How to use a bilingual keyboard (Canada)

[Exhausted01]

 Model HP Pavilion dv6-3114CA

So far, I've never used this laptop on its own without connecting it to an external French keyboard and using Alt codes for special characters. Basically, I've never used it as a portable unit!

My problem is that my laptop seems to have a bilingual keyboard with no numerical pad. When I bought it a few years ago, I'm assuming I requested a bilingual keyboard because I knew that I would be typing both in English and in French. However, I've never used it on its own and I would like to change that.

The Alt codes I'm used to for special characters don't work! What am I supposed to do? For example, to type French quotation marks before, I would use Alt + 0171 (opening quote) and Alt+0187 (closing quote) on my external French keyboard. Conversely, to type quotation marks in English, I would use Alt+0034.

These codes are useless on my HP Pavilion D6 -3114CA keyboard! What can I do? I've been at it for hours

[Dragon-Fur]

Exhausted,

Welcome to the HP Forum.

I may misunderstand your request; please bear with me.

I think you are asking how to use the existing built-in keyboard as "American style".

Windows 8: Changing Languages in Windows 8

Windows 7: Changing Keyboard Language - Windows 7

Select "Changing the keyboard language" > Change your keyboard language to US English

Reference:  Wikipedia - Keyboard layout

Click the Kudos Thumbs-Up!

It is a nice way to say “Thank You" for the help.

Although I strive to reflect HP's best practices, I do not work for HP. 

[Exhausted01]

Hi Dragon-Fur,

Sorry for not being clear. This is my issue: I'm a translator (English/French) and I often work on documents that have both English and French sentences in them. I don't have time to adjust language settings constantly while working on the same document.

The laptop I bought a while back (HP DV6-3114CA) has what seems to be a bilingual keyboard integrated in it (with some characters represented in blue)

Since I bought the laptop, I have never used the bilingual keyboard that is encased in the laptop because I never knew how to work the keys. I would always plug an external French keyboard (or an external English one)  into my unit and use Alt codes/ASCII codes to create the special characters I needed, be it in French or in English.

 Now I want to use my laptop the way it was designed...  on my lap. I want to be able to go a coffee shop with just my laptop and do work.

The bilingual keyboard on my laptop does not have a numeric pad, which makes it impossible for me to enter Alt codes/ASCII codes to type in special characters. What do I need to do in order to be able to use Alt codes on my laptop? I know them by heart already and the bilingual keyboard is a headache. From what I've seen on the web, a lot of people are having issues with it. If I buy an external numeric keypad to enter my Alt codes, will that do the trick? Or do I need to have a computer tech replace the laptop keyboard with a French one or an English one? How do I get around this issue?

Thanks

[Dragon-Fur]

Exhausted,

Hmm..  I think I am still misunderstanding the situation.  Sigh.

I did answer a request for help from another member -- who no doubt thinks I am somewhat dimwitted for answering a post on a subject about which I know nothing -- and the answer does seem to hinge on which Language you are using - and have set as your "input" method.

I keep thinking that by switching Languages on the computer, that you could use the keyboard.  Brain-freeze-cell-death.

References:

How to Type French Accents

In order to use one of these alternate keyboard layouts, you need to add it to Windows. Once you've done this, you can either set it as your default keyboard, or use alt plus shift to toggle between two or more layouts. The way to do this is slightly different for each operating system.

List of Characters on a French Canadian Keyboard

How to change your keyboard layout

Excerpted:

Blue keys: Right ALt + letter

Red keys require the "dead" key + desired key to get special key accents  (This may not be relevant on your keyboard.)

Example:

I will now gracefully withdraw and hopefully someone who actually understands the issue can help.

I do believe you could have the keyboard switched out, by the way, but then you still have one keyboard or the other (French or English).  This might be the best option if you find that the keyboard you have is just not usable in the general sense of "most of the time, I am comfortable with it this way".

Click the Kudos Thumbs-Up!

It is a nice way to say “Thank You" for the help.

Although I strive to reflect HP's best practices, I do not work for HP.