Windows Power Crazy

Images

2007-12-31T12:59:00.000-08:00

Visit http://www.chrisgreaves.com/blogwindows/ to read these posts with associated images and screen shots.

In praise of DOS

2007-09-18T04:35:00.000-07:00

Two months ago I purchased an IBM server for $150, 2002 model, mainly for the case and power supplies. It has scope for NINE (count 'em) removable drives. yee-hah.
last weekend I settled in to network all three computers - the IBM server, the old Big beige Box, and the workhorse Laptop.

No doubt about it - DOS batch files are still a great way to automate systems.

Mouse Double-click

2007-01-21T11:19:00.001-08:00

With the mouse pointer on the yellow folder icon alongside a file in Windows Explorer, and still grasping the mouse, tap the left-button of the mouse twice, as quickly as you can.

The document or workbook should open as if you had opened its application and then chosen File, Open from the application menu.

You can of course, double-click on an application file in Windows Explorer.

Next time you do use File, open to browse to a file, double-click to open it; there’s no need to click once, slide the mouse to the Open button, and then click there.

And while we’re at it

– no more clicking that ridiculously small thingo near the top-right of a window. To maximize any window – double-click in the blue title bar – it’s a much bigger target!

Mouse cursor movement

2006-11-27T09:54:00.000-08:00

Point and Click the mouse at any position in the text.

The mouse and cursor pointer are co-incidental.

Slide the mouse pointer away.

The text pointer remains in place.

Clicking the mouse establishes the position of the text cursor.

Mouse Click

2006-11-18T01:57:00.000-08:00

With the mouse pointer on the main menu word "File", and still grasping the mouse, tap the left button of the mouse.

The drop-down File menu should appear, as if you had used Alt-File.

With the mouse pointer on the word "File", and still grasping the mouse, tap the left button of the mouse to remove the File menu. (You could as easily let go of the mouse and tap the keyboard ESCape key!).

Keyboard Text Selection

2006-11-02T05:08:00.000-08:00

The cursor selection keys are an essential skill in text manipulation. Skills learned here will apply right across all versions of all Windows desktop applications.

Hold down the Shift key and use any of your movement skills to select text.

"S" for shift, "S" for selection.

Tap any cursor movement key to break the selection

Cursor movement breaks selection.

Keyboard cursor movement

2006-10-20T06:27:00.000-07:00

The cursor movement keys are an essential skill in text manipulation.

Skills learned here will apply right across all versions of all Windows desktop applications.

Use the right-, left-, down- and up-arrow keys to move around your text one character at a time.

Hold down the Ctrl key and tap the left- right- up- and down-arrow keys.
Ctrl-arrow moves one word at a time sideways, one paragraph at a time vertically..

Hold down the Ctrl key and tap the Home key.
Hold down the Ctrl key and tap the End key.
Ctrl-Home, Ctrl-End move to the start and end of a document.

Super-Glue

2006-09-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

(Don't try this at home, kids!). Super-glue your left little finger to the key marked "Ctrl" at the bottom left corner of your keyboard.

Introduce your left-hand's index finger to all the letter keys within range.

Go On! Take a few seconds to inspect your keyboard:

In the image above I have outlined the 2+3+4=9 keys within easy reach of your left index finger.

Hold down the Ctrl key with your left little finger, and use your left index finger to reach:

Q - Reset Style
W - Close File
A - select All
S - Save file
D - open font Dialogue
Z - edit Undo
X - edit cut ("X" is a pair of scissors)
C - edit Copy
V - edit paste ("V" is a proofreader's symbol for insert)

Now tell me that we haven't covered about 90% of your actions on any document.

Or spreadsheet, for that matter.

(Yes, I know, time to wipe down my keyboard)

Keyboard And Mouse Combinations

2006-09-15T12:45:00.000-07:00

Click on a word, slide the mouse pointer, hold down the Shift key and Click.
Text is selected between the first and second click positions.

Click-Shift-Click selects text

Double-click, Point, Shift, Click.

Text is selected between and including the start and end words.

Slide to the selection area, to the left of the text.

The mouse pointer changes to a North-east pointing arrow.

