Making Spanish Characters

Window 95-98 and beyond

1.       Close all of your programs.

2.       Shut your system down.

3.       Re-start your system.

4.       Open Control Panel. (Start - Settings - Control Panel)

5.       Double-click "Keyboard" icon.

6.       Click on "Language" tab.

7.       Click on "Properties" button.

8.       Choose "United States - International" from the menu.

9.       Click on "OK" button.

10.   You may be required to insert your Windows CD-ROM.

11.   When finished, shut down your system.

12.   Restart your system.

13.   Read the instructions for "Using the U.S. - International Keyboard" below.

 

Using the U.S. - International Keyboard

If you followed the above directions carefully, your keyboard will now react slightly differently than it did before. First of all, notice that if you strike the single apostrophe (') key, nothing happens. To type the single apostrophe now, you must strike the single apostrophe key and then strike the space bar. When you strike the spacebar, the apostrophe will appear.

The next thing to note is that the quotes (") key behaves the same way as the apostrophe key. You must first strike the quotes key and then strike the space bar in order to create the (") symbol. These two minor inconveniences are more than made up for by the ease with which you can now type the special characters.

To type the special characters, two keystrokes are required. To type the á, you need only strike the apostrophe key and then the letter a. The other characters are just as easy:

á = ' + a
é = ' + e
í = ' + i
ó = ' + o
ú = ' + u
ñ = ~ + n
ü = " + u

To type the special punctuation characters, you need to hold down on the Alt key while you strike the appropriate punctuation mark. On some keyboards, only one of the two Alt keys will work for this.

¡ = Alt (hold down) + !
¿ = Alt (hold down) + ?

 

 

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Using Cryptic Codes

If, for some reason, you don't want to change your keyboard, you can always type in the codes. Using this method, the following codes apply:

á = Alt + 0225 or 160
é = Alt + 0233 or 130
í = Alt + 0237 or 161
ó = Alt + 0243 or 162
ú = Alt + 0250 or 163
ñ = Alt + 0241 or 164
ü = Alt + 0252

¡ = Alt + 0161 or 173
¿ = Alt + 0191 or 168

« = Alt 174

» = Alt 175

When using this method, there are two important things to remember. First, when you type in the numbers, most keyboards require that you use the "numeric keypad" located to the side, rather than the numbers along the top. Second, on some keyboards, only one of the two Alt keys will work for this.