Pablo's Pointers ->

2003-11-18T11:32:00.000-08:00

A Shortcut for Switching Focus

You probably already know that you can use the Alt+Tab shortcut to switch from one open application in Windows to another, right? What if you don't want to switch between applications, but simply want to switch to the desktop, then back to your application again? If you are using the mouse, you can click on the Show Desktop icon available in the Quick Launch toolbar, just to the right of the Start menu. (This depends on your version of Windows, obviously.)

Using the keyboard to switch focus in this manner is a bit different, however. Assuming you have an enhanced Windows keyboard--the one with the Windows key next to the Alt keys--then the answer is easy. In fact, there are two shortcuts you can use.

* Press Windows+M to minimize all the open windows and change focus to the desktop. To return focus to where you were last working, using Shift+Windows+M.
* Press Windows+D to minimize all the open windows and change focus to the desktop. Press Windows+D again, and focus is returned to the window in which you were previously working.

2003-04-29T01:47:00.000-07:00

Get Rid of the Logon Screen

Whether or not you're on a local area network, odds are you don't really need the little logon (login) screen asking for your username and password that comes up when starting Windows. To remove this prompt, follow the following directions:

Windows 95/98/Me (If you don't have multiple users configured):
· Open Control Panel, and double-click on the Network icon.
· From the list entitled Primary Network Logon:, choose Windows Logon, and press OK.
· Note: If this doesn't work, make sure you didn't initially configure a password for yourself. If you did, Windows 98 will always require it. Double-click on the Passwords icon in Control Panel to choose nothing (leave it blank) for your password.

Windows 95/98/Me (If you do have multiple users configured):
· Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
· Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Network\ Logon.
· Double-click on the Process Logon Script value, and change the data from 00 00 00 00 to 00 00 00 01
Windows 95/98/Me (If nothing else works):
· Install Tweak UI, and double-click the Tweak UI icon in Control Panel.
· Choose the Network tab, and check the Log on automatically at system startup option.
· Type your username (shown after Log Off in your Start Menu) and your password (leave it blank if you don't have one), and click Ok when you're done.

2003-04-17T23:42:00.000-07:00

Windows98 bootdisk - make a generic bootdisk from inside Win98

This one's a no-brainer, but may or may not work on your system/configuration or with your CD-Rom drive.

1. Get a blank (preferrably new) 3.5" floppy disk ready.

2. Be sure you have your Win98 cd-rom hand and go to:
Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs | Startup Disk tab, press the Create Disk button and follow the instructions.

3. Make sure it works:

Boot with this floppy.
Place a data cd-rom (Like your Win98 disc) in the cd-rom drive.
At the dos-prompt, type "d:" - replace d with whatever letter you have assigned to your cd-rom (this changes the active directory to the cd-rom drive).
Then type "dir" you should see a listing of the files contained on your cd-rom drive.
Type setup (or the name of an executable if you have a disc other than the Win98 disc in the cd-rom).
If the setup program begins to run, exit it. Congratulations, you have a working Emergency bootdisk. If at any point here you get an error such as "invalid drive specification d" - you need to modify your bootdisk or use a different method to make it.

2003-04-11T02:32:00.000-07:00

Get your files back!

Do you ever delete things before you realize what they are?
If you accidentally trash files, don't panic.
Even when a document has been deleted, it's possible to recover it.

Just follow these three steps to recover anything from the Recycle Bin.

1) Double-click the Recycle Bin icon.
2) When the window is open, single-click the file you want to recover.
3) To select multiple files, just hold down the Ctrl key and single-click the files you want to restore.
4) Open the File menu
5) Select Restore.

The files will be returned to the original location from where they were deleted.

Basic Keyboard shortcuts

___________
Navigation:
___________

To:
Highlight
Press:
Shift-Arrow-keys
Comments:
You can combine Shift-and Ctrl-and Arrow keys to highlight large protions of text quickly.

To:
Jump to the beginning or end of a word
Press:
Ctrl-Arrow-keys

___________
TAB:
___________

To:
Jump through form fields
Press:
Tab
Comments:
Also works in your browser

To:
Jump through form fields IN REVERSE
Press:
Shift-Tab
Comments:
Also works in your browser

To:
Change tabs in a dialog box
Press:
Ctrl-Tab
Comments:
Tabs like in the Control Panel displays

To:
Change tabs in a dialog box IN REVERSE
Press:
Shift-Ctrl-Tab

___________
HOME / END:
___________

To:
Jump to the end of a line
Press:
End-key
Comments:
If you're a programmer, the Home and End keys really make life easier

To:
Jump to the end of a document
Press:
Ctrl-End
Comments:
...You can also use these with Shift-to highlight entire lines

To:
Jump to the beginning of a line
Press:
Home-key

To:
Jump to the beginning of a document
Press:
Ctrl-Home

___________
Editing:
___________

To:
Cut
Press:
Ctrl-X

To:
Copy
Press:
Ctrl-C

To:
Paste
Press:
Ctrl-V

_____________
Bold/Italics:
_____________

To:
Bold-face a selection
Press:
Ctrl-B
Comments:
Highlight a selection first (pressing it again will undo)

To:
Italicize a selection
Press:
Ctrl-I
Comments:
Highlight a selection first (pressing it again will undo)