How can I disable selected Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts?

Question

Is there a way to disable certain Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts?

Specifically, in this case, I want to disable Alt+Space and WinKey+Space.

Answer 1

In AutoHotkey, set the following hotkeys:

!space::return
#space::return

The first line will disable the ALT+Space shortcut.

The second line will disable the +Space shortcut.

Answer 2

Although this does not directly change the key, this may be more appropriate for achieving the desired result:

#IfWinActive ahk_exe notepad.exe
^esc::sendinput {ctrl up}{esc}
#if

This will cause ctrl+escape (^esc) to send only esc. I have found this very useful in gaming. I hope it becomes game design standard to disable ctrl+esc because in competitive games, ctrl+esc can leave during a firefight and expose you by canceling crouch (usually assigned to ctrl).

About the code: #IfWinActive might be case-sensitive in some older versions of AHK.

#if cancels the #if-block: if you don't do that, the hotkeys that follow will only work in notepad.

If you add more lines to the script, you need to add "return" on its own line at the end of the script.