Problem with F1 menu/saving game/hotkey problem

Hello all, I have a very odd technical problem that I would be grateful for any help with. I recently got Freelancer to install smoothly on windows 7 64x, and the game itself runs and auto saves fine. Oh, I have an HP laptop, if that matters at all. However, When I press F1 (well ANY of the function keys, but F1 is the important one) the preexisting windows hotkeys take over and it opens the windows help and support windows, NEVER allowing me to access the menu, not even once. I downloaded unlocker (a program for getting around the “trustedinstaller” microsoft issue to try and deactivate certain programs), and I was able to get the pop up issue (with the help window) to not occur, but I THINK the hotkey issue is still improperly mapped. Basically, this now means that even though the windows help box doesn’t jump up, F1 does not let me access the menu, and the game ITSELF won’t let me remap the key in the options menu. Sorry, I know this is a bit technical (or maybe its not and you all are rockstars, I hope ). So, basically I need to access the game menu, desperately, which i think is not working due to a specified hotkey problem. Thanks much!

Roger