You'd need to make some registry changes.

Or you can just download the appropriate .reg files from http://johnhaller.com/jh/useful_stuff/disable_windows_key/

There's detailed instructions for Windows 7 here: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/5937-windows-key-shortcuts-enable-disable.html

This should work I think:

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/map-any-key-to-any-key-on-windows-xp-vista/

I use bbClean (a BlackBox clone for Windows) on Windows XP, and I have my Windows key act purely as a modifier. Pressing Win does nothing, but Win+Z opens the menu. I've been using that setup for the last 5 years, and have found Windows considerably less frustrating than it used to be.

I disabled the one on my old keyboard by ripping it out of the keyboard. I probably should have looked into other options first though.

I don't have any problems with my current keyboard though. It seems to be much better designed and that solves the problem by itself.

Ah, 10 years ago all one needed was a penknife. ;)

With modern systems, they can be disabled in the properties of the program. 10 years ago, i don't remember having that option, and if someone pressed the winkey playing Duke 3D on LAN, he froze up the whole server, and everyone crashed to desktop. hence, i was usually the guy who walked from computer to computer with a knife, taking the winkeys away. Surprisingly, the teacher understood the action.;)

Holy hell, XP had that option, i can't find it on Win7! There used to be this little properties tab, which had all the system shortcuts shown, and the user was able to disable them for the application.

Likely not an option (and a somewhat extreme solution), but you could get a gaming keyboard. I use the Logitech G11, which has a switch to disable the Windows key when I'm gaming. Very slick.

It's not extreme, I'm still using a Merc Stealth and I do not regret it in the least. I beat the hell out of it working from home and gaming. And you don't know what you're missing with good, blacklit keys until you use them for awhile. I think I paid 70 bucks and it's actually one of the best items I've ever bought for the money.

It does have a Windows key but it also is programmable, so it should be problem solved.

You can download a file from Microsoft to disable the windows key, or do a regedit yourself.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/216893

To disable the Windows key, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedt32, and then click OK.
2. On the Windows menu, click HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE on Local Machine.
3. Double-click the System\CurrentControlSet\Control folder, and then click the Keyboard Layout folder.
4. On the Edit menu, click Add Value, type in Scancode Map, click REG_BINARY as the Data Type, and then click OK.
5. Type 00000000000000000300000000005BE000005CE000000000 in the Data field, and then click OK.
6. Close Registry Editor and restart the computer.

To enable the Windows key, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedt32, and then click OK.
2. On the Windows menu, click HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE on Local Machine.
3. Double-click the System\CurrentControlSet\Control folder, and then click the Keyboard Layout folder.
4. Right-click the Scancode Map registry entry, and then click Delete. Click Yes.
5. Close Registry Editor and restart the computer.

I haven't tried it myself, but using Autohotkey to map your windows key to something else might to the trick. With the added benefit that you could map the physical window key to any command in your games. The drawbacks I see are :
- autohotkey might be a bit tricky to use if you know nothing about scripting
- you need to have a background application (your autohotkey script) to run. It won't eat much ressources though, and you can set it to launch automatically when you log in.

That's what I'd do if i had trouble with the windows keys.

Here's a quick tutorial to remap the keys to something useful :

- Download and install autohotkey.
- Run it. You should see a green "H" tray icon.
- Right-click on the tray icon, and select "edit this script". A notepad window should appear.
- Paste this code at the end of the sample script (you can delete the rest of the sample script if you want) :
[i];; Map left window key to F11
LWin::F11
;; Map right window key to F12
RWin::F12[/i]
- Save the script and close the notepad window
- Right-click on the tray icon and select "reload this script"

From now on, as long as autohotkey is running, pressing the left window key will be interpreted as a F11 keypress. Right window key will be F12.
If you prefer, you can use other keys instead of F11/F12 : here is the list.

No problem, I just posted this other solution here in case other GOGers find it useful.

Awesome community at work again :)