This tip relates to a very specific problem which is the creation of Ubuntu desktop virtual machine (32bit) on vmware vsphere client on a samsung 200B windows 7 laptop. The problem is that when trying to switch to the vm for the start of installation – movements of the scroll pad or external mouse are interpreted as presses on the scrolllock button and input is not accepted. On the Samsung there is a visual indication that the scroll lock has been pressed – a popup box with the status of the scroll lock shown. That means its a bit of a show stopper as you can’t complete the configuration to allow install to complete.
So how to get round this – its fairly simple once you know the name of the process that does the scroll lock popup display – its called dmhkcore.exe. Use task manager (press ctrl-alt-del) and find the process in the list – right click and kill it. Don’t worry it will restart when the machine is rebooted.
Now restart the vm you are trying to install and when you get to the first menu you will be able to move the mouse and start installing your ubuntu 12.10 desktop.