windows registry - Changing default behavior of a Keyboard Multimedia Keys

06
2014-04

warmth

Today I've got a Dell KB522 keyboard, which has 7 multimedia keys on top. I was wondering if it's possible to change the behaviour of those keys due to the lack of official Dell app to do that (for Windows 7 SP1 x64 and connected to a Laptop Dell Latitude E6430 via docking station).

Answers

warmth

In the case of Spotify (%APPDATA%\Spotify\spotify.exe --> converted to hex & written after "hex(2):" to be able to write a default REG_EXPAND_SZ or Expandable String Value using System Variables) and the Media (♫) button (which by default call the *.cda or AudioCD associated app) just save the following code in a *.reg file and execute it.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\AudioCD]
"BaseClass"="Drive"
"FriendlyTypeName"="@shell32.dll,-10144"
@="CD Audio Track"
"EditFlags"=hex:02,00,10,00
".cda"="CD Audio Track"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\AudioCD\shell]
@="play"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\AudioCD\shell\open]
@="&Open"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\AudioCD\shell\open\command]
@=hex(2):43,00,3a,00,5c,00,55,00,73,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,5c,00,64,00,61,00,6e,\
  00,69,00,65,00,6c,00,2e,00,64,00,65,00,6c,00,67,00,61,00,64,00,6f,00,5c,00,\
  41,00,70,00,70,00,44,00,61,00,74,00,61,00,5c,00,52,00,6f,00,61,00,6d,00,69,\
  00,6e,00,67,00,5c,00,53,00,70,00,6f,00,74,00,69,00,66,00,79,00,5c,00,73,00,\
  70,00,6f,00,74,00,69,00,66,00,79,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,00,00
"command"=hex(7):46,00,6e,00,34,00,70,00,61,00,31,00,5a,00,63,00,65,00,38,00,\
  6c,00,51,00,21,00,52,00,56,00,6f,00,60,00,39,00,4b,00,2b,00,63,00,64,00,61,\
  00,3e,00,5d,00,34,00,73,00,6d,00,52,00,48,00,78,00,2b,00,7e,00,3d,00,46,00,\
  5f,00,77,00,2d,00,52,00,27,00,4d,00,2b,00,3f,00,6c,00,20,00,22,00,25,00,31,\
  00,22,00,00,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\AudioCD\shell\play]
@="&Play"
"MUIVerb"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,\
  6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,\
  00,75,00,6e,00,72,00,65,00,67,00,6d,00,70,00,32,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,\
  2c,00,2d,00,39,00,39,00,39,00,31,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\AudioCD\shell\play\command]
@=hex(2):43,00,3a,00,5c,00,55,00,73,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,5c,00,64,00,61,00,6e,\
  00,69,00,65,00,6c,00,2e,00,64,00,65,00,6c,00,67,00,61,00,64,00,6f,00,5c,00,\
  41,00,70,00,70,00,44,00,61,00,74,00,61,00,5c,00,52,00,6f,00,61,00,6d,00,69,\
  00,6e,00,67,00,5c,00,53,00,70,00,6f,00,74,00,69,00,66,00,79,00,5c,00,73,00,\
  70,00,6f,00,74,00,69,00,66,00,79,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,00,00

Note 1: if you need to write a different Expandable String Value (because you want to launch a different app) you can follow these examples.

reg.exe add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\AudioCD\shell\play\command /ve /t REG_EXPAND_SZ /d "%APPDATA%\Spotify\spotify.exe"
reg.exe add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\AudioCD\shell\open\command /ve /t REG_EXPAND_SZ /d "%APPDATA%\Spotify\spotify.exe"

Note 2: if you need to know what your key is doing I recommend you to analyze the whole process with Process Monitor.

Home

windows registry - Changing default behavior of a Keyboard Multimedia Keys