10th August 2001
I can't think of a lesser used key on a keyboard than Scroll Lock. Many computer users have gone DECADES without touching it... save for whacking it by mistake. I believe we can change that sentiment, however. You Excel jockeys know that when you move around using the arrow keys, the cursor moves from field to field. Handy, but when you want to move down the worksheet to check on a bit of data, you'll end up losing your place because the cursor moves down the page with you. Toggle the Scroll Lock key ON and THEN move around. Now the page moves around -- but the active field never changes (even if you scroll it completely out of view). Other applications also take advantage of the Scroll Lock key in different ways. This varies widely from program to program, but functionality usually has to do with how the cursor behaves (or toggles active / inactive status for a program). Experiment! And if when get tired of troubleshooting, take a Pause Break.