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Make Your Mouse Work Harder
 Computer mice are pretty versatile these days but here’s a
very neat little freeware program that adds even more functionality to your
favourite rodent. It’s called AltMove
and once it’s running you can quickly move, resize and hide windows with a
simple keyboard and mousse key combination, and it even works on windows that
do not normally support move and resize. If you have a centre mouse button, or clickwheel,
pressing it opens a magnifier screen, and there are three simple ‘gestures’
with the right mouse button. Click and hold the right button and move the mouse
down and the open window minimises, click right, hold and drag upward to
maximise and click right, hold and drag right lets you change the windows transparency.
And if that’s not enough, you can create your own custom actions. The program
is freestanding, so it doesn’t need to be installed and it can be launched from
a pen drive. It’s what your mouse has been waiting for!
10/11/08
Stick it Out
 Windows application
launchers come and go, and I must have used scores of them in my time, but this
one, called Stick, is one
of the best, and certainly one of the easiest to use. Basically it puts a
series of tabs along the top of the screen and when you click or hover on it,
it opens the chosen program, folder or applet. It’s highly configurable, easily
customisable and you can also access tabs using Hot Keys. Needless to say it’s
free, and it works on both XP and Vista. Give it a try; you’ll wonder how you
ever managed without it…
21/07/08
Icon Finder General
 As I am sure you know you can change your desktop icons by
right-clicking on them and selecting Properties and clicking the Change Icon
button, but what do you change it to? Of course you can go on line and search
through the thousands of free and paid for icon banks but you may be surprised
at how many icons there are sprinkled around your PC.
A freeware utility called
IconsExtract managed
to find no less than 18,000 icons and cursors on my office PC, and this is on a machine only
three months after a full re-install! The program is very easy to use, just
tell it where to look for icons, it could be just a folder or a sub folder, or
your whole C: dive, tough be warned, searching an entire drive can take a few
minutes and use a lot of resources, so go and make a cup of tea. When it has
finished you can save selected icons, or copy and paste single icon to the
clipboard.
18/02/08
Clear the Decks (Desks)…
 How many times have you wanted to just clear everything off
you desk? It’s tempting, no matter how hard you try desks are like magnets for
all kinds of rubbish that you somehow never get around to throwing away, and PC
desktops are just the same. So, for everyone who has forgotten what a naked
desktop looks like, or maybe you just want to do a few screenshots, without all
the clutter, here’s a tiny little program that clears everything, with a single
click. It’s called Empty Desk
and when I say it’s small I’m not kidding, the download is only 22kb, and the
program runs from any folder, so you don’t even have to install it.
21/01/08
Getting the Point
 Are you still using those boring old standard Windows
cursors and mouse pointers, even the alternatives are pretty drab, so here’s a
way to liven things up. It’s a freeware program called RealWorld Cursor Editor, and
not only can you create your own custom cursors and pointers from scratch, you
can also create snazzy looking animated cursors as well. The program is packed
with easy to use 2D and 3D drawing and editing tools plus simple animation
options and it will run under both XP and Vista, so what are you waiting for,
get creative!
26/11/07
Doing the Taskbar Shuffle
 It sounds like a cheesy dance but Taskbar Shuffle
is actually a clever little freeware program that lets you move things around
in the Windows Taskbar to suit your way of working. Normally program icons in
the status area appear in the order they were opened, which isn’t always very
convenient but with Taskbar Shuffle running you can shift them around to your
heart’s content, group them according to function, open and close groups with
the middle mouse key (a use for it, at last) and with a simple Hotkey command,
rearrange the icons in the System Tray (next to the clock).
22/10/07
Mobile
Mouse and Keyboard
 Here’s
something interesting for more advanced users to play around with. Synergy is a freeware,
Open Source program that lets you share your mouse and keyboard with any other PC
on your home or office network. Basically what happens is when you move your
mouse off the edge of your main PC screen, it appears on the screen of another
PC, and whilst the mouse is on the screen you can control that PC using both
the mouse and keyboard. This could be handy if you are working on a document on
your desktop PC and want to refer to a website showing on your laptop, sitting
next to the computer. Configuration is a little messy and there’s not much in
the way of Help but it’s worth the effort, and truly bizarre watching another
PC obey your commands. If you are interested you might find it easier to
download the program from Here
as the Sourceforge site isn’t especially novice-user friendly.
10/01/07
Mouse Buttons Magnifier
 If you have a scroll wheel
mouse you may have noticed that the wheels is also a button, but it probably
doesn’t do much. Here’s a way to put it to good use, Microsoft has developed a
really useful set of utilities for it’s Intellimouse range of mice, and the
really good news is that it works with most other mouses, and it’s free.
