Gateway gwnr71517-bl function keys I don't want to have to press the fn key all the time

JLuminais
JLuminais Member Posts: 1 New User
edited January 2023 in Legacy Laptops and Netbooks

I have a Gateway gwnr71517-bl laptop. I bought it a few months ago. It has one particulary annoying characteristic. The function keys (f1-f12) have the secondary functions enabled by default. I want to change that as one of the programs I use a lot relys on the function keys and I don't want to have to press the fn key all the time. I read on the internet this can be done by rebooting during post to the hardware setup, but I cannot achieve this. Ive tried pressing the recommended keys (f1 f2) during post but it always comes back to windows login. I spoke with someone from support and they had me delete the keyboard driver then reboot. That didn't work, so they told me I would have to "reset" in other words re install windows, which means I need to back up all my data and re install all the programs I use. This is not a trivial thing for me to do. I don't have the time to do that. Does anyone have any insight into this?

[Edited the thread to add model name to the title and issue detail]

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