Well, elections have come and gone again and it's already April. I cannot believe how fast time flies. February and March were very busy times for me and I just didn't have time to write last month's articles. I was swamped. As a matter of fact, I am in a hotel room as I am writing this piece.
Whenever I travel, I always bring a laptop and some books to read so I can continue to work. Lately, I have been intrigued by two books published by Microsoft Press. One is "Microsoft Windows XP - Inside Out" and the other is "Microsoft Windows [2000] Security - Inside Out." They are both well worth the price just to have for reference and I recommend them highly if you are an "Advanced User" like myself.
I cannot claim to know everything, and I am the first to admit that I occasionally revert to doing research once in a while. A couple of months back I was asked to make a presentation on "Tips and Tricks for Windows XP." I had to think about how to present a few items that I do as a matter of routine, what has been around for quite a while, and what was new. For example, the Windows keys, which most keyboards now have, in combination with the "E" key brings up Windows Explorer. This works in 2000 and XP.
These are tips that some people use everyday. They don't even think about trying to right-click on the Start button and open Explorer from there. But by doing that, you are opening the Start Menu structure and many users usually don't want to be bothered by that.
I'm surprised that some people don't even use Windows Explorer. Perhaps they are scared of dragging and dropping files into the wrong place. Believe it or not, I have been called out on some jobs just to re-install Windows because someone accidentally dragged the Windows System directory inside another folder and when the computer was rebooted, Windows failed to load. When I came out to diagnose the problem, I noticed that the System folder was gone and so I had to reinstalled the operating system. Only then afterwards did I notice where the missing folder was and figured out what happened.
It is a very dangerous tool for someone who does not know what they are doing, especially with some of these strange and uncomfortable thumb-balls or finger-pads! It's very difficult to hold down the left button and drag files or folders across the screen. Sometimes it's just a mistake and you don't even realize what happened. You know something moved, but aren't sure because you were not really looking. When this happens, you can always go to the Edit menu and click on the "Undo Move".
Anyway, back to the Windows key, there are several established shortcuts. Here are just a few.
- Windows: Display the Start menu
- Win+D: Minimize or restore all windows
- Win+E: Display Windows Explorer
- Win+F: Display Search for Files
- Win+Ctrl+F: Search for computer
- Win+F1: Help and Support Center
- Win+R: Display Run dialog box
- Win+break: Display System Properties
- Win+Shft+M: Undo Minimize All
- Win+L: Lock the workstation
- Win+U: Open the Utility Manager
You can create your own shortcuts. Whenever you create a shortcut (link) on your desktop to a program or file, you can create a keyboard shortcut to bring it up. Just right-click and select Properties. Under the shortcut section, you create a "Ctrl + Alt + letter" combination assigned to that link. For example, if I want to have my Streets and Trips program to come up without me having to click all over the place, I can create a "Ctrl + Alt + S" for Streets. Then all I have to do, is press Ctrl + Alt + S each time I want to run my program.
Of course, some key combinations are already taken up by the system. For example, Ctrl + A performs a "Selects All" and if you did this on your desktop or other folder, all your icons would become selected. You can also use "Shift + Alt + letter" or "Ctrl + Shift + letter." Just remember what you set things to or you will be pressing keys all night, or giving up quickly and going back to the ways of the mouse.
Take care and see you next month.
