I demonstrated some of these tips tricks and shortcuts in the class on Friday April 20th 2007. Use them your own risk. If you have any tips, tricks, or shortcuts that you like - please share them with me. Send to tutor101@earthlink.net.
These tips tricks and shortcuts are mainly for Win XP probably many will work with Win 98 and you will just have to experiment with Vista.
We are usually on the desktop after the computer boots. Lets get to Start by just using the keyboard. Hold down the ctrl (control key) and press the esc (escape) key. This brings up the Start menu. Also you can activate the start menu by clicking on the Windows key. There are two on the keyboard bottom left and bottom right. You can use the keyboard arrow keys to navigate the start menu. Esc closes the start menu.
Heard of Atomic Clocks? An Atomic clock is an electric or electronic timekeeping device that is controlled by atomic or molecular oscillations. Here is a tip on accurately setting your computer clock using the atomic clock. Just right 2click on the time on the right side of your task bar. Then click on the INTERNET TIME tab. Select the time.nist.gov and click update now then ok. Here is the URL http://www.time.gov/
When you right click on a file there is a list of choices among them is sendto. We will add choices to this list from the keyboard. From the start menu arrow to run and press enter. Type in sendto in the window that opens and press enter. You can now drag your choices, e.g.; the printer icon into the sendto window. Now when you right click on a file you have your choices of sending the file to the printer or wherever else you have dragged to the sendto list.
When I am on the Windows desktop showing all the icons, I press the letter key corresponding to the first letter of the name of the program /file/folder icon for which I am looking. This will highlight the icons one after the other in alphabetical order as I keep pressing the letter key until I get to the one I want.
Put a keyboard on the desktop Click on Start>All Programs>Accessories>Accessibility>OnScreenKeyboard. A keyboard will appear on your desktop. It can be used when your regular keyboard is not working.
In XP, your favorite programs are displayed in the top left column of the Start menu. Microsoft starts you off with Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. Want to display a different set of applications in this spot? Right-click an empty portion of the Start menu's left column and select Properties > Start Menu > Customize. At the bottom, deselect the program you no longer want displayed in the "Show on the Start menu" dialog, and, using Windows Explorer or My Computer, navigate to the program you want instead. Right-click the program and select "Pin to Start menu." To rename the new shortcut, right-click it and select Rename. Note: You can't pin files, just programs.
Snap to will automatically move the pointer to the default button in a dialog box. Go to ctr panel > mouse properties > pointer options > snap to > ok.
Make a habit of cleaning prefetch data once a month. Prefetch is a new and very useful technique in Windows XP The prefetch buffer is a memory cache located on modern RAM modules which stores data before it is actually needed. In addition to increased operation frequencies, decreased heat production, and increased latency, and increased bandwidth, the width of the prefetch buffer is increased with each successive standard of modern DDR SDRAM modules. However, after using XP some time, the prefetch directory can get full of junk and obsolete links in the Prefetch catalog, which can slow down your computer noticeably. I would suggest that you do this once a month: Go to My Computer > C: (system drive) >windows>prefetch and delete everything then reboot. This may help speed up your computer. When you need a really big window, don't just maximize it: go full screen! To view a window full screen, hold down the Ctrl key and double-click the window's title baror when the window is active, press the F11 key at the top of your keyboardto get the biggest window possible.
How do I sort the Favorites alphabetically in Internet Explorer? Open Internet Explorer and click the Favorites menu. Scroll down and right-click on a favorites item. Choose Sort by Name. Now the Favorites are sorted alphabetically.
http://www.amictools.com/v-anti_keylogger_shield.html Keyloggers are small spy programs, that record everything one types on the computer, including documents, emails, usernames and passwords, and then either store this information in a hidden place on your computer for the person to obtain it later or send it over to the Internet to the person who infiltrated it. Keyloggers can come in many ways, as emails, viruses, trojan horses; from people you know might try to invade your privacy and see what you are typing, or remote hackers might want to stole usernames and passwords as you type it.
Anti Keylogger Shield is a powerful, easy to use anti-spy software tool that prohibits operation of any keylogger, either know or unknown, professional or custom made. Once installed, Anti Keylogger Shield will run silently in your System Tray, block the system mechanisms that are exploited by keyloggers, and protect your privacy immediately and constantly.
Unlike similar programs, Anti Keylogger Shield does not use a signature database, and it will not try to detect keyloggers. Anti Keylogger Shield will simply block the very mechanisms that are used by known and unknown keyloggers and these will not work anymore.
http://www.TelevisionTunes.com These are very familiar tunes in MP3 format. There is an index to help you find your favorite tune. Double-click the title bar (the blue bar displaying the title of the window) to maximize the window so it fills the entire screen. So many times when a window opens, it is a small rectangle only a few inches high and a few inches wide; all information in the window is not visible on the screen. Instead of using the scroll bars to see everything in that window or trying to click my mouse on that small x in the upper right hand corner, I simply double-click on the toolbar. The window instantly fills the entire screen, and I can see everything that I need.
