Shortcuts
Quick way to open “Documents and Settings” folder
In Windows XP, the “Documents and Settings” folder contains subfolders for each user account. In turn, these account folders contain a number of important folders with individual files and computer settings. Instead of going through “My Computer” to access this key folder, you can use a shortcut. Open the “Run” line in the “Start” menu, [...]
Fast ways to clean up a Windows problem (sometimes)
These are old tricks but worth repeating since I find that many average PC users don’t know them. If you’re having a problem, try logging off and then back on. It’s quicker than turning the computer completely off and then turning it back on, which is the next recommendation I will mention for clearing up [...]
Expand the “Send to” menu
I have written frequently about the usefulness of the right-click context menu entry, “Send to”. (For example, this general post and this post for Vista users.) Although it is possible to make new entries in the “Send to” menu yourself, I think many will find the free software called “Send to Toys” to be [...]
Mouse shortcuts for browsers
If you have a scroll mouse with a middle button, there are various shortcuts that take advantage of this feature. Here are three that apply both to Internet Explorer 7 and to Firefox 2:
To open a link in a new tab, click the link with the middle button.
To close a tab, click the tab with [...]
Windows XP keyboard shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts can be useful and periodically I post about some collection of them. Microsoft has a page with many shortcuts applicable in Windows XP. Some are the usual ones that have been posted before but there are also some more esoteric ones listed. For example, there are shortcuts given that apply when using one [...]
Ctrl plus Backspace keyboard shortcut
I just ran across a new (new to me, anyway) keyboard shortcut that I think is pretty useful. It’s Ctrl+Backspace and it deletes the previous word. I encountered this shortcut at Raymond Chen’s blog, who writes:
A few people in the early days of the Internet Explorer group used the Brief editor, which uses Ctrl+Backspace as [...]
Shortcuts and Tweaks for Internet Explorer
I know that many of you use Firefox or even Internet Explorer 6 but for those who use IE7 here is a site from Microsoft that has some tweaks for the newest version of IE. There are user interface tweaks and others. One that I like speeds up browsing by allowing for more Internet connections. [...]
Big collection of keyboard shortcuts
If you like keyboard shortcuts, you’ll love the site called KeyXL. It says it is the largest online database for keyboard shortcuts and gives this description:
Our keyboard shortcut database is searchable by software program and covers all the major operating environments including Windows, Macintosh, Linux and browser-based applications.
I took a quick look around and I [...]
Program shortcuts and macros
Would you like to be able to open your favorite application with a keystroke or two? There are a variety of ways to access software quickly and David Pogue’ s column in today’s New York Times discusses a number of commercial programs for creating macros. Personally, I think these programs are a little pricey [...]
Using the Windows key-How does “Minimize All” differ from “Show Desktop”?
In a previous post, I listed some of the shortcuts that are available that use the so-called “Windows key”. (That’s the key with the Windows flag logo on it.) Among the shortcuts is one that minimizes all windows, Windows key+M. There is also the shortcut that shows the Desktop, Windows key+D. At first glance [...]
A whole lot of shortcuts
If you use keyboard shortcuts, you’ll love this site with 200 shortcuts for a variety of applications. I have posted about many of these before but this list includes some applications that I haven’t mentioned previously. I personally no longer have enough brain cells left to remember 200 shortcuts but I do manage [...]