Click once to select the line.

Double-click to select the paragraph.

Ctrl-Click to select the entire document.

The Ctrl and Shift keys greatly enhance your text selection skills.

How To Cheat At Hearts

2006-09-12T15:37:00.000-07:00

Let's have a little fun!

Brace yourself for winning bets!

Bet an onlooker that you can win the game of Hearts EVERY TIME!

Take the bet.

Load Hearts, choose Game, Options, and set the other three player's names to your name.

Exit Hearts, reload Hearts, and play however you like.

Collect your winnings.

QuickLaunch Heaven

2006-09-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

For years I used Desktop Shortcuts . My desktop was a clutter of litter that glittered but was awkward to navigate. Then I installed Windows XP and discovered the serenity of the Quick launch bar.

My desktop is now absolutely free of icons:

(A different wallpaper appears each time I reboot, based on over 3,600 images selected according to the minute and second time of reboot).

For each frequent-use shortcut, I assign a item in the QuickLaunch folder.
Locating your QuickLaunch folder
Use Windows Explorer to locate the folder “C:\Documents and Settings” and look in there for your user folder, drilling down until you arrive at something like “C:\Documents and Settings\Chris.LAPTOP\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch”.
Building your QuickLaunch folder
Create shortcuts in the folder.

Typically I locate a program such as “C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.exe”.

I right-click on the file and choose Copy.

I right-click in an empty area of my QuickLaunch folder and choose Paste Shortcut.

Note the little curved arrow that identifies this icon as a shortcut.

Managing your QuickLaunch folder
If your QuickLaunch folder begins to crowd out everything from the bottom of your screen, consider building a folder tree in the QuickLaunch folder:

You could click on the folders in the QuickLaunch bar, but this will leave a trail of folders across your desktop, and we want a clean desktop.

Instead, hold down the Ctrl key while you click, and you’ll be rewarded with menus.

You can see that I’ve replaced the traditional icon “yellow folder” with another icon to distinguish it from the Windows Explorer icon.
So what’s in your Quick launch?

1 This shortcut points to Diary.DOC which contains a 3-column table in which I record everything that happens, several entries per day. Columns are , and . Next year I can retrive what I did this year, what I did today, the dialogue for any project. A handy tool.

2 This shortcut points to a DOS batch file which determines the date and fires up explorer pointing to a drive “B:” which is mapped to a date folder in my blotter. Today B: is mapped to C:\Blotter\20060605. I do most of my work from within Explorer. Explorer provides me a full-screen browse window, much bigger than any browse window from a File, Open command. My eyes/brain navigate much fatser than my fingers.

3 This shortcut points to my Mail program. Mozilla Thunderbird, since you ask!

4 This shortcut points to an MS-DOS command prompt. Batch files do repetitive processing, freeing me for other tasks.

5 This shortcut points to a restart routine which first calls up my timesheet billing file to turn off the meter on the current task, then issues a call to reboot the system. It’s what I do a lunchtime ….

6 This shortcut points to my contacts database. Just happens to be written in Microsoft Access.

7 This shortcut points to a folder containing maintenance tools, amongst them virus scanners, ferrets, clock adjusters and the like. Things I might do once a day. It also holds a shortcut to a shutdown routine which first calls up my timesheet billing file to turn off the meter on the current task, then issues a call to power off the system. It’s what I do at the end of the day ….

8 This shortcut points to my old DOS Batch file for invoking Microsoft Word. The batch file copies out the existing, possibly modified Normal.dot to a named file, then copies in a secure Normal.dot before invoking WinWord.EXE. Virus protection a la crème!

9 This shortcut points to the desktop. It’s what I one-click to minimize all application windows.

10 These shortcuts (!) points to my timesheet billing file and logs a datestamp at the end (see “The timesheet billing” at http://www.chrisgreaves.com/Downloads/Downloads.html). Why two icons? Because I need a large target when the telephone rings!

11 This shortcut points to my FTP client.

12 This shortcut points to the folder of Microsoft office shortcuts as shown in Managing your QuickLaunch folder

13 This shortcut points to my browser program. Mozilla Firefox, since you ask.

So what does all this mean? Just about everything on which I work can be located through one of those 12 distinct shortcuts. I use the Start button perhaps once a week.

