Any ideas why Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator 1.4 refuses to work properly on my Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit?

I downloaded MSKLC 1.4 from from Microsoft's Download Center, Run [it] as Administrator but it refuses to display the keyboard layout after File → Load Existing Keyboard...:

(Note the selected keyboard layout in the title bar.)

I read in a(n older) forum thread that .NET 3.5 is needed but dotNetFx35setup.exe does simply nothing (at least nothing visible to me) when Run as Administrator.

I have MS .NET Framework 4.6.1 installed. I repaired it from Control Panel → Programs and Features. That didn't help.

I also tried it with Windows XP compatibility settings, to no avail.

I downloaded KeyTweak from a site called jaleco but when I started it my anti-virus SW detected a PUA/InstallCore. Then I found out that it simply does the same what the .reg files in my Q/A linked below do.

I use the solution that I described in How to remap Right-Win and Right-Alt keyboard keys for now, but the need for reboots is inconvenient, since I use this for a keyboard connected to a laptop and I don't want to change its internal one permanently.

Suggestions for other keyboard mapping tools (those without viruses in them) are equally welcome as well as hints for a solution to MSKLC's misbehaviour.

UPDATE 1

Applying the appropriate Registry change, killing the Explorer process in Task Manager and starting a new Explorer from within Task Manager as proposed in a comment by @barlop doesn't help. A reboot/restart is necessary for the settings to take effect.

UPDATE 2

Remapkey.exe of the Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit as mentioned in an answer to Switch alt and lwindows key in PC (Windows 7) just changes the Registry and needs a reboot, too.

UPDATE 3

An Autohotkey script containing:

RWin::RAlt
RAlt::RWin

didn't help much either. The swapped R-Alt key works in some apps, in some it shows weird behaviour.

MSKLC doesn't work on my old Windows Vista with the same misbehaviour as described at the beginning of this question.

There's KbdEdit which looks promising (in the other hand, some things up to UPDATE 3 here looked promising, as well). It's not for free, however and I can't tell yet whether it works since saving isn't possible in the demo version.

UPDATE 4

MSKLC lets you save a keyboard layout loaded with File → Load Existing Keyboard... as .klc file. This contains:

...

KEYNAME_EXT

...
38  "Right Windows"
...
5c  "Right Alt"
...

These are the scancodes of the keys but I didn't find out yet how or if at all they can be swapped.

GeroldBroser reinstates Monica

Posted 2017-04-10T04:20:05.453

Reputation: 405

MSKLC will generate an EXE or MSI.. So you could perhaps run it on any computer and specify your layout and create that EXE or MSI and then run it on your computer and see how that goes.. it should add a layout that you can then choose in control panel languages/layouts. – barlop – 2017-04-10T06:41:37.593

For the record, KeyTweak is mentioned https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/keytweak/ So it most definitely isn't malicious.. bleepingcomputer is a site with a forum of very dedicated and overly protective volunteer human "malware fighters" But anyhow, yeah most of the time any software that is for key remapping uses the same method, that registry method, with the exception of MS KLC which IIRC is more flexible and creates the EXE or MSI. I once tried half a dozen keyboard remappers some years ago and they all had the same functionality and probably did that registry key remap.

– barlop – 2017-04-10T06:43:00.250

Also regarding downloading software, softpedia is a good one (not to be confused with softonic - a bad one). keytweak is on softpedia so if you were looking for a legit site with whatever software, then softpedia is always a good one to check. – barlop – 2017-04-10T06:47:44.953

Another thing you could try re restarting, is try just end tasking explorer.exe.. then making a new one from file..new in task manager.. That can do some things that a restart does, i'm not sure if it'd reload the registry or the part that does key remapping.. but would perhaps be more convenient than a full restart. – barlop – 2017-04-10T06:50:51.070

@barlop Thanks for the various hints. I'm going to try them. MSKLC builds a DLL (which does the mapping) and a Setup Package (which is an .msi IIRC). Re the Explorer process killing see the update to my Q. And it kills all Autostart programs and most of those from HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run, too. Probably also those from HKCU\...\Run but I don't have any there atm. – GeroldBroser reinstates Monica – 2017-04-10T07:28:24.907

i'm not sure whether ms klc can see the windows key http://i.imgur.com/KtbcFvF.png also though, this may help https://superuser.com/questions/188941/switch-alt-and-lwindows-key-in-pc-windows-7/188947#188947 it mentions one program that uses the registry.. but that link also mentions an autohotkey solution, and it's possible that the autohotkey solution won't require a restart

– barlop – 2017-04-10T08:27:06.357

@barlop Thanks for the hints. I'm running AHK anyway. I also already thought of using ShutdownBlockReasonCreate to intercept a shutdown to be able to change the reg settings manually before I plan switching keyboards from USB to internal or vice versa. But this cannot be VBScripted (don't know with PowerShell), it needs a COM Wrapper. I already installed VS 2017 yesterday but didn't decide yet whether to go with VB or C#.

– GeroldBroser reinstates Monica – 2017-04-10T10:40:38.317

I'd think C# would be better.. I don't know of any advantage to using VB, and C# has a much larger user base and is a more respected language. In the early forms of the Visual Studio environment, called Visual Basic(the environment and language had the same name), VB language was the only option, but nowadays that e.g. C# is available within that environment, people tend to choose C# and frown on VB. – barlop – 2017-04-10T15:44:02.293

@barlop I know this, I developed with VB6 for quite a while. Including accessing the Win32API. So there was nothing I couldn't do with it what could have been done with something else only. And I don't choose my tools because they are respected by others or not. I want the job get done, as smart as possible. If I'd prefer to stick to believe systems I'd rather go to church. – GeroldBroser reinstates Monica – 2017-04-10T16:47:01.233