All you have to do is hold down the Shift key while clicking the close button on the topmost window to close the selected folder and all of its parent folders. Also, if you have several programs running at the same time, you can use the ALT+ Tab key to cycle through the peograms.
Using CTRL+W to close a Web page in Internet Explorer can be much easier than struggling with the small x icon in the upper corner of the window. CTRL+W also works in Word and many other programs. Turn off hibernation. Go to Control Panel>Screen Saver>Power>Hibernate Tab>uncheck hibernation box-reboot and hiberfil.sys is no more. In Microsoft Word, when any text is highlighted, pressing the Shift key plus the F3 key will change the case of the text from all caps, initial caps, to all lowercase. Shift + F7 will choose the Thesaurus command. An easy way to remove those irritating arrows from your desktop shortcut icons and not change their properties Right click the Desktop / Properties>Appearance tab
1. Select ItemHow to adjust the width of the scroll bar:
1. Rt cl on dsktopIncreasing the value in the Size field will increase the scrollbar width. Normally you have to have a name for an icon, just spaces are not allowed.
To create an icon with no name attached:
1. Make sure NumLock is onAdding Control Panel Icons to the Desktop. This is an easy one.
1. Simply open up the Control Panel.To minimize all windows:
1. Press Ctrl-ESC ESC to bring up the Task BarMicrosoft Narrator
Want to hear your computer talk? Select Start, Programs, Accessories, Accessibility, Narrator. Or press the Windows key plus the letter "U" to open the Utility Manager. Microsoft Narrator, an accessibility option designed to assist readers who are blind or have impaired vision, starts automatically. Once you've read through the intro screen (or let the Narrator do it), click OK and you'll see a dialog box of Narrator options. Assuming you want to leave Narrator running, select the desired options, then minimize its dialog box. And if you've opened the Utility Manager, feel free to close it. To turn Narrator off, click the Exit button or right-click its taskbar item and select Close. Creating Document Scraps if you are using Microsoft Word 7.0, you can highlight a section of the document then drag and drop the highlighted area to your desktop. Windows will create a file for you with a name something like "Document Scrap From..." followed by the first few words.
General Keyboard Shortcuts
CTRL+C (Copy)Dialog Box Keyboard Shortcuts
CTRL+TAB (Move forward through the tabs)Microsoft Natural Keyboard Shortcuts
Windows Logo (Display or hide the Start menu)Print picture perfect Web content.
Most Web sites are simply not formatted to fit cleanly on a standard piece of paper. With the new shrink to fit printing feature found in Internet Explorer 7 Web sites will no longer get cut off when sent to the printer.
Find your IP address when you are on the internet.
http://www.ipaddressworld.com/
Find out how much and what kind of memory you need.
Go to http://www.crucial.com and scan your computer. The scan will tell you what kind of memory and how much you can use.
Change Out Your Pointer Scheme
Windows XP offers a number of pointer schemes, such as Dinosaur, Coin and Drum. Open the Control Panel, double-click Mouse, and select the Pointers tab. You can select a theme or browse to select a particular pointer for a particular item under customize.
Change the Start Menu Style
Windows XP Professional enhanced the functionality of the Address bar to make it easier to launch your favorite programs. You can add the Address bar to the taskbar on the bottom of your desktop. Then you can launch programs simply by entering their names in the Address bar. For example, to launch Calculator, simply enter calc in the Address bar. Anything you would normally enter in the Run box on the Start menu can be entered in the Address bar. The Address bar also lets you quickly go to any Web page you specify.
To add the Address bar to the taskbar:
· Right-click an empty area on the taskbar.Safely Remove Hardware Icon?
If you have an USB device attached to your system, you will notice an icon in the Notification area, which - when clicked - will give you the option to Stop your hardware, before you unplug it. It is possible that you never unplug this hardware. So how do you get rid of the icon? As far as I know the only way is to right-click the notification area, and selecting Properties. Under the Notification area heading, click Customize. Find the Safely Remove Hardware icon and select Always hide in the Behavior column next to it (press OK and Apply to back out).
Pressing CTRL+L or CTRL+O in Internet Explorer will pop up a small window where you can easily type in the address of the Web page. If you are using Netscape Navigator, you will use CTRL+O. These shortcuts are easy to remember. Just think of L for location, as in going to a new location, and/or O for open, as in open a new Web page.
Lets shut off the computer. Click on start. Then press u and again press u. The computer will quickly shut down.
Gerry Gerstenberg DBCC, BPCA