Desktop Shortcuts

2006-09-03T08:17:00.000-07:00

I don't know how you have managed to work without these. I feel naked on a machine that doesn't have them. (but see also QuickLaunch Heaven )

I make heavy use of File Explorer, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Eudora. I use a DOS Window and I use WS-FTP-LE to upload files.

On my desktop I have a shortcut icon to each of these applications (and several others, but IÃ’m primarily concerned with my frequent-use shortcuts here).

For each frequent-use shortcut, I assign a shortcut key combination.

Assigning a keyboard shortcut for Microsoft Word:
Right-click on the shortcut icon.
Choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
Select the Program tab.
Move to the shortcut key text box
Hold down both the Ctrl and Shift keys and then tap the letter W.
Confirm out of there.
From now on, a Ctrl-Shift-W will launch Microsoft Word, without having to click through menus, reveal the desktop, or anything.

Choice of letters is important.

You need good mnemonics and no conflicts:

DOS; Ctrl-Shift-C; DOS Command prompt
Eudora; Ctrl-Shift-M; Eudora Mail
Excel; Ctrl-Shift-E; Excel
Explorer; Ctrl-Shift-D; Data on the hard Drive
FTP; Ctrl-Shift-F; Ftp
Word; Ctrl-Shift-W; Word

Using Your Shortcut keys

Remember, the whole point of assigning a shortcut key to a desktop icon is that you donÃ’t have to switch to the desktop to get things done!

If you are in your browser and want to fire up your mail program, use Ctrl-Shift-M and get on with life.

If you are in your mail program and want to fire up your word processor, use Ctrl-Shift-W and get on with life.

If you are in your word processor and need to execute a DOS command, use Ctrl-Shift-C and get on with life.

DonÃ’t forget to use Alt-Tab to cycle through your open applications.

Better Use Of Desktop Shortcuts

It wonÃ’t surprise you to hear that we are not done yet.

DOS Batch files are still an excellent way of automating command tasks.

Example: Loading Explorer to a specific folder

You can tell Explorer (still using the Ctrl-Shift-D combination) to start up in any specific folder.

IÃ’m currently engaged, night and day, in work for IFF, producing Molecular Bubble Charts.

HereÃ’s the (Right-click, Properties, Shortcut) target to a folder for my current project:
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n, /e, C:\Greaves\Clients\I\IFF\BubbleCharts20040830

In the good old days we had a blotter on our desk. The cleaning staff placed a fresh blotter each morning, and we doodled on the blotter.

My boot sequence has a batch file that determines todayÃ’s date, and stores it in an environment variables Ã“DailyÃ”. It also builds a folder with that name under C:\Blotter, hence I have folders C:\Blotter\20050913, C:\Blotter\20050914, C:\Blotter\20050915, and so on

HereÃ’s the (Right-click, Properties, Shortcut) target to my daily desktop blotter:
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n, /e, c:\Blotter\%Daily%

Example: Loading Word without macros
From time to time I need a clean copy of Word loaded Ã– without any of my special add-ins and global application templates.

Word is quite clear that this can be achieved with the Ã“/aÃ” switch.

HereÃ’s the target for that desktop shortcut:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\WINWORD.EXE" /a

Example: Thwarting Word Viruses
If you are in the habit of creating trial macros in your Normal.dot, youÃ’ll know how quickly it can get cluttered up with failed attempts.

I use Normal.dot like a daily blotter; it holds my essays, and IÃ’m prompted to save it when I quit Word, although before I quit IÃ’ve usually copied any really good program code to a true application template or utility folder.

Virus macros like to propagate through Normal.dot, and while my virus protection is adequate, IÃ’m still paranoid, so copying a safely-preserved file to Normal.dot at the start of each Word session makes sense to me.

All taken care of through a batch file referenced by a desktop shortcut icon hooked up to a shortcut key:
C:\BAT\WORD97.BAT

Example: Switching Mail Clients
I occupy several email accounts, and for each one I need different settings in my Eudora program. The settings are stored in an INI file, so I have one INI file for each email account to be accessed through Eudora.

