Tuesday, March 11, 2008

10 Most useful tips for Microsoft xp

1. Delete Files Immediately

This will allow you to delete files from your system without sending them to the recycle bin first.

Select Start > Run… type gpedit.msc then select User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Explorer then locate the ‘Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin‘ setting and set it.

2. Faster Start Menu Appearance

Ever wondered why it takes the start menu a few seconds to appear when you click on it? To speed it up, go to Start > Run… Type regedit then navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay section and change the value from 400 to 0.

3. Disable Unneeded Startup Services

Disabling these services will not only make your machine a little safer, but will speed things up a bit. To disable services, go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services and disable the following:

a. Alerter

b. Clipbook

c. Human Interface Access Devices

d. Indexing Service

e. Messenger

f. Net Logon

g. Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing

h. Remote Desktop Help Session Manager

i. Remote Procedure Call Locator

j. Remote Registry

k. Routing & Remote Access

l. SSDP Discovery Service

m. TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper

n. Telnet

o. Upload Manager

p. Windows Time

q. Wireless Zero Configuration

4. Turning Off The Welcome Screen

Navigate to the Control Panel and select User Accounts then select the option that says Change the way users log on or off.

5. Speed Up Shared File Viewing across Network

Machines have been known to have a bit of a delay when ever trying to view files shared across a network, due to the fact that Windows is taking the extra time to search and see if the networked computer has any Scheduled Tasks. To prevent Windows from searching for scheduled tasks on a remote computer click Start > Run… Type regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace and delete the key {D62277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

6. Speed Up Shutdown Process

Many times, the shutdown process takes a while due to the fact that Windows is trying to clear the Page File. To stop Windows from clearing the Page File on shutdown click Start > Run… type regedit navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\ClearPageFileAtShutdown and set the value to 0.

7. Add Your Own Folders To The Send To Menu

Having your own folders in the Send To menu can be a big help. This way, when you right click on something and select Send To you can choose to send it to your very own special folder. To do this navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\username\SendTo\ and simply add your own shortcuts to what ever folders you want to appear.

8. Launch Any Program From The Run Dialog

We’ve been running applications like regedit by going to Start > Run. Now what if we could launch any application by doing this. We can! To do so, we need to once again, go to Start > Run… and type regedit. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\App Paths and 1) Add a subkey of the file name you wish to use. For example, Photoshop.exe. Set the default value’s data to the full path of the application. For example, C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop\Photoshop.exe. 2) Create a string value named Path that contains only the path. For example, C:\Progarm Files\Adobe\Photoshop\.

9. Working with files

To rename several files at once, select all of them in any folder view, or in the Windows Explorer, rename the FIRST one in the list, and the rest will follow.

To turn off filenames, hold down the Shift key when you click to open a folder in Windows Explorer or when you switch into thumbnail view. This will turn of the file names, giving more space for the thumbnails. Doing it again turns them back on.

Try grouping your files. In the top menu bar select View – Arrange icons by… - Type, and then View – Arrange icons by… - Show in groups.

You can change the size and quality of the shell's thumbnails. Start regedit, expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER (only for you) or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (for all the users in this computer) and in Software – Microsoft – Windows – CurrentVersion – Explorer, add or modify the following entries:

10. keyboard

Break opens the Control Panel System applet.

Tab moves through the taskbar buttons

D shows the Desktop

L shows the Welcome screen, or locks the machine if Fast User Switching is disabled.

