A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch
I remember back in the last century when the computer mouse was invented. I resisted buying one because I thought it was useless technology that wasted time because you had to remove one of your hands from the keyboard. Back then we could do it all with the CTRL and ALT keys. Other tasks were easily accomplished with a batch file.
Back then, we were mostly limited to CTRL – cut and paste. Now, the old saying has come true, “We’ve come a long way baby!”
When the Windows 95 operating system was released, a new key was added to the keyboard. For me, the windows key has always been a “super” key. It has so many useful functions that I find it hard to believe how many people fail to use the flag key.
Here’s a list of the shortcuts I personally use the most often. This list is for Windows 7, but many of the combinations work with previous Windows versions. Just hit your windows key and the key(s) in the left column to enable the right column action. It’s a heck of a lot faster than moving the mouse and clicking.
+ Home Minimizes all but the current window
+ Spacebar Preview Desktop (makes all open windows transparent)
+ Left Arrow Tiles the window on the left side of the screen
+ Right Arrow Tiles the window on the right side)of the screen
+ Alt + # key Accesses the Jump List of a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
+ T Cycles through the items on the Taskbar
+ # key Switches to a running program on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
+ Shift + # key Launches a new instance of a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
+ Ctrl + # key Accesses the last active instance of a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
+ T Cycles through the items on the Taskbar
+ M Minimizes all windows
+ Shift + M Restores all minimized windows
+ D Show/Hide Desktop (minimizes/restores all windows)
+ L Locks the computer
+ Tab Accesses Windows Flip 3D and cycles forward through open programs
+ Shift + Tab Accesses Windows Flip 3D and cycles backward through open programs
+ Spacebar Preview Desktop (makes all open windows transparent)
+ G Cycles through gadgets
+ Up Arrow Maximizes the current window
+ Down Arrow Minimizes the current window
+ Home Minimizes all but the current window
+ Left Arrow Tiles the window on the left side of the screen
+ Right Arrow Tiles the window on the right side of the screen
+ F1 Launches Windows Help And Support
Of course, there are many other keyboard shortcuts that use the CTRL or ALT key instead of the Windows key. Personally, the combination I use most often is CTRL+Z. This is the shortcut that will undo a previous action. I make so many mistakes that I learned that one a long time ago.
I don’t think that it’s possible for anyone to memorize all the keyboard shortcuts. I suggest you search the internet and review the lists. I’m sure that you’ll enjoy your computer more when you waste less time reaching for the mouse.
That’s about all I’ve got to say this month I think that it’s time for me to either ALT+TAB or ALT+F4 away from my word processor.
Thanks for reading.