Erasing the Windows logo key

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xlucas
Posts: 334
Joined: May 09, 2014 21:19
Location: Argentina

Erasing the Windows logo key

Post by xlucas »

Well, this has nothing to do with programming, but so much to do with Linux, that I thought this would be the best place to post it. If you think I'm wrong, feel free to move it.

As a Linux-only user (well, and FreeDOS-), I dislike seeing the windows logo on my keyboard. I've seen there are plenty of stickers for sale online and I have even printed my own and placed them on some keyboards in the past, but it's not the same. Ideally, I would like to erase the key logo completely and print something else on it. The thing is I don't know anything about materials and inks. I've tried using alcohol and no matter how hard I try, it does not wear off. I'm afraid of using more corrosive agents as I might damage the key itself. Aditionally, say I get to erase the logo, which ink should I later use on the key? I'd like to write "Super" on it. It's more scientific than a logo.

Opinions? Recommendations?
thesanman112
Posts: 538
Joined: Jul 15, 2005 4:13

Re: Erasing the Windows logo key

Post by thesanman112 »

there are a lot of tricks you can do, you could take the key off and replace it with another key, you could paint the entire key with a plastic paint such as krylon, then detail it with white nail polish. BE WARNED, trying to remove the key can sometimes break the key mechanism itself, but if its a desktop keyboard then those are a lot stronger.
thesanman112
Posts: 538
Joined: Jul 15, 2005 4:13

Re: Erasing the Windows logo key

Post by thesanman112 »

depending on which windows logo it is, you may just be able to cover up the logo like they do with tattoos!!
St_W
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Re: Erasing the Windows logo key

Post by St_W »

IMHO your aversion is a bit crazy or childish.
Nevertheless, you may try getting an old keyboard, which do not have those Windows Keys yet.
For your current keyboard you may use sandpaper to remove the coating and get an abrasive surface. You should then be able to use lacquer to paint your key. Of course your key will look different than the others afterwards.
Alternatively you may try to use a nitro dilution or some other aggressive chemicals to remove the label from the key. However, this will lead to a abrasive surface too.
Try anything at your own risk!
D.J.Peters
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Re: Erasing the Windows logo key

Post by D.J.Peters »

On you own risk !
use a little bit acetone on a small piece of fabric and try to remove the WIN logo.

Do it like a boss :-)
With an 3D printer you can create or download a 3D model of the key
and then print it out with your "Tux logo" embossed on it.

Joshy
xlucas
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Re: Erasing the Windows logo key

Post by xlucas »

St_W... it's not "aversion"... I just don't like it. If there's nothing I can do, then well, but if there is... Imagine you have to wear a t-shirt you don't like. You won't just leave the house naked, but you necessarily will wonder if there's an alternative... You don't want to risk destroying your t-shirt, but maybe there's something you can do that's not so risky. Especially if you have other t-shirts

From what you guys tell me, it sounds it might be possible but it's probably a better bet to remove the key and replace it with another. Anyway, I do have several old keyboards and I can try the acetone to see what results I get. I hadn't thought about the sandpaper. I figure then I can soften the area with something.
thesanman112
Posts: 538
Joined: Jul 15, 2005 4:13

Re: Erasing the Windows logo key

Post by thesanman112 »

Not all keys are engineered the same, one manufacturers key wont usually fit anothers...nail polish remover will remove it, it contains acetone, but it eats plastic so go slow, but i would just paint over it first then draw your custum logo on afterwards with nail polish.
Tourist Trap
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Re: Erasing the Windows logo key

Post by Tourist Trap »

xlucas wrote:Well, this has nothing to do with programming, but so much to do with Linux, that I thought this would be the best place to post it. If you think I'm wrong, feel free to move it.
The windows key, and the "menu" key are quite useless in my opinion. I don't really know who had the idea first to add them around. To the contrary, the keys for jumping to start and end of line are ultimate for the productivity, but they often are in blue on keyboards (Fn, you know when you don't have a numpad). This makes those good key difficult to reach... In one word this is the microsoft world, we can not understand every choice they make.
datwill310
Posts: 355
Joined: May 29, 2015 20:37

Re: Erasing the Windows logo key

Post by datwill310 »