Download and install the Intellipoint
software, when asked just select Optical Mouse from the list (unless you have a
MS Mouse, in which case enter the model). Now go to Control Panel and
double-click on the Mouse icon, select the Buttons tab then on the Wheel Button
drop-down menu select Magnify then OK. Now when you click the mouse wheel the
pointer turns into a magnifying glass. There’s loads of other options, like
Cut, Copy, Paste and Delete, and while you are at it try the ‘Precision Booster’
which give you one-click control for pointer speed.
04/12/06
Lost XP Theme -- Royale Noir
 Well, not so much lost as shelved
and forgotten. This XP Theme from Microsoft is called Royale Noir (almost
topical Mr Bond…) and according to its discoverer at istartedsomething it was
originally developed for XP Media Centre but never used and somehow it escaped
onto the net.
It’s actually very smart, all
blacks and shades of grey and it works well with most applications. To give it
a try you first have to download the compressed Rar file by clicking here, and
if you haven’t got a suitable decompression utility you can download the trial
version of WinRar here.
When the file has downloaded click on it and this will open WinRar, click
Extract and set the Destination Path to: c:\windows\resources\themes\royalenoir
(use the Browse button then enter the Royal Noir folder name). When it has
finished open Windows Explorer and navigate your way to the royalnoir folder
and double-click luna.msstyles and this will install the theme. The Display
Properties dialogue box should now appear, select the Appearance tab and under
Color Scheme select Royal Noir.
10/11
Background on your Background
 How much do you know about your PC? Of course there are ways
and means of finding out things like how long it has been running, the name of
your computer, the type of network adaptor, how much free space there is on
your hard drives, your current IP address, how much memory you have and a dozen
other things besides but with a little utility called BGInfo everything
you could ever want to know about your PC is right there in front of you,
superimposed on your desktop.
You can choose to display as much or as little
information as you want, change the font, size and colour and blend it into
your existing background, or create a new one. It’s simple, informative and
completely free.
20/10/06
The Wonderful Icon
 The name says it
all really. Click on the Wonderful Icon red flag that appears in your System Tray
(next to the clock) and you have instant one-click access to scores of
frequently-used functions, from Shut Down and Reboot, to Close All Documents or
Shift Windows to Top of screen. This excellent little freeware utility is really
easy to set up and use and once you’ve played around with it for a day or two,
you’ll wonder how you ever managed to do without it.
10/10/06
Two Mice Better
Than One?
 Did you know than
on most PCs you can have two mice? But why, I hear you ask, would anyone in
their right mind want to do such a thing? Well, there is this new game I’ve
just invented, called Duelling Mice, where two users are given a mouse each and
the winner is the one who manages to shut down Windows… But seriously, if
you’re into high-end graphics you might want a regular mouse for day-to-day
Windows stuff, and a precision mouse or trackball for delicate work. The second
mouse could also be a graphics tablet or even a wireless device, used for
presentations. So how do you go about connecting two mice? Easy, one of them
needs to be a regular PS2 type mouse. That plugs into the back of the PC, and
the other one should be a USB mouse. Switch off, plug them both in and reboot
and they should both work, if not check to see if you have any specialised
mouse utilities -- they’re normally to be found in Control Panel -- that
specifically prevents the use of two mices.
14/09/06
Mouse Volume
Control Freeware
 You may recall a
few weeks ago we looked at a little freeware utility called ‘One
Click Volume that simplified the clunky Windows System Tray volume control,
well, here’s an even better one, called Volumouse. Simply hold
down the Alt key (or one of sixteen other actions) and spin the mouse wheel and
the volume goes up or down. You can also use it to control a variety of other
functions from the mouse wheel, using four ‘Rules’ or presets and these include
varying screen brightness and transparency, adjusting bass boost and a number
of audio actions. The download is tiny (just 38Kb for the Zip, or 78Kb for the
self-installing version) and it takes only a few moments to configure.
11/09/06
Time Zone Display
Freeware
 Here’s another
freebie from Bill, this time it’s a little add on called Time
Zone, and it does exactly what it says, displaying the time in a choice of
world wide locations. The defaults are London, Los Angeles, New Delhi, New York
and Sydney, but you can choose from scores of cities, from Abu Dhabi to Zagreb.
Incidentally, if it doesn’t work you may have followed one of our previous tips
and disabled ‘Balloon Tips’ in which case see this Top Tip to
switch them back on again.
08/09/06
Titlebar Clock
 All
Windows applications have a Titlebar at the top and for the most part it is a
waste of space, with just the name of the program on the left, the Minimise,
Maximise and Close icons on the left and a lot of empty space in between. Here’s
a nifty little freeware program that makes good use of some of that wasted
space. It’s called TitleBarClock
and it really is tiny (the zip file is just 61kb) and once installed it inserts
the time (12 or 24 hour format), date, day of the week and how much free HDD
memory you have on the left of any active title bar that has mouse or keyboard
focus. It’s highly configurable from the icon that appears in the System Tray
and it can be set to start with Windows.
