Windows - Four-Finger Swipe for Spaces (Deskspaces)

Is there a way to add a shortcut while dragging four fingers on the keyboard?

With Elan Smart Pad, my computer can perform certain tasks by a slip of the fingers on the pad (mac style).

The problem is that I can not set these gestures. I wish I could assign a custom shortcut to a certain gesture (eg "ctrl + right" when you slide four fingers on the right).

My goal is to switch desktops with gestures (with Deskpace Dexpot for example)

Concretely, how do I duplicate the functionality of an apple on windows (Four-Finger Swipe for Spaces)?

Answer

I just found exactly what I needed! (Requires Elan SmartPad )

This topic explains everything you need to do it. At least it worked with my Samsung NP700Z5C-S04

http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/711500-mac-like-four-finger-swipe-windows-8-np700z7c-s03-tutorial.html

This method require to manipulate registry but it's not bad.. It works just fine.

First off there are requirements. I have only tested this with my pc so I can't guarantee it for other laptops or even other versions of windows on this laptop. But I'm guessing as long as you have Windows 8 (maybe 7) and an Elan (elantech) touchpad with at least 4 finger multitouch, there's a good chance it'll work.

First requirement: an Elan touchpad with at least 4 finger swipe. You can either check online to find out, or possibly go into your Elantech install directory (C:/Program Files/Elantech for me) and launch the ETDDeviceInformation.exe. Hopefully it's there for you as it was for me. That will tell you how many fingers it supports. Also any driver MAY work, but I'm using the newest samsung NP700Z7C touchpad driver available from Samsung's support website. My version is 11.7.2.1_WHQL.

Next requirement: Dexpot 1.6.6, Build 2227. Other versions or builds may work, but this is the one I'm using that I know works. This is a free download from Dexpot | Virtuelle Desktops für Windows. It is the program that enables multiple workspaces in windows.

Third requirement: Windows 8. There is a very good chance 7 will work fine but this is the one I know works. To be specific, Windows 8 Pro 64. Alright, onto the process.

1. Install Dexpot


2. Load registry editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Elantech/SmartPad. Make a backup of your registry settings just in case. Make a backup of your whole OS if possible. Do not change anything except what I specify. Be aware that modifying your registry could make windows unusable so backup and be careful if you're new at that.


3. Open your Elantech specific touchpad settings UI and set it aside.


4. Open the Dexpot settings and go to controls on the left.


5. Change the following key settings to the following values if not there already: FourFingerMove_Enable=0x00000001 FourFingerMove_Enable_Mode=0x00000000 FourFingerMoveLeft_Enable=0x00000001 FourFingerMoveLeft_Func=0x00000004 FourFingerMoveRight_Enable=0x00000001 FourFingerMoveRight_Func=0x00000003


6. Go to your mouse settings window you've opened and make a small change, and then change it back. This should force windows to recognize the registry changes.


7. Go back into Dexpot's settings/controls section and open the "Switch desktop" list. Click on "Next desktop". Check "Allow hotkeys without modifiers" and uncheck any modifiers. Then click in the textbox underneath the modifiers. Perform a 4 finger swipe left or right (depending on how you want it to function, I prefer left like OSX). "Keycode 167" or "Keycode 166" should show up. Do the same with "Previous desktop" but with the opposite swipe.


8. Click apply and try it out.

If Keycode 167 or 166 did not show up then either your drivers or hardware doesn't support it, or something got mixed up in the previous steps. Check your drivers and retrace the steps.

I'm really hoping this works for other people. I've searched high and low for something like this and failed to find anything, so I hope others can find this useful. If you try it and succeed please let me know, especially if you're using a setup different than mine. If you try and fail, let me know what didn't work and if I can think of anything to help I will.

Also it's not quite as fluid as OSX, but it's better than nothing in my opinion. Also sometimes it doesn't work when certain programs are loaded and have focus, click on the desktop and try again.

Part 2: You can also enable a mac-like app expose to show all current workspaces and applications on each, with the ability to drag windows to other workspaces. To do this:

Set FourFingerMoveUp_Enable to 1 and FourFingerMoveUp_Func to 9 (which is pageup). Then go into the dexpot settings under controls/dexpot components and set the "Window catalog (all desktops)" to shift and then perform the swipe in the input box. Remember to change a setting in the mouse settings gui quick to make windows recognize the registry change.

You can set this to whatever your comfortable with, it doesn't have to be the shift key. But it should be something that most programs wouldn't catch and interpret differently.

Better yet, set the Func value to 4 again and just add a modifier. So far nothing seems to use Keycode 167 for anything else. I think technically it's supposed to be an internet forward/backward function but it doesn't seem to have that effect in chrome for me, or anywhere else. When setting a new key combination be sure to disable the originals first or it will want to change desktops instead of setting the value.