How can I disable or reassign the 'Windows' key?

"See my answer for Reassigning the caps lock key on Windows or OS X:

You can use SharpKeys to disable the functionality of any key. For a detailed guide, you can check out Map Any Key to Any Key on Windows XP / Vista."

"You can download SharpKeys! It saved my life, especially when I want to press ESC and accidentally press F1.

SharpKeys is free. You can download it from here

When installed, click on Add button,
on Map this key (from key) section click on Type key button. Type F1.
on the To this key (to key) section, select Turn Key off item.

Confirm with OK, reboot your Windows (because registry got changed).
You're done!"

Pick yourself up a quality gaming keyboard (this one's great, but you can find much cheaper ones). They usually have a switch that disables the windows key and the context menu key.

I have a laptop purchased in Canada that has many keys that irritate me (necessary for Francophones, etc.) and I use KeyTweak (got my copy from Softonics), which I learned about from How-to-Geek, and changed the assignment of keys at will to suit myself. Fun, free, and possibly a terrible practical joke issue.

"There's actually a support article titled: Microsoft Support Article KB216893 How to disable the keyboard Windows key.

The article offers Microsoft Fix It downloads to enable/disable the Windows logo keys.

Alternatively, here's the manual procedure:

To disable the Windows key, follow these steps:


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


To enable the Windows key, follow these steps:


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