How to toggle Action / Function keys

[Ham37]

I have seen many posts on Function Keys (also called action keys)

Most computers up to about 15 years ago gave "functions" by pressing F1 to F10/12

Increasingly those keys were also used for other things by using some sort of "alt" button

Only very rarely now do business computers use the F1 etc for anything although it is still widely used for gaming. 

F8 and F9 are also essential for VBA programmers (The Microsoft Office automation language).

HP computers (and now most competitors)  ship with the other functions as the default (Volume, Mute, Brightness etc), and only give the F1 etc if you also press the Fn key (similar to pressing shift to get capitals).

Fortunately you can easily go back to F1 etc as default and volume etc. only when you press the Fn key.

Power off the computer (not sleep, hibernate etc.)  Restart it and, as soon as you release the power button. tap the F10 button repeatedly.

That will take you to the BIOS menu. Scroll through the options until you find "Action Keys".

They will be "Enabled", scroll to that end press enter.

Move to "Disabled"

Press enter to accept, move to exit and press Enter again to "save all changes"

Your "action" keys (mute etc.) will now be exchanged for your function keys, so the latter are default.

You can still get the "Action Key" functionality by pressing Fn and the required key