So I have one batch file for each INI file.

So I have one desktop shortcut for each batch file:
C:\BAT\WIZDOM.BAT
C:\BAT\CGREAVES.BAT
C:\BAT\295CA.BAT
C:\BAT\FRMAIL.BAT

Appendix Ã– Word97 batch file
REM Word97.bat Christopher Greaves Thursday, July 1, 1999
:: Updated January 3rd 2003 for BigC
:: Re-create the Normal.dot prior to loading Word97
if "%debug%"=="" set debug=off
@echo %debug%
echo on
call c:\bat\settime
copy "c:\GREAVES\ADMIN\Templates\Normal.DOT" c:\___spare\%se%.DOT
:: @echo Normal.dot suspended
copy c:\GREAVES\Norml043.dot "c:\GREAVES\ADMIN\Templates\Normal.DOT"
:: Saturday, December 29, 2001
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\winword.EXE" %1
REM end of Word97.bat

Appendix Ã– Eudora INI file for chrisgreaves.com

copy c:\Greaves\Admin\Eudora\WizDom.INI c:\Greaves\Admin\Eudora\eudora.INI
"C:\Program Files\Qualcomm\Eudora\Eudora.exe" "c:\greaves\admin\eudora"

The Golden Rules Of Windows

2006-08-31T03:42:00.000-07:00

(You can read a bit more at http://www.chrisgreaves.com/Training/motivational/GoldenRulesOfWindows.html)

Golden Rule #1 You can always Escape from an awkward situation.

Golden Rule #2 If in doubt press Enter.

Golden Rule #3 Never close, Never minimize.

Golden Rule #4 Use the keyboard.

Golden Rule #5 Always click on a Click-me.

Golden Rule #6 All of life is spent doing one of two things.

Golden Rule #7 Doing something is always Goto, Select, Action.

Golden Rule #8 There are at least four ways of doing it.

Golden Rule #9 The Tab key will take you on a guided tour.

Golden Rule #10 You're not paying for the electricity.

Altered states

2006-08-27T10:22:00.000-07:00

Usually we are working within an application keying in data in the form of text, numbers, formulae, or in a graphics application, creating drawings.

We are working on the content of the document.

When it is time to work on the structure of the document, we need to switch into a different mode of operation. We need to continue using the keyboard or mouse to communicate with Windows, but we need to say "This concerns the structure, not the content".

With the keyboard we use the Alt key to switch into the menu state.
With the mouse we click on the menu bar.

Use Alt-F to switch into the menu system, specifically into the File menu.

Use the right-arrow key repeatedly to move amongst items in the menu system.
Continue tapping the right-arrow key until you return to the File menu.

Use the left-arrow key to move leftwards through the menu system.

Use the escape key twice to exit the menu system completely.

Alt-letter takes us into the "Action" area.

The Action is the Alternate thing we do with content.

Use Alt-File Open to enter the File Open dialogue box.

The Golden Rules Of Windows

2006-08-22T04:10:00.000-07:00

Golden Rule #1 You can always Escape from an awkward situation.
Golden Rule #2 If in doubt press Enter.
Golden Rule #3 Never close, Never minimize.
Golden Rule #4 Use the keyboard.
Golden Rule #5 Always click on a Click-me.
Golden Rule #6 All of life is spent doing one of two things.
Golden Rule #7 Doing something is always Goto, Select, Action.
Golden Rule #8 There are at least four ways of doing it.
Golden Rule #9 The Tab key will take you on a guided tour.
Golden Rule #10 You're not paying for the electricity.

The Tab key

2006-08-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

Tap the Tab key repeatedly to go on a guided tour of any dialogue box.

TAB takes you on a guided tour of any dialogue box

While holding down the Shift key, tap the Tab key repeatedly.

Use Shift-Tab to reverse through the dialogue box.

Shift-TAB shifts you into reverse gear through a dialogue box.