16/08/06
Remove Run Command from Start
Menu
 Run on the Start menu can be
a real nuisance for those who share their PCs with others. Tinkering causes so
many computer problems, and there’s no quicker way to foul up a PC than mess
with System Files or the Registry, all of which can be accessed through tools
and utilities that launch from the Run command, so hide it!
It’s really easy, just right
click on the Start button and select Properties then the Task Bar tab and click
the Customize button, followed by the Advanced tab. Scroll down the ‘Start Menu
Items’ list to Run Command and uncheck the box, click OK, then OK to exit the
dialogue boxes and it’s done.
10/08/06
You wouldn’t think it but the humble computer keyboard annoys the hell out of a lot of PC users, especially those of a
certain age, who like myself, learned to type on a typewriter.
The Caps Lock
key is one of the biggest bones of contention, and in particular the way it
behaves, which, is quite unlike the way the Shift Lock key on a typewriter
works. If you’ve never got used to it, or you just want to see what it was like
in the olden days then here’s a simple little tip that makes the Shift key
work like a typewriter and cancel caps lock.
All you have to do is go to Regional and Language Options in
Control Panel, select the Languages tab and click the Details button then the
Key Settings button and under ‘To turn off Caps Lock’ select Press the Shift
Key’. If the Key Settings button is greyed out you’ll have to add a second
keyboard (e.g. English United States) to the list by clicking the Add button;
it’s okay your existing default keyboard setting will not be changed. When you’ve
finished keep clicking OK to exit the dialogue boxes
27/07/06
A CLIPBOARD ON YOUR MOUSE
Your mouse is much smarter than
you think. For example, did you know you could turn it onto a sort of clipboard
for files? Just click on a file and it
literally sticks to the mouse pointer, so you can drag and drop it into any other
folder on your PC. The feature is built into XP and other versions of Windows,
you’ll find it in Control Panel, double-click the Mouse icon and select the
Activities button (one some machines it may be on the Buttons tab) and check
the ‘Click Lock’ button. To make it work simply click and hold on the file for
a few seconds, then release the mouse button and the file selected should be
attached to the pointer. To release the file simply click again. You can vary
the time needed to engage Click Lock from the Settings button. Be warned,
useful though it is, it can change the behaviour of the mouse in some applications
so it may take some getting used to.
29/05/06
CONTROL YOUR KEYBOARD
I don’t know if you’ve ever
held down a character key whilst typing but if you do then you’ll see that the
character is repeated, and quickly starts to fill the line. Maybe this feature
is useful to you? If so you can control how quickly the character repeats after
you’ve pressed and held the key, and the rate at which it repeats. You can do
this from Keyboard applet in Control Panel, just click the Speed tab.
Personally I’ve set the Repeat Delay and Repeat Rate sliders towards ‘Long’ and
‘Slow’, so the feature is there if I need it, but it won’t happen by accident.
You can also change the rate at which the cursor blinks. I find a slightly
faster blink rate makes it easier to spot on larger LCD monitors. While you
have the keyboard controls open click the Remap tab and you’ll find a small
selection of keys that you can have their functions swapped. Not exactly earth
shattering but it might be of interest to some users.
LINUX STYLE DESKTOP MANAGER FOR XP
 One
of the most eye-catching features of many Linux distributions is the ‘virtual desktop’, which basically means you
can switch between four active desktops with the click of a mouse. That feature
is also available in Windows XP, though you have to know where to find it. In
fact you need to go to the Microsoft website and download a ‘Powertoy’ called
Virtual Desktop Manager. Powertoys, as we’ve mentioned on many occasions, are a
suite of tools developed by Microsoft (including the most excellent Tweak UI) but
they’re not included as standard with Windows XP, or at least not any longer.
They’re unsupported but that doesn’t mean they’re in any way buggy or inferior.
But I digress, download and
install Virtual Desktop manager. To launch it right-click on the Taskbar,
select Toobars then click Desktop Manager and you will see 5 new icons on the
Taskbar, one for each virtual desktop and one for a ‘quad’ view. I suspect that you’ll find it hard to go back to a boring single desktop after using it for a
while, so what are you waiting for?
TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR SCROLLBAR
Given the choice I’m
guessing some of you will like them thin and skinny, others will prefer them to
be thick and chunky. I am of course talking about scrollbars the sliding
doohickeys down the side and sometimes along the bottom edges your windows.
Well, there is a way you can change the width, and it’s a global change that
will apply to all of your programs. Simply open Display Properties (Display in
Control Panel or right-click an empty area of the desktop and select Properties).