Tourist Trap wrote:The windows key, and the "menu" key are quite useless in my opinion. I don't really know who had the idea first to add them around. To the contrary, the keys for jumping to start and end of line are ultimate for the productivity, but they often are in blue on keyboards (Fn, you know when you don't have a numpad). This makes those good key difficult to reach... In one word this is the microsoft world, we can not understand every choice they make.
Maybe it is a decision for the keyboard/laptop manufactures to make: making useful keys accessible instead of tucking them away under the guise of a FUNCTION key. Lucky for me, those sorts of keys are just above with arrow keys with no "hold-it" key required :).
I find I use the Windows key all the time (mostly to open File Explorer or the Run utility), and I think it's useful for things like global shortcuts, at least on the Windows platform. While there's a whole list of them here, you find that almost all of them are hard to remember, and ultimately useless/not enough useful ones. You know what I take that back: I wish I could remember these, that's all...
I think that the Windows key is actually useful, albeit maybe not used to its full potential...
But the menu key? Gotta agree with you on that one. It must have been invented when there was no such thing as a mouse, because otherwise it's useless and disrupts natural flow of work/productivity.

As for the OP, I'm using a keyboard now which was primarily produced for [the tragedy that is] Windows 10. The Windows logo is applied using the exact same technologies (i.e. by sticker, it looks like? At least that's how I thought key letters were made), so as thesanman112 suggested you can probably do well with using paint of some description to lightly cover the logo, then draw over it to your heart's content (I am not too knowledgable with what exact ink to use, but once you let it dry, something like Tip-Ex might be worth a shot).
However, I have used various Windows 7 laptops (and possibly desktop keyboards have this too), and the Windows key on that can use special materials (usually some rigid, stubborn form of plastic), as well as some different way of drawing the actual Windows logo. For these you can't really paint over it as it still feels uncomfortable, and the paint may not be as effective at covering the key (correct me if I'm wrong though). You may have to try to replace the whole key altogether if that be the case - I can't really think of any solution besides burning it away with corrosives :).
I'm interested about redefining what a key means in the actual system! Is that what you suggested when you may write "super" on it, or is that just for show ;)!
Ultimately, it depends on how your Windows logo is created on the keyboard. Is it just a sticker, or is it a sticker enshrined in an uncomfortable plastic coating (meh, I get the material wrong, but you can find a visual example here)? There are also Windows keys like these, and nice ones like these. There are even more designs of Windows key out there!
Hope I could be of help.
xlucas
Posts: 334
Joined: May 09, 2014 21:19
Location: Argentina

Re: Erasing the Windows logo key

Post by xlucas »

Tourist Trap: I think the creation of the Windows and Menu keys was a decision by Microsoft with the intention of creating a psychological link between the PC and Windows. See how MS-related cites often refer to the "PC platform" meaning Windows-based systems. The idea is to make GNU/Linux and other systems that can run on a PC look alien to the common user, give them the impression that they may "break" their computers if they install anything other than Windows. But really, number one reason to implement these keys is to produce a tax. I know for a fact that keyboard manufacturers have to follow certain rules when including these keys in their keyboards, based on MS patents. I wouldn't be surprised that they actually have to pay MS to be allowed to use the logos. But if a keyboard does not have these keys or logos, common people are likely to avoid buying those "alien" keyboards, so MS gets money for every keyboard bought. This is akin to Windows coming bundled with laptops. It's true... these keys weren't at all necessary when they were created, but...

Datwil310:[b/] As a matter of fact, in most Linux distributions today, it's common to use the Windows key for an approach similar to what is used in Windows. You combine typically the left Windows key with a letter to launch a program that you use a lot. In most distros, this is very configurable. The Menu key does something similar to what it does in Windows too and is seldom used, because one normally wants to do this as they use the mouse and there's not point in going to the keyboard to open a mouse-based menu. The right-Windows key, when present, is used sometimes as a combination key. You hold it and press two symbol keys and you get a combined character. But these behavious are completely reconfigurable. In my experience, the benefit these keys provide is that you can map all system shortcuts to combinations with these keys and leave the whole rest of the keyboard for the programs.
I called the key "Super" because this is how it is very often called in the GNU/Linux world. The Super key, actually, was invented long ago in keyboards for other types of computers and is mostly unrelated, but maybe to avoid patent problems or just to not promote Windows to Linux users, many distros began calling it "Super". Because it's mostly used as a sort of shifting key, it makes sense to call it that way, as Super was a shifting key. I really don't know much about what the Super key used to do originally. But well, it'd be nice for it to read "Super" on top :)
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