Most-Used Commands

2006-08-01T17:49:00.000-07:00

Shamelessly cribbed and clipped from Jensen Harris: An Office User Interface Blog . PLEASE read the full article at http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2006/04/07/570798.aspx

Top 5 Most-Used Commands in Microsoft Word 2003
Paste
Save
Copy
Undo
Bold

Together, these five commands account for around 32% of the total command use in Word 2003. Paste itself accounts for more than 11% of all commands used, and has more than twice as much usage as the #2 entry on the list, Save.

Paste is also far-and-away the number one command in Excel and PowerPoint, accounting for 15% and 12% of total command use, respectively.

A few people asked in comments about the top "actions" done in Word 2003. Here they are:

Cursor Right
Cursor Left
Cursor Down
Backspace
Cursor Up

Even the last of these (Cursor Up) is done about 8 times more than Paste, so people are doing a lot of cursoring around in the document (as you'd expect.) We don't collect letter and number presses, but I expect you would find that they line up along expected frequencies ...

Why do I post this here? Chances are that you fit the curve, and whether or not you realize it, these are YOUR most used commands and actions.

I have provided hyperlinks to my posted articles about each such command

Alt Underlined Character

2006-07-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

Alt key and an underlined character takes you directly to that part of a dialogue box.

Use Alt-N, Alt-T, Alt-D and Alt-V to move to specific parts of the File Open dialogue box.

Use Alt-T to move to the file Type box.

Letter

2006-07-24T04:57:00.000-07:00

Use Alt-F to enter the File menu.

Note that within that menu, the word "Properties" has the letter "P" underlined.

Tap, by itself, without the Alt key, just the letter "P".

This brings into view a Window titled "Program Group Properties".

Tap the escape key once to remove the Properties box.

You are no longer in the File menu.

The Escape, Alt and letter keys are useful.

Alt-letter

2006-07-22T12:52:00.000-07:00

Locate and tap the Alt key, then tap the letter "F".

A pull-down menu appears under the word "File". Note that in the menu word "File", the letter "F" is underlined.

Tap the Escape key once, to remove the menu.

Tap the Escape key a second time to remove the highlighting from the word "File".

Locate and hold down the Alt key. While holding down the Alt-key, tap the letter "F".

The pull-down menu appears.

Tap the Escape key twice to remove the menu and the highlighting.

Alt-arrow key

2006-07-18T04:05:00.000-07:00

With the mouse, click on a "click-me" box. (In the File, open dialogue box, it is the little triangular button to the right hand end of the Files Of Type box).

Use Alt-Down-arrow to open up the window of file types.

Use the up-arrow and down-arrow keys to move amongst the file types.

The F2 function key

2006-07-14T04:50:00.000-07:00

The F2 function key places you in edit mode.

It works in Excel, Access and Explorer to name a few places.

- Try it wherever you happen to be.

Alt-tab into Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer) and select a file name. Tap the F2 key and you'll be able to edit that filename. Be careful not to change the name or extent of a critical file!

In Excel, Lotus or QuattroPro spreadsheets, tap the F2 function key to begin editing a cell.

In Access database tables, tap the F2 function key to begin editing a field within a data table.

Once you are in editing mode, you can use all the usual editing keys (Ctrl-C, Ctrl-Right-Arrow etc) to navigate and manage the data.

Ctrl-Click

2006-07-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

You are using the mouse to click, just one click, in Windows Explorer to select a file, or in your spreadsheet to select a cell.

Try holding down the Ctrl key while you click on different files or cells.

The Ctrl-Click method allows you to select a non-contiguous collection of items.

It works in some drop-down list boxes and combo boxes, too.

If you want to be really powerful, try using Ctrl-A to select all the files in a folder, and then Ctrl-Click to take a few out of the set. That’s an easy way of selecting all-but a few files.

Right-Click

2006-07-02T06:41:00.000-07:00

You are using the mouse to click, just one click, in Windows Explorer to select a file, or in your spreadsheet to select a cell.

Try clicking with the right-hand button. The right-hand button will pop-up a context-sensitive menu, that is, a menu crafted to meet the situation in which you are.

If you have just left-clicked on a file in Windows Explorer, right-click will throw up a menu that includes Copy, Send To, Delete and Rename, for those are actions you can take on a file.

