Disabling keys on keyboard

[jmt356]

I have a computer with a row of keys to the left of my tab, caps lock, shift and ctrl keys. These keys call up the calculator, print dialogue, Internet, DVD player and email program. These keys always get in the way; when I think I am pressing ctrl, I am actually pressing the calculator; when I think I am pressing tab, I am launching the dvd player, etc.

Short of physically taking these keys out of the keyboard, is there any way to disable them?

[Leif]

A search on Google points to this (amongst many other things):
How to Disable or Change a Key Action in Your Keyboard Using Sharp Keys? - AskVG
But I have no experience of the site, software referred to, or appropriateness/safety/long-term implications of the application.

It may help if you gave some indication of what your hardware is...

[HansV]

This may depend on the type of computer/keyboard, but try the following:
- Press Windows key+R
- Type the word RegEdit and press Enter or click OK.
- If Windows asks for permission, click Yes.
- Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AppKey
- Right-click AppKey and select Export.
- Save the key as a .reg file. If anything goes wrong, you can restore the current settings by opening the .reg file.
- There should be subkeys for the "special" keys, e.g. 18 is for the Calculator key.
- Check the contents of these subkeys. If you see an entry with "Associaton" or "ShellExecute", delete it.