural 7000 mouse works fine with MMKC 2.8, and the Natural 7000 Mouse and Keyboard come as a set that use the same dongle. So, if you have the 7000 Desktop, your mouse will work but your keyboard won't.

To clarify, the 7000 keyboard works fine as a dumb keyboard, but the programmable keys are not supported by the software.

You can manually create entries, which will work, in the registry at:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\IntelliType Pro\ModelSpecific\7003\EventMapping

The easiest way to figure these out is to plug in a 4000 keyboard, and just copy them from there.

However, I finally found a way to fully support the keyboard, by just updating the XML file that ships with the driver, located at:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center\ITypeDevices.xml

You simply have to copy the 

<Device ID="1016" Type="Keyboard">...</Device> (230 rows of XML)

To an identical one

<Device ID="7003" Type="Keyboard">...</Device>

1016 refers to the Natural 4000. 7003 is the id for the "Wired Keyboard 600," which is what Microsoft detects for some reason.

Once you have done this, when you start mouse and keyboard center, it shows the same interface for the 4000. Since the keys are identical, it works fine.

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Got myself a used 7000 set yesterday and bumped into the same issue. Reading the above gave me an push to implement a solution to the problem that works on the latest version (3.2.116) of Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center.

Here's what I did:

  1. I manually edited ITypeDevices.xml inserting the relevant tags pertaining to the modelIDs which I copied from the previous version of Intellitype Pro and added the same events as the 4000 wired counterpart.
  2. I inserted a new model in the relevant folder inside Program Files\Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center (see * below).
  3. Deleted registry key 7001 (was 7003 on the original question) at regpath HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\IntelliType Pro\ModelSpecific\
  4. Rebooted and voila: a fully working 7000 keyboard with all customizations enabled.
  5. Made a zip file containing all the above which you can unzip inside Program Files\Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center available at: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1whIKPTbmUr68mavg71T2Ouwa-DmMKPgS

Please let me know if something is not working. Enjoy.

  • Image is for the 4000 model which is identical to 7000 except for the 4 LEDs below Back/Forward keys.
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  • I followed your tutorial twice :) Just wanted to add that I was not able to find registry key 7001 or 7003, so there was nothing to delete. Anyway, it worked fine. Also, as side notes: 1. it's better to load the default ITypeDevices and one from the archive and add the relevant tags to the default XML. 2. Reboot is not required: you can kill IType.exe and start it again.
    – Lev
    Feb 6, 2021 at 12:25

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