Friday, February 15, 2008

125 Useful Timesaving Keyboard Shortcuts For Windows XP

  1. CTRL+B - Open the Organize Favorites dialog box
  2. CTRL+E - Open the Search bar
  3. CTRL+F - Start the Find utility
  4. CTRL+H - Open the History bar
  5. CTRL+I - Open the Favorites bar
  6. CTRL+L - Open the Open dialog box
  7. CTRL+N - Start another instance of the browser with the same Web address
  8. CTRL+O - Open the Open dialog box, the same as CTRL+L
  9. CTRL+P - Open the Print dialog box
  10. CTRL+R - Update the current Web page
  11. CTRL+W - Close the current window
  12. CTRL+C - Copy
  13. CTRL+X - Cut
  14. CTRL+V - Paste
  15. CTRL+Z - Undo
  16. DELETE - Delete
  17. SHIFT+DELETE - Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin
  18. CTRL while dragging an item - Copy the selected item
  19. CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item - Create a shortcut to the selected item
  20. F2 key - Rename the selected item
  21. CTRL+RIGHT ARROW - Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word
  22. CTRL+LEFT ARROW - Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word
  23. CTRL+DOWN ARROW - Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph
  24. CTRL+UP ARROW - Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph
  25. CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys - Highlight a block of text
  26. SHIFT with any of the arrow keys - Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text in a document
  27. CTRL+A - Select all
  28. F3 key - Search for a file or a folder
  29. ALT+ENTER - View the properties for the selected item
  30. ALT+F4 - Close the active item, or quit the active program
  31. ALT+ENTER - Display the properties of the selected object
  32. ALT+SPACEBAR - Open the shortcut menu for the active window
  33. CTRL+F4 - Close the active document in programs that enable you to have multiple documents open simultaneously
  34. ALT+TAB - Switch between the open items
  35. ALT+ESC - Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened
  36. F6 key - Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop
  37. F4 key - Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer
  38. SHIFT+F10 - Display the shortcut menu for the selected item
  39. ALT+SPACEBAR - Display the System menu for the active window
  40. CTRL+ESC - Display the Start menu
  41. ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name - Display the corresponding menu
  42. Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu - Perform the corresponding command
  43. F10 key - Activate the menu bar in the active program
  44. RIGHT ARROW - Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu
  45. LEFT ARROW - Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu
  46. F5 key - Update the active window
  47. BACKSPACE - View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer
  48. ESC - Cancel the current task
  49. CTRL+SHIFT+ESC - Open Task Manager
  50. Dialog box keyboard shortcuts
  51. CTRL+TAB - Move forward through the tabs
  52. CTRL+SHIFT+TAB - Move backward through the tabs
  53. TAB - Move forward through the options
  54. SHIFT+TAB - Move backward through the options
  55. ENTER - Perform the command for the active option or button
  56. SPACEBAR - Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box
  57. Arrow keys - Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons
  58. F1 key - Display Help
  59. F4 key - Display the items in the active list
  60. Microsoft natural keyboard shortcuts
  61. Windows Logo - Display or hide the Start menu
  62. Windows Logo+BREAK - Display the System Properties dialog box
  63. Windows Logo+D - Display the desktop
  64. Windows Logo+M - Minimize all of the windows
  65. Windows Logo+SHIFT+M - Restore the minimized windows
  66. Windows Logo+E - Open My Computer
  67. Windows Logo+F - Search for a file or a folder
  68. CTRL+Windows Logo+F - Search for computers
  69. Windows Logo+F1 - Display Windows Help
  70. Windows Logo+ L - Lock the keyboard
  71. Windows Logo+R - Open the Run dialog box
  72. Windows Logo+U - Open Utility Manager
  73. Accessibility keyboard shortcuts
  74. Right SHIFT for eight seconds - Switch FilterKeys either on or off
  75. Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN - Switch High Contrast either on or off
  76. Left ALT+left SHIFT+NUM LOCK - Switch the MouseKeys either on or off
  77. SHIFT five times - Switch the StickyKeys either on or off
  78. NUM LOCK for five seconds - Switch the ToggleKeys either on or off
  79. Windows Logo +U - Open Utility Manager
  80. Windows Explorer keyboard shortcuts
  81. END - Display the bottom of the active window
  82. HOME - Display the top of the active window
  83. NUM LOCK+Asterisk sign - * - Display all of the subfolders that are under the selected folder
  84. NUM LOCK+Plus sign - + - Display the contents of the selected folder
  85. NUM LOCK+Minus sign - - - Collapse the selected folder
  86. LEFT ARROW - Collapse the current selection if it is expanded, or select the parent folder
  87. RIGHT ARROW - Display the current selection if it is collapsed, or select the first subfolder
  88. Shortcut keys for Character Map
  89. RIGHT ARROW - Move to the right or to the beginning of the next line
  90. LEFT ARROW - Move to the left or to the end of the previous line
  91. UP ARROW - Move up one row
  92. DOWN ARROW - Move down one row
  93. PAGE UP - Move up one screen at a time
  94. PAGE DOWN - Move down one screen at a time
  95. HOME - Move to the beginning of the line
  96. END - Move to the end of the line
  97. CTRL+HOME - Move to the first character
  98. CTRL+END - Move to the last character
  99. CTRL+O - Open a saved console
  100. CTRL+N - Open a new console
  101. CTRL+S - Save the open console
  102. CTRL+M - Add or remove a console item
  103. CTRL+W - Open a new window
  104. F5 key - Update the content of all console windows
  105. ALT+SPACEBAR - Display the MMC window menu
  106. ALT+F4 - Close the console
  107. ALT+A - Display the Action menu
  108. ALT+V - Display the View menu
  109. ALT+F - Display the File menu
  110. ALT+O - Display the Favorites menu
  111. CTRL+P - Print the current page or active pane
  112. ALT+Minus sign - - - Display the window menu for the active console window
  113. SHIFT+F10 - Display the Action shortcut menu for the selected item
  114. F1 key - Open the Help topic, if any, for the selected item
  115. F5 key - Update the content of all console windows
  116. CTRL+F10 - Maximize the active console window
  117. CTRL+F5 - Restore the active console window
  118. ALT+ENTER - Display the Properties dialog box, if any, for the selected item
  119. F2 key - Rename the selected item
  120. CTRL+ALT+END - Open the Microsoft Windows NT Security dialog box
  121. ALT+PAGE UP - Switch between programs from left to right
  122. ALT+PAGE DOWN - Switch between programs from right to left
  123. ALT+INSERT - Cycle through the programs in most recently used order
  124. ALT+HOME - Display the Start menu
  125. CTRL+ALT+BREAK - Switch the client computer between a window and a full screen