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There is some consolation in more modern laptops going without Scroll Lock. The key will die eventually.
I still find XON-XOFF useful. Say I've got a massive Visual Studio compile going in a dos box and there's some interesting error messages early on. I can't just move the scroll bar to go back and see because the compile is spewing more and keeps taking me back to the bottom of the stream. Typing ^S (XOFF) stops the incoming text and I can browse around to see what happened. Satisfied, ^Q (XON) resumes the flood. Works on Linux, too.
Dang! My '58 Renault Dauphine has another flat tire.
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And what about the '7' key? Who here has actually used that?
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Doug.McFarlane wrote: And what about the '7' key? Who here has actually used that?
I am assuming that you used the '7' key in order to write the question. And before you ask ... no I did not use it as well; I copy/pasted it  Of course, I can also get it from Charmap viz: 7. But you cannot get it using Alt-037 because that includes itself in its definition.
Re: ScrLk - like most posters here, I still use Ctrl-S / Ctrl-Q (XON / XOFF) rather than ScrLk because it works on many environments.
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Ahh, clever!
I usually just type the word 'seven' - it gets the point across.
But, for some reason, Excel formulas are finicky with this.
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What would we do without the scroll lock?
If you set HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters\CrashOnCtrlScroll = 1 and the press <ctrl> + <scroll lock> you will generate a BSOD! Including a current memory dump. Surely this is in every programmer's repertoire!
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For those too young to know..
Scroll Lock is a throwback to the days of teletypes. It used to pause the output being printed at the terminal end. Back before PCs, even back before modems, teletypes where hardwired to the host. The serial interface (you young whippersnappers would call it a UART) used hardware handshaking (RTS/CTS/DTR/DSR), and that's how the sender would find out that it couldn't send the next character. Later came the ctrl-S/ctrl-Q flow control (because that worked through a modem), but before then, it was Scroll Lock.
Seriously, I understand your pain. My son had a similar problem with that key just a few weeks ago. That kind of pain is why keyboard manufacturers started putting lights on the keyboards to indicate the state of the scroll lock feature. Its mostly unused these days. I wish they'd remove it and replace it with something useful, like an "Any" key
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
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kdmote wrote: Have any of you ever intentionally used this little plastic cretin? (I mean -- since the dark ages)
It is frequently mapped to "auto-run" in MMORPGS
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kdmote wrote: Have any of you ever intentionally used this little plastic cretin? (I mean -- since the dark ages)
Yes, I frequently use it. The code from that key activates the port switch that allows me to use one screen, keyboard and mouse to operate several different PCs. My port switch has four ports, so the following sequence switches to a specific port:
(scroll-lock)(scroll-lock)(port number)(enter)
Fletcher Glenn
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Quote: The cat will die before the tick is destroyed.
I myself am awed and shocked by your experience. My HP keyboard has a Cut key, Copy key, and Paste key that I'd be crippled without. What it lacks is an Undo key and Redo key. Has some other keys I don't like. But the Scroll Lock key is the sin of hostility toward me and all keyboard users. I'm not naming names. That Pause|Break key too, and also the Sys Rq key )?!(
Though I'd live on an island of keys, dirt, or whatever in Dubai -- marry me.
Remain Calm & Continue To Google
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I have used the Scroll Lock in Excel when I wanted to keep the "active" cell centered on the screen.
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My mouse settings are playing up so I was in the mouse control panel fiddling with things and noticed the "Display pointer trails" checkbox.
Does anyone here remember when laptop screens were so bad you actually needed pointer trails so you could follow where the mouse was? What a blast from the past.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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I have Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key enabled.
I have multiple monitors and not the greatest vision.
Helps me find the cursor but I do get grief from the younger devs.
There are strangers on the Plain, Croaker
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Ditto; both ctrl-locate and trailing cursors enabled 
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Using three 1920x1080 monitors... sometimes I find myself moving the mouse desperately to try to see it... 
Your method is waaaaay better... 
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I also use Pointer Location. I try to blame multi monitors, but it's probably my age... 
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Ditto, though there are times I hit CTRL and then wonder why the screen went 'wobbly'...
veni bibi saltavi
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That'll be the Alzheimer's...
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Is that a new brand of Gin I haven't heard of?
veni bibi saltavi
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You've forgotten already?
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Tonight's late posting is brought to you by 13yo not doing her history project over the two week half-term and realising it's due in in the morning. I am giving her help as needed whilst [a] reading and [b] quality checking a rather cheeky Hungarian red. Chin! Chin!
veni bibi saltavi
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Ah. A natural QA questioner, then...
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Nice to know that teenagers are the same all over the world.
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It's a necessity when you have two 1920x1200 monitors and a 40" 4K one. Even with that, I still sometimes lose the pointer.
I'm beginning to think it's time Microsoft allowed larger mouse pointers (64x64 or even 128x128)
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The next time one of your younger devs is away from their system, change the mouse pointer to "hide" when not in use. The CTRL allows you to find it again quickly.
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There was no such time. But there was a time when laptop screens were so bad that they gave you pointer trails even if you didn't want them, especially when it was a little cold.
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