usually when they come with a cd it is for a couple of reasons it has drivers necessary if you have an older verison of windows like 95 or 98, or if the keyboard has some specific task that it does other than the normal keyboard tasks. With an xp or Vista pc usually you do not need an install disc because they come with most needed drivers. I would read carefully to see if the instructions might say that you only need the install disc if you have another version of windows. I would also just plug it in and use it and see if everything you want to do with it works if so no need to add any discs. I try to avoid adding any extra software when possible. If this keyboard however is special and has a lot of special features then that may be why it has a disc. In googling that model it appears that keyboard does do some specific tasks and that is what the software is for, I also found this CON about the software. Quote from newegg: Cons: The software is horrible. It only lets you assign macros for certain keys, and it only lets you assign certain things to certain keys. the WORST thing about this keyboard is that none of the buttons function while running a game or any other full-screen program. You can't pause/play/mute/next track while listening to music if you're playing a game. It's worthless to me because of that." this is the link to it at the microsoft site if you want to check on the info about it there. keyboard Microsoft Digital Media Keyboard 3000 Review

On my toshiba that would be Fn+F11 Turns on sort of a keypad on the middle keys. And lights up an additional indicator light too.

I'm not familiar with sony but my Toshiba laptop has a Fn+?? keyfunction to switch from the laptop keyboard to an auxillary keyboard. Perhaps you're set on remote keyboard now,,, maybe read your manual to discover that? If you should finally get ready to reload the system new,, which sounds like the easy thing to do, which should also fix your acpi problems,, then you might want to first try deleting the keyboard from device manager while connected to the internet and then refresh device manager so it looks for new devices. Maybe then it will install the keyboard correctly, of course might need your Fn function for the keyboard is in the right mode before doing that refresh.

To get a keyboard with long lasting lettering, choose one whose keys have the nomenclature molded in as a depressions on the key tops. After molding, these depressions are "ink filled" and are resistant to wipe-off. If some of the ink gets lifted, these can be refilled, Sadly, most keyboards available today have smooth top keys with the lettering printed on, most likely with an ink jet printer. This is a cost reduction because most of the keys are physically the same with different printed characters. The ink eventually gets worn off on the most used keys. On my keyboard, its the "a, s, and e" keys.