Why is the zoom feature on the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 not working

I just put my Ergonomic 4000 keyboard through the dishwasher and I'm happy to report it works perfectly.

Here's what I recommend:

• Use the top rack
• Face the keys downward
• Use little/no soap
• Remove before drying cycle

After the washing, I shook it out as best as possible and then let it sit in a hot room for three days. After plugging it back in, everything worked great.

I did have a bit of white soap residue on the palm rest that I was easily able to remove with a wet sponge.

Unlike Windows, the Mac Microsoft keyboard driver doesn't use a commands.xml file for the configuration. Instead, it uses a binary file, which makes it tough to modify. The configuration file is stored at:

/Users/YOUR_NAME/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.keyboard.pref

With a bit of reverse-engineering, it's possible to determine enough of the binary file format to modify it and remap the zoom slider. I have created a modified pref file that remaps the zoom slider to UP and DOWN arrow key presses. Unfortunately when I tried remapping it to the SCROLL function, it didn't autorepeat, so UP/DOWN seemed like a better option.

There is a trick to installing a new pref file and getting the keyboard driver to reload it:

1. Make sure System Preferences is closed
2. Download the modified pref file (above)
3. Navigate to /Users/YOUR_NAME/Library/Preferences/
4. Back up the com.microsoft.keyboard.pref file (e.g. rename it to com.microsoft.keyboard.pref.old)
5. Move the modified pref file into that folder
6. Open System Preferences, and open the Microsoft Keyboard preference panel (this causes the pref file to be reloaded)
7. The zoom slider should now send UP/DOWN keypresses (Note: changing any of the zoom preferences within the System Preferences window will overwrite the remapping - reverting it back to zoom!)

If you're interested in remapping the zoom slider to something else, I've described the reverse engineering process in more detail on my blog - it involves taking hex dumps of the binary pref file and comparing those hex dumps when you change particular items from the control panel.