If you have just left-clicked on a cell in your spreadsheet, right-click will throw up a menu that includes Copy, Paste and Format Cells, for those are actions you can take on a spreadsheet cell.

If you have just left-clicked on a shortcut on your desktop, right-click will throw up a menu that includes Open, Send To, Copy, Rename and Properties, for those are actions you can take on a desktop shortcut.

· Right-click delivers highly relevant information.

Properties?

Sure! If you are really into power and speed, right-click on your desktop shortcut to Windows Explorer, choose the Shortcut tab, and in the Shortcut Key box, hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys while you tap the letter "E". Confirm out of there and see what Ctrl-Shift-E (E for Explorer) does for your productivity.

Ctrl-Arrow

2006-06-29T03:50:00.000-07:00

You can use the right-arrow key to move through the document if you like. It moves the text cursor one character at a time.
I prefer to hold down the Ctrl key while tapping the right-arrow key.
Welcome to Word Processing!
· Ctrl-Left-arrow moves you one word to the Left.
· Ctrl-Right-arrow moves you one word to the Right.
These keystrokes work just about everywhere.
* in your Email,
* in a spreadsheet cell,
* at the dear old DOS command prompt!
* in long filenames (Windows Explorer, edit a file or folder name with the F2 function key, then scoot along using Ctrl-Right-Arrow),

In most word processors Ctrl-Down-Arrow moves you down one paragraph at a time.

Welcome to Paragraph Processing!

· Ctrl-Down-arrow moves you one paragraph Down.
· Ctrl-Up-arrow moves you one paragraph Up.

Ctrl-A

2006-06-27T02:47:00.000-07:00

Ctrl-A selects All. "A", get it?

In Microsoft Word, use Ctrl-A to select all the text in the document. Copy and paste it where you will.

Choose View Header and use Ctrl-A to select the entire contents of the header.

In Windows Explorer use Ctrl-A to select all the files in the right-hand pane. Use Ctrl-Click to un-select specific names. You can now select all files "but these few" prior to copying or deleting files from a folder.

¨ Ctrl-A Selects All even when the Edit menu is unavailable.

Snapshots of problems

2006-06-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

(any problem at all on a Windows-based computer system)
When a problem arises, you can take a photographic snapshot of the problem and save the snapshot to show to a technical person later on, or even email it immediately to technical help.
It's easy to do, and you can try this now:
¨ Make a mental note of what is on your screen right now.
¨ Tap the PrtScr key, it's usually to the right of the row of Function keys, top row of the keyboard. When you tap the PrtScr key, nothing appears to happen, but a snapshot of the screen has been placed in the Clipboard (as in Edit, Copy).
¨ Open Paintbrush (Start, Programs, Accessories)
¨ In Paintbrush choose Edit, Paste.
¨ Save the Paintbrush image (The JPG or JPEG type is much smaller than the BMP)
¨ Close Paintbrush
¨ Try to deal with the problem, continuing to use the application, or quit the application and telephone technical support!
In Explorer you can locate your saved image and double-click on it to open Paintbrush and load the image.

Escape key

2006-06-19T04:02:00.000-07:00

Locate and tap the key marked "Esc" or "Escape".

Nothing happens.

Tap the Escape key several times.

· Tapping the Escape key is harmless.

Locate and tap the one of the keys marked "Alt".
At the top of the screen, blue highlighting appears around a menu item (usually "File"), or the control box bar, top-left corner of the Window, is shaded grey.

Tap the Escape key once to clear the highlighting.

· The Escape key reverses the effect of the Alt key.

Golden Rule #1 You can always Escape from an awkward situation.

Ctrl-Z

2006-06-17T03:22:00.000-07:00

Ctrl-Z effects an Edit-Undo on just about everything.

It works in your word-processor, your workbook, Notepad. Delete some selected text, then use Ctrl-Z to restore it.

It works in Paintbrush

It works in Windows Explorer: Go ahead. Select a file in Explorer, tap the Del key. Then use Ctrl-Z. Your file is restored. No need to wander off to the recycle bin and restore the wrong file.

Ctrl-Z will undo several edits in most applications.

Quantities may vary.