Make you way to the Appearance tab and click the Advanced button then on the
‘Item’ drop-down menu select Scrollbars, use the size box to make your change
and click OK. By the way the the
default size is 13. You may need to know that so you can put it back to normal
after playing around with it; the maximum size (100) it is rather eye catching…
[Top]
 HOME PAGE ON YOUR DESKTOP
Here’s a way to have
your favourite web page or your home page displayed on
your desktop. It can be quite handy if, for example you always open your
browser on BootLog or maybe even Google, it’ll be right there at boot up, ready
to go as soon as you Windows has finished loading. Here’s how to do it. Right
click on the Desktop and select Properties or go to Start > Control Panel
> Display to open Display Properties. Select the Desktop tab then click the Customize
Desktop button. If you want to see your Home Page select the web tab and under
Web pages tick the item ‘My Current Home Page. If you want any other web page
click the New button and enter the full address in the box that appears.
DOUBLE QUICK DISPLAY DODGE
If you are forever opening
Windows XP Display Properties, to tweak settings, mess around with screensavers
and change the appearance of my desktop -- it may have something to do with my
jobs - -but the point is to get to it you have to open Control Panel and click
on the Display icon or right-click on the desktop and select Properties. I’ve
found a much better way and now I can open Display with a single click on a
Quick Launch icon and here is how it’s done. Right-click on the desktop and
select New > Shortcut. In the ‘Type the location o the item box’ enter (or
copy and paste) the following command:
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl
Click Next, give the
new shortcut a name then OK. Now you can drag and drop the shortcut onto the
Quick Launch toolbar and you are ready to give it a road test.
KUSTOM KEYBOARD
 Back in the olden days, when Windows 95 roamed the Earth, there used to
be a useful little utility -- called a Kernel Toy -- that you could download
from Microsoft that would ‘remap’ or change the assignments of certain keys on
your keyboard. In theory remapping the keys on a Windows XP system should be
easy as the facility is built into the Registry but it’s a swine to get at and
I caution novices to mess with the Registry at their peril. Fortunately you
don’t have to, I’ve just finished trialling a great little freeware utility,
called KeyTweak, that lets you change the action of any key on your keyboard,
which you can do directly, or by ‘teaching’ it by pressing the keys you want to
change. At last, a way to make those unused buttons do something useful, change
Scroll Lock (Scrlk) into sound mute, open your Home Page or display the
Calculator, for example. Hours of fun for all the family, and if you get into a
tangle you can quickly reset all or any of your changes back to their default
setting.
WEB PAGE & PROGRAM LAUNCHER ON THE TASKBAR
If
your Taskbar is still in the default position, at the bottom of the screen,
this tip will insert a handy Address bar into it, so you can go directly to web
pages or launch programs. Right-click into an empty area of the taskbar, select
Toolbars then Address. The word Address now appears on the taskbar and if you
double-click on it an address box will appear. I wouldn’t try this if you have
used one of my earlier tips and moved your taskbar on the side of the screen,
it can do odd things to the layout, which can take ages to undo, as I
discovered… Incidentally, if this tip doesn't work the taskbar may be locked, in which case right-click on the taskbar and deselect 'Lock the Taskbar'.
WHEELY INTERESTING MOUSE FEATURE
Does your mouse have a
scroll wheel? Hopefully yes, they’re
really useful, but did you know most models have a little known feature called
the wheel button. To see if yours is so -equipped press the wheel and it should
click. If so you can make it do all sorts of interesting things, indeed
something unusual may have happened when you just clicked it, but to take
control and assign a function to the wheel button go to Control Panel, double
click the Mouse icon and select the Buttons tab and have a look at what’s on
offer on the Wheel button drop-down menu. My favourite settings are Undo last
action (keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Z) and double-click, but play around with it
and see if anything takes your fancy.
[Top]
MOTIVATE YOUR MOUSE?
Is your PS2 mouse a bit sluggish? Are you finding it difficult to click
on titchy icons and menus? If so you might want to try this simple little tweak
to make your rodent more responsive. Press Winkey + Break to Open System Properties,
click the Hardware tab then the Device Manager button and scroll down the list
to ‘Mice and other pointing devices’. Click the plus sign to expand the tree
and right-click on your mouse and select Properties then the Advanced Settings
tab. Increase the Sample Rate setting to 200, click OK and reboot and you
should notice a small but useful increase in your mouse’s sensitivity
EMERGENCY MOUSE
What happens if you boot up your PC and the mouse isn’t working,
or it suddenly stops responding halfway through an important task? You can
revert to keyboard controls, using the Alt, Tab and Arrow keys to make and
change selections, but did you know you can also control the mouse from the
keyboard?
