what does the scroll lock key on a computer actually do?

Question

i know some may call me dum but ive always wondered this so what does the key actually do?

Answer 1

It locks the scrolling.

Answer 2

You are not dum, until I looked this up I didn't know either.

Scroll lock is a key (with an associated status light) on most modern computer keyboards. The behavior of the key depends on the particular software in use.

The Scroll Lock key is a remnant from the original IBM PC keyboard. In the original design, Scroll Lock was intended to modify the behavior of the arrow keys. When the scroll lock mode was on, the arrow keys would scroll the contents of a text window instead of moving the cursor.

In this usage, Scroll Lock is a modifier key like Alt and Shift (which modify the function of other keys) and, more specifically, a toggling lock key like Num Lock or Caps Lock, which have a state that persists after the key is released. Today, this particular use of Scroll Lock is rare. Only a few modern programs still honor this behavior, such as Microsoft Excel (in the behavior of arrows — when Scroll Lock is on, the selection does not move), Lotus Notes and Forté Agent.

In modern GUI environments, scrolling is usually accomplished using newer means such as scrollbars or scroll wheels. Therefore Scroll Lock can be regarded as a defunct feature in almost all modern programs and operating systems.

Answer 3

Scroll lock is a hold over from the mainframe computer days. It toggled the keys between whether you could type information, or whether they scrolled the screen. Early keyboards did not the arrow keys. You had to toggle the scroll lock, and then use letter keys to scroll.

As few computers attach to mainframes applications anymore (and those that do have arrow keys) the key does not do much on today's computers. Kind of like the Pause and Break, which are also mainframe dinosaurs.

Answer 4

Chances are pretty good you've never had to use old DOS systems.

The scroll lock key does exactly what it says it stops the screen from scrolling. Unless you are a programmer you'll never use it or the "Pause/Break" key either.

Answer 5

No it does not lock the scrolling.. It does nothing anyway.. Perhaps you should try using it when you're doing a powerpoint presentation, there should be some changes..

Answer 6

It locks the scroll

Answer 7

it only works good for DTP worker because this key is associated with tigtly MS-office Product.for lock the scrolling.

Answer 8

stops you from using the arrow keys to scroll across cells in excel worksheets.

Answer 9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scroll_lock

Basically if your interests in computing stop at email and MySpace, don't worry about scroll lock. If you're a serious user with serious work to do, you'll already be using it...

Answer 10

it locks the scrolling by the arrows when you're using exel but it's useless in internet stuff