Ctrl-X

2006-06-15T01:14:00.000-07:00

In more situations than you can imagine right now, Ctrl-X cuts selected text and places it into the clipboard.

This works in Windows Explorer, most word processors, spreadsheets etc and even in dialogue boxes!

Select some text in Microsoft Word then use Ctrl-X to remove the selected text and leave it in the clipboard.

Highlight a cell or set of cells in your spreadsheet and use Ctrl-X to cut that data out and leave a copy in the clipboard.

Alt-tab into Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer) and select a file name. Tap the
F2 key and you'll be able to edit that filename. Use Ctrl-X to cut the file name and place it into the clipboard. You'll need to enter a new filename for the file.

Ctrl-X cuts from the clipboard even when the Edit menu is unavailable.

Paste your clipboard contents where you will.

Ctrl-V

2006-06-12T05:37:00.000-07:00

In more situations than you can imagine right now, Ctrl-V places a copy of the clipboard contents into your current document or spreadsheet.

This works in Windows Explorer, most word processors, spreadsheets etc and even in dialogue boxes!

Select some text in Microsoft Word then use Ctrl-C to place a copy of the selected text in the clipboard.
Highlight a cell or set of cells in your spreadsheet and use Ctrl-V to copy the data from the clipboard.
Alt-tab into Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer) and select a file name. Tap the F2 key and you'll be able to edit that filename. Use Ctrl-C to copy the file name into the clipboard. Move to a different folder, select a file and use the F2 function key to edit the file, then Ctrl-V to name the file with the name of the previous file.

Ctrl-V pastes from the clipboard even when the Edit menu is unavailable.

Paste your clipboard contents where you will.

Ctrl-C

2006-06-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

In more situations than you can imagine right now, Ctrl-C places a copy of selected text into the clipboard.

This works in Windows Explorer, most word processors, spreadsheets etc and even in dialogue boxes!

Select some text in Microsoft Word then use Ctrl-C to place a copy of the selected text in the clipboard.

Highlight a cell or set of cells in your spreadsheet and use Ctrl-C to copy that data to the clipboard.

Alt-tab into Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer) and select a file name. Tap the F2 key to enter edit mode, and you’ll be able to edit that filename. Use Ctrl-C to copy the file name into the clipboard.

Ctrl-C copies to the clipboard even when the Edit menu is unavailable.

Paste your clipboard contents where you will.

Minimising a window

2006-06-09T07:03:00.000-07:00

Minimising a window is akin to closing a book. It makes more space on our desk, but we have not put the book back on the shelf.

I believe that minimising does not save resources, neither RAM memory nor time nor disk.

Never Minimise.

Alt-Tab

2006-06-06T02:53:00.000-07:00

Hold down the Alt key and tap the Tab key (don’t hold down the Tab key, just tap it once) then let go all the keys.
· Alt-Tab switches you to a different task.
Why not open up several applications at once – choose whatever you want – perhaps your web browser, your email program, NotePad, your word-processor and your spreadsheet program.
They are all open? Good.
Hold down the Alt key and tap the Tab key repeatedly, perhaps once a second (Alt, then Tab-Tab-Tab-Tab-Tab-Tab).
Notice how the little box pops up and each tap of the Tab key (still holding down the Alt key) takes you to a different application.
When you are at the application that you want – perhaps NotePad – let go both keys. There you are in NotePad.
Try it again: Alt-Tab onto the carousel until you get to the spreadsheet, then jump off. Just like a carousel (merry-go-round) if you sail past the place where you should be, just keep on Alt-Tabbing until you come round again, then jump off.
· Alt-Tab remembers!
There’s an extra-specially powerful aspect of Alt-Tab where Alt-Tab seems to have a useful memory.
To set yourself up for this, select two applications in particular – I’m going to assume your email program and your word-processor. Carousel to your email program and then let go. Here you are in your email program. Now carousel yourself to your word processor and then let go. Here you are in your word processor.
Here’s the trick: Alt-Tab just once, quickly, and let go. Here you are in your email program.
Here’s the trick: Alt-Tab just once, quickly, and let go. Here you are in your word-processor program.
Here’s the trick: Alt-Tab just once, quickly, and let go. Here you are in your email program.
A single Alt-Tab switches you back to your previous program. That makes it easy to copy and paste material repeatedly from one program (email) to another (word processor).
Once you are comfortable with this, try it with three programs, adding NotePad to the list.
Alt-Tab with three applications
To start off, carousel to Notepad. Then carousel to email. Then carousel to Word processor. You can think of Word processor as your “latest” endeavor, number 1. You can think of email as your second-latest – number 2. You can think of Notepad as your third-latest – number 3.
As before, a single Alt-Tab merely switches you between number 1 and number 2.
Now try holding down the Alt-key and tapping the Tab key TWICE! You’ll be taken to Notepad, the old number 3.
Of course, Notepad is now number 1.
As before, a single Alt-Tab merely switches you between number 1 and number 2. That will be between NotePad and your previous application. The other application will have been “pushed down the list” to occupy number 3.
This is how I quickly build up an email message with a series of fragments of a word processing document, then with a series of fragments of a spreadsheet, then with a series of fragments of a word processing document, and so on.
Conclusion
It makes no sense at all to spend part of the business day closing and re-opening programs. No matter how sluggish your computer, the bottom line is that if you want to do something in NotePad, that program ahs to be in memory, whether it is swapped in and out by Windows or whether it is closed and re-opened by you.
· Keep everything open, Alt-Tab to what you want, and let Windows worry about how it uses RAM memory and the swap file.

