There may come a time when you'll need to use your computer without a physical keyboard.

That's just silly, you say? When will I need that, you ask?

Well, for example, to the handicapped or those with arthritis in their fingers, it can be particularly useful if your operating system had an on-screen keyboard that you can use to type with by clicking letters with the mouse pointer.

Even if you are fleet of finger, using the on-screen keyboard might be a good idea at times, such as when you type in sensitive information on a website where you might be concerned about keystroke readers stealing your information.

It's a good thing then that Windows comes with an on-screen keyboard:

1. Go to "Start", "All Programs", "Accessories", "Accessibility" ("Ease of Access" in Vista), and click on "On-screen keyboard".
2. An information box jumps up. Click "OK".
3. The on-screen keyboard will now appear in a new program window. Open your word processor and then type in it by clicking the letters on the on-screen keyboard.
4. If you want to use the Shift, Alt, or Ctrl buttons, just click on them once and the on-screen keyboard will keep it pressed down until you click again.

You can also change the typing mode of the keyboard:

1. Open the on-screen keyboard.
2. Click on "Settings" and then on "Typing mode".
3. Here you can choose one of three settings:
   • Clicking mode: the default selection where you click on the keys with your mouse pointer;
   • Hovering mode: Move your mouse icon over a key for a predetermined time period and the key will be selected without having to click. You can set the hover time by choosing one from the drop-down menu in Settings.
   • Scanning mode: use this option if you want to use a joystick.
4. Click "OK" to return to the keyboard.

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