It’s a Windows Accessibility feature called Mousekeys and on
most XP machines you can switch it on straight away using the keyboard shortcut
Alt + Left Shift + Numlock and you will then find that the mouse pointer can be
moved using the keypad keys 8 (up), 6 (right), 4 (left), and 2 (down). 1, 7, 9
and 3 drive the mouse pointer diagonally. Key 5 or Enter is used for the left
mouse button and to right-click hold down the minus key on the numeric keypad
and press 5. If the keyboard shortcut doesn’t work you can get to Mousekeys
through Accessibility Options in Control Panel.
REMOVE ICON NAME
This tip should appeal to
minimalists with tidy mind and a good memory as it allows you to remove the
names of icons on your desktop. Simply click the icon name once, wait a second
and click again and it will be highlighted, press the Backspace key to delete
the existing name then press Alt + 0160 and press return and as if by magic the
name disappears.
WHAT’S THAT KEY FOR?
Have a close look at your keyboard.
There’s probably several keys that you don’t use and have absolutely no idea
what they’re for. Several of them are throwbacks to the old DOS and mainframe
computer days, like Scroll Lock and all it does is turn the Scroll Lock light
on and off. SysRq (under PrntScn) is another vestigial command, it stands for
System Request but again it doesn’t do anything, nor does Pause/Break, though
if you press it after the Winkey you will see the Windows XP System Properties
box.
What’s the ‘Alt Gr’ key to the right
of the spacebar all about? This one actually does get some use and it toggles
between characters on US and some foreign keyboards (the Alternate characters
are usually printed in green on the keycaps, hence the ‘Gr’). To the right of
that there’s usually another mystery key with what looks like a sheet of paper
printed on the keycap. This also has a use and if you press it you will find it
brings up the right-click content menu of whatever application you are using,
just like the right button on your mouse.
WATER IN THE WORKS
It’s going to happen to you sooner or later and you will spill tea,
coffee or soft drink on your PC keyboard. Don’t panic! Unlike the movies it’s not going to
explode, catch fire or emit sparks, but as quick as you like use the mouse to save your
work, close any open applications then shut down your PC. You now have a few
options, If you are feeling lucky and time isn’t pressing disconnect the
keyboard, drain it off, shake out, blot up as much surplus liquid as possible
with kitchen towel then let it air dry for at least 24 hours before trying it again.
The chances are quite good that it will work, though if you take sugar
in your drinks the keys might be a bit sticky. My preferred method is to
actually wash the keyboard under a tap running lukewarm water. It sounds a bit
drastic but it will get rid of any sticky residues and probably flush out a lot
of gunk that’s been accumulating. Once again it is vital that you remove any
surplus liquid and allow to dry in a warm place for at least 24 hours.
If you are feeling brave you could try dismantling the keyboard, by
taking the case apart and removing the ‘key caps’ (they should pull off quite
easily and carefully dry it out with a soft cloth. However I strongly recommend
that you take a picture of it first, so you can put the keys back into their
correct locations. If you are in a hurry or it still doesn’t work then don’t
waste any more time on it, just get a new one.
[Top]
MOODY MOUSE?
Has your mouse cot a nasty case of the jitters? In the olden days --
three or four years ago -- most of the time it was caused by encrusted grime on
the rollers that come into contact with the captive ball in the base of the
mouse. This can be easily removed by taking out the ball (they’re usually held
in place by a twist-fit ring) and scraping the gunge off with a toothpick.
However, nowadays many PC users have switched to the more reliable ‘optical’
type mouse, which has no moving parts. Instead a small low-resolution camera on
the underside picks up a reflected beam of light to determine how fast and in
which direction the mouse is moving. It works well, most of the time, but the
sensor can be fooled by reflective and some types of patterned surfaces. To see
if that is the problem just put the mouse onto a sheet of plain paper and see
if the pointer tracks smoothly. Check also that the light-emitter and pickup on
the underside are free of fluff and dirt; they can be safely cleaned by blowing
or a careful application of a cotton bud. If it is still jumpy then it’s
probably time to get a new mouse.
ADDRESS TOOLBAR ON THE TASKBAR
Here’s a nifty little tweak to add some extra
functionality to your Taskbar. With a few clicks of the mouse you can insert an
Address toolbar, so you can search for files on your computer and enter web
addresses or without having to open your browser or Windows Explorer first.
It’s easy, just right click into an empty area of on the Taskbar and if ‘Lock
the Taskbar’ is ticked, uncheck it. Right click again and this time select
Toolbars > Address, click and it’s done.