Maximizing A Window

2006-06-01T07:03:00.000-07:00

Maximizing a window fills the screen, and renders the window constant in size and position.

Best of all, it gives your eyes and your brain the maximum amount of data to process – you are much better off using the eyes and brain quickly to navigate a large mass of text than using your wrists and hands to navigate the text.

Use Alt-space to reach the control menu
Use the letter "X" for maximizing.
Double-click anywhere in the blue title of a window bar to maximize that window.

Alt-F4

2006-05-31T01:47:00.000-07:00

While you are in the Alt-space menu, you'll notice that almost every Windows application has a "Close" menu item (note their underlining of the letter C), but note too that there is a direct shortcut key - the Alt key with the F4 function key.

Alt-F4 will close just about any Windows Application. If you have data or documents that ought to be saved, you'll be prompted.

Alt-F4 is a fast way of shutting down an application you no longer need, although my preference is to leave them all open and use Alt-Tab to go to the one I want.

"Never Close, Never Minimize" is my motto.
Let Windows do the memory-management thing.

Alt-Space

2006-05-30T02:00:00.000-07:00

Alt-space brings up the menu from the top left-hand corner of any Windows Application window.

In Windows Explorer you click on the little yellow folder, extreme top left hand corner, to the left of the title “Exploring – Win98” or similar. In Microsoft Word you click on the little Green “W”, extreme top left hand corner, to the left of the title “Microsoft Word – Power.doc” or similar.

One of the items in the menu is to Minimize the window, and you’ll notice that the letter “n” is underlined, just as I’ve show it here. That’s your clue to a short-cut key method for minimizing a window.

Alt-Space and then tap just the letter “n”. Your current window is minimized. Some other window is now apparent and becomes your current window.

Alt-Space and then tap just the letter “n”. Your current window is minimized. Some other window is now apparent.

You can minimize all your windows (or as many as you want) without reaching for the mouse and hunting for the little icon. No need to even look at the screen!

In a similar manner, Alt-space and then the letter “X” will maximize any Windows Application window. I like my windows maximized. I like to use every inch of the monitor I’ve paid for.

Alt-space and then the letter “R” would shoot my Application window back to intermediate size, but I rarely do that. I like to let my eyes/brain do the walking, and for that I need the most data I can get on the screen, not a small part of it.

First Post

2006-05-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

I've collected a few notes on the power-techniques that seem to impress you when we are sitting side by side.

The collection was made over a month of trying to observe myself as I worked. I asked "What am I doing that other people aren't doing, why am I doing it, and is there a distinct advantage?"

I've grouped the items solely to render them into digestible chunks. Don't try to master these all at once, but deal with one group this week, the next group next week, and so on.