Information Addicts

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Today, computers are a necessity, and we are using them more and more in daily life whether at work or at home. Most people tend to use the most basic functions of the software that’s needed to carry out those daily tasks, but don’t realise they are missing out on a wealth of options.
Underneath Windows XP there many tricks and shortcut keys that will help make your repetitive tasks just that much easier.
I have listed 10 great shortcuts below to get you started.

If you have some time saving shortcuts of your own, please add them in the comments box.

1. Quick launch your applications, on the task bar you can put a shortcut to your most used applications and files here, which can be launched in one click. Here’s how, right-click the Taskbar and choose Toolbars > Quick launch. Now you can customise it to contain only the applications and/or files that you want to open by dragging them out of the Start Menu and onto the Quick launch bar. You can delete those not needed by right clicking and choosing delete.

2. Tidy up your desktop, I often laugh to myself when I see other people’s computer desktops as they seem to be so cluttered with files and programs etc that they cannot see the background. Not only does this look really messy but it takes toll on your memory. If you don’t use them all why not clear them up, which is very easy to do. Right-click the Desktop and choose Arrange Icons By > Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard. This will place the icons that you have chosen into a folder named ‘Unused Desktop Icons’, which you can rename, any files that have not gone into the folder just drag them in. Now isn’t that much neater, give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done.

3. Get straight to your desktop in a jiffy, do you sometimes end up with many applications and programs open at once, and then decide that you need to get back to your desktop fast? There is a quick way to get to your desktop. Simply, press the Windows key and (M) simultaneously and tadaa your there, to get back to where you were, press Shift + Windows key + (M) simultaneously.

4. Get to them .com sites faster, Web sites that end with .com for example, www.google.com can be accessed that bit quicker by typing just the name in the address bar, (you don’t even need to type http or www.) then press (Ctrl) + (return) for example google then the shortcut, this will save you seven strokes.

5. Double clicking mayhem, I don’t know about you but double clicking each time to open up a program, folder or file is a bit of a chore rather than just single clicking. There is an answer and all you need to do is click Start > My Computer and on the menu tab select Tools > folder options, check the box that says ‘Single click to open an item’ and click OK and there you have it, one click wonder.

6. CCP shortcuts, What are you talking about you may ask? Highlight some text or an image and try (Ctrl) + (C) for copying, or (Ctrl) + (X) to cut and (Ctrl) + (V) to paste. You can also use (Ctrl) + (Z) to undo your action or (Ctrl) + (Y) to redo your action.

7. Use your Windows Key, When you are at work and want to quickly log off your Computer press (Windows) + (L) it works a treat, also to bring the run box up press (Windows) + (R). Pressing (Windows) + (E) brings up Explorer.

8. Use the tab key, this key is a general purpose key as it can be used to help you navigate through things. It can be used to move from one field to another in different applications. Another good idea is if you have a lot of programs, files, etc open, pressing (Alt) + (tab) will scroll you through each one of these.

9. Make you own shortcut keys for your favourite applications, Here’s how, Right-click the desktop and select New > Shortcut. Browse to the program that you want and then give a name to the shortcut. A new icon will appear on your desktop. Right-click it and select Properties, click the Shortcut Key field and press (Ctrl) and the letter that you want to use to activate the program. Now using (Ctrl) + (Alt) and the letter that you choose will open it.

10. More shortcuts can be found, click Start > Help and Support, then in the search bar type ‘keyboard shortcuts’ hit the search or arrow button and then in the results click on ‘Windows keyboard shortcuts overview’.

What is your favourite keyboard shortcut or trick?

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 1st, 2008 at 9:05 am and is filed under PC Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.