CONTROL CONTROL PANEL
If you use Windows XP you can expect to pay frequent
visits to the Control Panel, to configure your computer and change various
settings. Fortunately it’s easily accessible from the Start menu but when you
click the icon the whole folder opens, which means a short delay and another
click to get to the selected tool or utility. Here’s a way to speed things up
by changing Control Panel to a menu, rather than a folder. Right-click on an
empty part of the Start menu taskbar and select Properties then the Start Menu
tab; click the Customize button then the Advanced tab. In the Start Menu Items
box, next to Control Panel select ‘Display as a menu’ then OK. You will now
find that Control Panel opens as a menu, if for any reason you want to open it
as a folder just right-click on the icon and select Open.
MOUSE
LOCATOR
Ever
wondered where your mouse was hiding? It can be quite difficult to see the
mouse pointer in some programs, Word is a good example because the ‘I-bar’ can
easily get lost in a block of text and you have to wiggle the mouse to find it.
Windows XP has a nifty mouse finder feature built in, that zeros in on its
location like a Sonar display when you press the Ctrl Key, it’s also a good way
of warning you that you’ve pressed the Ctrl key instead of Shift by mistake. To
switch it on go to Start > Control Panel and double click the Mouse Icon.
Select the Pointer Options tab and right at the bottom check the item ‘Show
NOW YOU SEE THEM...
Here’s a quick and simple little tweak to stop nosey
parkers and passers-by seeing what programs you have on your PC when you are
away from your desk. All you have to do is right-click onto an empty area of
the desktop, select ‘Arrange Icons by’ then on the drop-down menu that appears
uncheck ‘Show Desktop Icons’ and all of your icons will magically disappear. To
get them back again simply repeat the procedure and re-check ‘Show Desktop
Icons’
HIDDEN FAST FILE FINDER
Here’s another one of those undocumented Windows
features, and this one works on pretty well any version of Windows using
Internet Explorer 4 or above. On your desktop click, drag and drop the My
Computer icon to the extreme left side of the screen. After a few moments a
vertical toolbar should appear showing the contents of My Computer. This on its
own can be quite handy, but it gets better. (By the way if you want to get rid
of it or hide it right-click at the top of the Toolbar and select Close or Auto
Hide).
Now try this. Click, hold, drag and drop the C: drive
icon from the My Computer Toolbar to the extreme top of the screen and a new
horizontal toolbar appears. This is the good bit. On the far right side of the
new toolbar is a continuation arrow, click it with your mouse and a new
vertical toolbar listing the contents of the drive appears on the right side of
the screen and you will find that the contents of the drive will be displayed
simply by ‘hovering’ the mouse pointer over the folder icons. As before you can
close or Auto Hide the top toolbar by right clicking on it.
[Top]
YOU ONLY HAVE TO OSK...
Windows XP has a number of interesting hidden
features. Try this, go to Run on the Start menu and type 'osk' (without the
quotes) and the On-Screen Keyboard will appear -- handy if your regular
keyboard packs up. It has two 'typing' modes; you can point and click using the
mouse or if you go to the Settings menu and choose Hover, characters will
appear if you just point at them with the mouse
DESKTOP DODGES
How many time a day do you need to go to your
PC's desktop, to access a program or icon? Most people either minimise any open
windows or root around for the tiny 'Show Desktop' icon on the Quick Launch
taskbar. Here are two double-quick alternatives. The first is to use the
keyboard shortcut Winkey + D, which instantly minimises all open windows. The
second method is to create a taskbar menu for your desktop icons. To do that
right click on an empty spot on the taskbar and uncheck (if checked ) 'Unlock
the Taskbar' then go to Toolbars and click Desktop. This may or may not display
all of your desktop icons, if so click on the dotted lines next to the word
Desktop on the taskbar and drag the separator to collapse the menu so that just
the word Desktop and the two arrows '>>' are shown. Now, when you want to
access a desktop icon just click the double arrows.
SHORTCUTS WORTH REMEMBERING
Newbies to computing sometimes become alarmed at the way their work on screen suddenly
vanishes forever and they have to do it all over again. So the best Tip for someone new to computers is to commit to memory two critical
keystrokes. Ctrl + A is the most dangerous, because it highlights all your
work, and the next keystroke can wipe it all! Ctrl + Z (Undo) is the Lifesaver,
as it will recover any such lost data to the screen before it is overwritten.
(The Undo button on many applications does the same job.)
HELP!
Help is always at hand! If you encounter a
problem or get into difficulty, just press F1 and the associated Help file will
be displayed. Swapping between open applications in Windows is easy; hold down
the left 'Alt' key and press the 'tab' key. Pressing tab again steps through
all of the programs the machine is currently running. If for any reason a
program freezes, or the mouse stops moving try pressing 'Alt' and you may find
that you can still select menus and options, using the four arrow cursor keys.
If an application refuses to respond then press and hold down 'Ctrl', 'Alt' and
'Delete' in that order -- once only -- and the PC will display the Close
Program window. This gives the opportunity to shut down the offending
application, without having to exit Windows.
