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How do I use my function keys (F1, F2, F3, etc) in games that I play on my Windows 8 computer? Whenever I try, it just changes my brightness or opens help (or even worse, in steam games when I press F12 it turns off my Internet instead of taking a screenshot)! I really want to be able to screenshot and vote on votekicks, but I can't find out how!

PS I believe my laptop is an HP envy, but I can't check until I get home

The Ugly
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    This is nothing to do with Windows 8, please advise the make and model of your laptop so somebody can lookup which key combination will toggle function keys – Flyk Sep 26 '13 at 14:16
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    @TheUgly this is about the design of your laptop and nothing to do directly with gaming, your laptop has laptop setting keys in the place of function keys, and another key to toggle what this row of keys do. – Flyk Sep 26 '13 at 14:19
  • @kalina I self answered this but couldn't accept my answer yet. Do you have any evidence that this does not apply to all windows 8 computers. If you can provide proof I will change it, but I want to make sure that I don't incorrectly change this when the advice I was given might be faulty, no offense. –  Sep 26 '13 at 14:20
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    @TheUgly Applying to *every* game you've used on Windows 8 is a very good indication your problem has nothing to do with any of them. – dlras2 Sep 26 '13 at 14:21
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    @TheUgly I have a Windows 8 PC that this never applied to. I also had a Windows 7 laptop it did. This is 100% about your hardware/BIOS and manufacturer. – dlras2 Sep 26 '13 at 14:21
  • @TheUgly Yes - I use Windows 8 and I'm very experienced with the nuances of laptops and manufacturer's love for hiding the function keys behind multiple key presses. On your keyboard you will have an FN key which will temporarily toggle the top row of keys, but there will also be a key combination that makes the top row behave like function keys all the time, based on the make and model of your machine – Flyk Sep 26 '13 at 14:22
  • Alright, I didn't know about this. However, I have to say that it **does** apply to the games, with [tag:technical-issues], because this kept me from using many features of these games for a long time. I will edit this to include my specific computer model, but I think it's worth keeping up, even if only as a bad example – The Ugly Sep 26 '13 at 14:30
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    @TheUgly - It has nothing to do with "games" those same problems would have surfaced with ANY software. – Ramhound Sep 26 '13 at 15:00
  • @techie007 I'm sorry if this is a duplicate, I didn't plan on having it here, so I didn't check this site for existing questions. – The Ugly Sep 26 '13 at 15:06
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    @TheUgly No problem, dupes happen all the time. :) – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Sep 26 '13 at 15:07
  • @Ramhound it may apply to other programs, but a half-dozen other things on gaming also apply not only to games but other things as well. If you posted similarly on those, thank you. But I'd say check first, before you post. Also, this question is no longer on gaming, so it no longer must apply to games alone, in any case – The Ugly Sep 26 '13 at 15:09
  • @TheUgly - You made the comment I replied to after it was moved to Superuser. I dont need to check because this problem would have surfaced in any browser. – Ramhound Sep 26 '13 at 15:26
  • @Ramhound I don't understand, what browsers? I've never used function keys in any browsers, what can they do? – The Ugly Sep 26 '13 at 15:28
  • @TheUgly - `CTRL +F5` forces a refresh. There are other shortcuts mapped to the function keys also. – Ramhound Sep 26 '13 at 15:35

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You most likely have a laptop which defaults to using the control functions rather than the F_ keys.

To disable this system wide, you'll most likely need to open up your BIOS and change the option back to using the standard keyboard F_ keys. That said, this problem does not only apply only to Windows 8, but to many computers with almost any OS, and the solution will vary a bit between all of them.

dlras2
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  • Could you post a link to a guide for how to do this? I have no idea how to open a BIOS and where the option is located – The Ugly Sep 26 '13 at 15:39