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Thread: Windows keyboard tricks

  1. #1
    Senior Member
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    Windows keyboard tricks

    IMO there is nothing more impressive than seeing some one who can, in a couple of keystrokes, do what it takes the average user a minute or two to do with a mouse, and yet he/she never touchs one. Its like music.

    It’s all a matter of tweaking your system for your needs and knowing how things are arranged.

    For instance if you have aol installed then “America online x.0” appears in your start menu.

    Now if you notice on your keyboard, next to the control button on the left is a key with the windows logo on it. If you hit it (press and release) the start menu will open.

    ((There’s another Logo next to the alt button on the right. Next to it is another odd button, this allows the right mouse click functions on whatever has focus.))

    If you hit ‘logo’ , pause a split second, then hit the ‘A’ key, AOL will open (given that aol is the only program on the start menu beginning with the letter A.) That’s two keystrokes, less than a second and you’ve opened the program where before you’d still be reaching for the mouse. Once it’s opened just hit ‘enter’ to start the dialing. Three Keystroke to get online.

    This is true for any program, hitting logo then “L” will open outlook because its named “Launch Microsoft outlook”.

    Logo then “I”, internet explorer

    Make shortcuts, on the desktop, to the programs you use most, then drag them over to the start button and drop them in. rename them to make them unique. Change WinZip to zip, Opera to 1Opera, (numbers are cool as long as they’re unique). Etc

    If two menu entries begin with the same character, the first one will get focus. Hitting the char again will move you to the next.

    (Alt + F4) will close any program

    Now for some standard windows ‘tricks’

    Logo + R (while holding the logo key down hit ‘r’) will open up the “run“ command box. Not only does this box run commands, it remembers them.
    Typing “command” will open a dos prompt ( “cmd” in NT)
    Typing notepad will open notepad
    Typing winword will open word

    Now for some speed, assuming you’ve typed these commands before.
    Typing “not” will make the box read “notepad” (auto complete)
    So now if you do (logo + R) then enter “com” you’ll have a dos prompt open
    Or if “command” was the last command you ran it’ll be there when you open the run box so, (logo + R) [Enter] will open a prompt. Now you can be checking the results of a tracert before others have a prompt opened.

    Logo + E open windows explorer

    The arrow keys manipulate the directory tree. Right and Left arrows expand and close directories.

    (Logo + E) (open windows explorer)

    2 clicks on the down arrow (brings you to the c:\ directory)

    Right arrow (expands the C directory)

    “M” (brings me to the directory 'My Music' )

    Tab over to the right side and select the file you want

    hitting "enter" will open that file with its associated program

    ( Ctrl + C ) will copy that file

    ( Ctrl + V ) will paste

    Hitting the right click function key (next to logo on the right) will give you the same menu as if you right clicked on it with the mouse

    (Logo + F) will open ‘find files’ with the cursor in the ‘file box’ just check to see where it’s going to search before you type the file name and hit enter.

    Almost all programs have their own short cuts and hot keys. These can usually be found in ‘help’

    The most common ones use the ‘Alt’ key. If you notice on the tool bars, one letter in each Menu title will be underlined. Doing (Alt + that letter) will open that menu. And hitting the underlined letter of any menu item will open it.

    Learn to use these tricks and you may impress your boss not just you friends.
    Bukhari:V3B48N826 “The Prophet said, ‘Isn’t the witness of a woman equal to half of that of a man?’ The women said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘This is because of the deficiency of a woman’s mind.’”

  2. #2
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    ctrl and alt buttons do wonders in windows..... one time i didnt have a mouse and just navigated windows with NO problem without it.... really its just learning what cuases what.....

    its just easier for me....

  3. #3
    heh yup I find using the keyboard quicker to navigate than the mouse
    a few others
    • alt+tab - cycle through all open windows/progs
    • ctrl+N - Opens a new window in IE or Netscape
    • ctrl+W - shuts down active IE window


    only time the mouse can be quicker is in opera - where u can hold the right mouse button and move the mouse in a certain direction to perform actions....

    v_Ln

  4. #4
    Cntrl-O opens a file, local or net. . .

  5. #5
    ohhh and you can check (most) prog shortcuts by looking next to the option in the progs menu....eg:
    if you click on file in IE you'll see
    New
    Open ctrl - O
    Edit with...
    Save ctrl - S
    Save as..
    etc etc etc

    also as you can see some of the options have letters underlined
    by pressing that key when the menu is open it will jump to that option...

    v_Ln

  6. #6
    Senior Member cwk9's Avatar
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    A few years ago my mouse busted and it was going to be a whole week before I could get a new one (14 couldn’t drive with out my parents in the car). Long story short I became a keyboard guru. I still use the keyboard for lots of task. It also adds a little extra flare when you’re using the computer. It says (Mice are for wusses. My mouse fell behind the desk three days ago and I don't give a f**k because I’m the l337 computer guru around here.) If nothing else it looks like your working your a** off even though your just copying a word document.
    Its not software piracy. I’m just making multiple off site backups.

  7. #7
    now here is a 3 key combo move When you have explorer open [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[+] {alpha pad "+" only} resises the columns for you automatically if you use detailed view like i do

    MrC

  8. #8

  9. #9
    Old-Fogey:Addicts founder Terr's Avatar
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    Just to note, the Logo + Letter combo only really works (Win98 anyway) if the program to run is within the first tier of the start menu. I usually place everything under the "Programs" subdirectory. My current setup is something like:

    Logo + p + i + m + enter = Open mIRC
    Logo + p + i + g + g + enter = Open GetRight
    Logo + p + w + a = Open Adobe Photoshop
    Logo + p + w + o = Open Word
    Logo + p + w + e = Open Excel
    Logo + p + w + p = Open Powerpoint
    Logo + p + o + m = Open OpenOffice Master Document

    ...

    You get the idea. If you hit a letter and one item on the current tier begins with that letter, it either opens it (if a link) or descends into it (if a directory). If there are more than one, you can hit the letter repeatedly to go through them, and enter to open/descend.

    And for Opera... Well, I use the keyboard a lot, but the mouse gestures really steal the show since a lot of web browsing involves analog movement of the mouse rather than discrete commands that are always close at hand.
    [HvC]Terr: L33T Technical Proficiency

  10. #10
    Senior Member
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    Here's a neat little trick I found a while back. Some keyboards (such as the one I'm typing on my lappie with) don't have the little Windows logo key. I learned that a combination of CTRL+ESC accomplishes the same thing. Great tut, Tedob.

    Namárie,
    --PhirePhreak
    I know you\'re out there. I can feel you now. I know that you\'re afraid. You\'re afraid of us. You\'re afraid of change. I don\'t know the future. I didn\'t come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it\'s going to begin. I\'m going to hang up this phone, and then I\'m going to show these people what you don\'t want them to see. I\'m going to show them a world without you, a world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.

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