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
There are several Windows Explorer keyboard
shortcuts worth remembering. Each time you press the Backspace key Explorer
steps back one level up the directory tree. The F2 key allows you to rename a
highlighted folder and Shift plus F10 brings up the context based pop-up menu.
Clicking once or twice on the Size and Modified headings in the right hand
'Contents' window will sort the files in descending (i.e. largest files or most
recently modified first) or ascending orders.
MORE SHORTCUTS
Here are some more Windows Explorer keyboard
shortcuts. Pressing F4 displays the full contents of the Address/location
panel, F5 refreshes the windows, updating any changes you may have made and F6
switches the focus between the various window 'panes'. Ctrl + A selects everything
in the right hand window, Ctrl + Z undoes the last action and the Backspace key
steps back through the parent directory tree. The asterisk key on the numeric
keypad expands all of the directory branches whilst the '-' and '+' numeric
keys collapse and expand the tree.
WINDOWS EXPLORER SIZING
Windows Explorer sometimes seems to have a mind
of its own and always seems to open with a different shape, position or icon
and display settings. You can make it remember your preferences -- for a while
at least - set it up the way you want it to look then press Ctrl + Alt + Shift
when you click on the close icon (the 'x' in the top right hand corner). It
will eventually forget but it's easy enough to repeat the exercise. It's a lot
easier in Windows 98, set up Windows Explorer, go to the View Menu then Folder
Options and select the View Tab and press the 'Like Current Folder' button.
WINKEY SHORTCUTS
If you have a Windows keyboard you obviously
know the 'Windows' button (in between Ctrl and Alt keys) brings up the Start
menu, but it can do a lot more besides. Win key (Wk) + D is a very quick way of
getting to the desktop as it toggles maximise and minimise all windows. Wk + E
opens Explorer, Wk + F opens Find, and Wk + R opens Run. System Properties opens
with Wk + Pause, Wk + Tab steps through the programs on the Taskbar and Wk + F1
opens Windows Help.
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EVEN MORE SHORTCUTS
There are several frequently-used multiple key
shortcuts in Windows, like Ctrl + Alt + Del (to bring up the close program menu)
and Alt + Tab (to switch between running applications) and dozens more in
applications like Word, Excel and Outlook. Windows 95/98/2000 & ME has a
nifty way to avoid two and three finger gymnastics, it's called 'Sticky Keys'
and it's one of the Accessibility Options in Control Panel. It's aptly named
because instead of pressing and holding a sequence of keys, you simply press
each one in turn, your PC's internal speaker bleeps at you to confirm each key
press. The facility can be easily switched on and off by pressing the shift key
five times in quick succession.
STICKY KEYS
Sticky Keys is not always installed by default,
if you can't see the Accessibility Options icon in Control Panel click on
Add/Remove in Control Panel, select the Windows tab then Accessibility and
follow the instructions. To enable Sticky Keys open Accessibility Options and
select the Keyboard tab, use the Settings button to change the way it behaves.
Whilst you're there you might also like to switch on the Caps Lock bleeper, which
also uses the PC's built-in speaker.
TASKBAR CLUTTER
It doesn't take long for the Taskbar at the
bottom of the screen to fill up with icons; they get smaller as the number
increases and it can be difficult to read the labels. You can easily increase
the size of the taskbar by moving the mouse pointer onto the top edge of the
taskbar where it will turn into a vertical double-headed arrow. Click and hold
the left mouse button and you can increase the width of the taskbar by dragging
it upwards; it can be expanded to fill half of the screen if necessary. Clearly
this takes up more room on the desktop, so make the Taskbar disappear, until it
is needed. Click on the Start button, then Settings and Taskbar and check the
Auto Hide option. From now on the Taskbar will only be shown when the mouse
pointer is at the bottom of the screen.
RIGHT MOUSE KEY
The right mouse button in Windows has many
hidden talents; here are a few to be getting on with. If you've got a lot of
open windows and you want to get to the desktop, simply right click on the
taskbar. This brings up a menu for minimising, tiling or cascading all windows;
right click on the taskbar a second time to restore the windows. A right click
on the recycle bin gives the option to empty it straight away. Discs can be
quickly formatted by right-clicking on the disc drive icon in My Computer or
Explorer.
START BASICS
The Start menu is a fast and easy way to launch
frequently used programs, but you can make it work even quicker, and you don't
even have to take your hands from the keyboard. Right-click on the Start button
and select Open. A window appears, containing all of the Start menu icons.
Insert a number (1, 2, 3 etc.) in front of the name of the applications you use
most often. Click once on the icon and the name field turns blue. Wait a moment
click and click on the text and a cursor appears, then click again in front of
the first letter of the name and type in the number. When you have finished
close the window. Now you can launch the Start menu and a program by pressing
the Windows button on the keyboard, followed by the number. If you're using an
older keyboard the shortcut is Ctrl + Esc, then the number.
RENAMING START MENU ITEMS
You can do all sorts of clever things with the
items on the Windows 9x Start menu, they can be copied, moved around and have
their properties changed but the one thing you can't do is rename them, unless
you have Internet Explorer 5.0 or later on your system. However, there is a way
around that. You can change the name of an icon by left clicking on it and
dragging it onto the desktop, it can then be renamed by clicking into the name
field. Next, right-click on the newly named icon, drag it on to the Start
button, put the mouse pointer where you want it to go on the Start menu,
release the mouse button and choose 'Move Here' from the dialogue box that
appears.
DISAPPEARING TOOLBARS
Every so often a program window opens in the
wrong position or the menus and toolbars have disappeared off the top of the screen
and you can't get them back. Here's a simple solution, press Alt + Spacebar to
bring up the sizing menu then hold down the letter M and use the down arrow
cursor key to bring the window back on to the screen.
CONTROL YOUR MOUSE
From the Start menu in Windows click on
Settings, Control Panel and then on the Mouse icon. There you will find a range
of settings that control the way your mouse behaves. There's also the
opportunity to change the button configuration, useful if you are left-handed.
The two most important parameters for PC newcomers are Motion and Click Speed;
set both to slow and you'll find the mouse much easier to control. Increase the
speed once you get used to how the mouse reacts. Whilst you're there click on
the Pointers tab and the Scheme menu, then select the Animated Hourglasses
option. This will make waiting for things to happen just a little more
interesting...
FAST DESKTOP ACCESS
Here is an easy way to access the contents of
your desktop from the Start button, without having to close or minimise any
windows. Right click on the Start button and choose Open then on the Start Menu
window that appears go to the File menu, select New and Shortcut. The Create
Shortcut window opens and in the Command Line box type in the following:
'Explorer /root,' ignore the inverted commas but be sure there's a space
between Explorer and the forward-slash, and don't forget the comma after root.
Click Next and a window opens asking you to 'Select a title for the program'.
Back space to delete the default entry and call it 'Desktop' (or anything else
you fancy) and click Finish. The item should now appear on the Start menu, if
you click it a window containing the contents of your desktop will open. To
remove it from the Start menu go Start > Settings > Taskbar & Start
Menu > Start Menu Programs tab and click the Remove button. Find the
shortcut on the directory and click Remove.
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CREATE YOUR OWN ICONS
Bored with your desktop and all those dull
little icons? Then do something about it! You can easily create your own icons
in Windows using ordinary picture files or graphics created using the Paint
program. You could have the pictures of the family or pets representing your
programs (no jokes about using a photo of the mother in law to represent the
word processor please...), or design your own from scratch. The image can be
any size - Windows will automatically adjust the size and shape -- but it must
be in the Bitmap (extension .bmp) format. Most paint and graphics program have
a 'Save As' facility that will convert picture files from other file types into
.bmp format. Once that's done open Windows Explorer, find the picture file and
click once into the name field to highlight it, then wait a second and click
again to insert a cursor so it can be renamed. Change the file extension from
.bmp to .ico, and hit return. Now go to the Desktop and right-click on the icon
you want to change and select Properties. On the Shortcut tab you should see a
'Change Icon' button, (you can't normally change the icon on Windows
applications) click it and use the Browse button to find your icon picture
file, press OK and it's done.
DOUBLE PANE VIEW
The double-pane view of Windows Explorer makes
it easy to navigate around files and folders, if you like you can force all
other Explorer type Folders (My Computer, Control Panel, Recycle Bin etc.) to
open with double panes. Open a folder, My Computer will do, click Folder
Options on the View menu and select the File Types tab. Scroll down the list
under Registered File Types to find 'Folder', double click on it and in the
dialogue window that appears, under Actions, highlight 'Explore', click Set As
Default and then Close. To return to the original single pane view, follow the
above procedure, but this time select 'Open' in the Actions box.
DECLUTTER THE DESKTOP
If you've had your PC for more than a year or
so the desktop is probably starting to get a bit crowded. Of course you can
always remove icons and shortcuts you rarely use but if you're the sort of
person who hates to part with anything, here's a simple way of packing even
more icons onto your desktop, by reducing the space between them. If you can
find an empty area on the desktop click into it and the Display Properties
window should appear. Select the Appearance tab and under Item highlight Icon
Spacing (horizontal). Change the value from the default setting to 30 and click
Apply. Now do the same with Icon Spacing (vertical). You may need to experiment
with different values and watch out for large overlapping Icon labels. If that
becomes a problem edit the text by clicking slowly into the label box three
times or reduce the size of the actual icon - the option is on the same drop
down menu as Icon Spacing.
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