Wow your friends with cool keyboard trickery and take the strain off your mouse wrist at the same time. Robert Irvine reveals all.
Constant mouse-clicking as you go about your everyday PC business is not only painful on the fingers and wrist, potentially leading to RSI (repetitive strain injury) - it’s also a massive time waster. Fortunately, there are dozens of keyboard shortcuts that eliminate the need to navigate lengthy menus searching for specific functions. Some of these shortcuts are as simple as pressing a single key you may have never touched before, while others involve a combination of keys you use all the time. Here are some of the best.
WINDOWS SHORTCUTS
Alt and Tab
Lets you switch between open programs by bringing up an on-screen box containing icons for each one. Pressing the Tab button again moves you through the programs from left to right.
Ctrl and Alt and Delete
Also known as the ‘three-finger salute’, this keyboard combination opens the Task Manager so that you can terminate troublesome applications. In older versions of Windows, it reboots your system when performed twice.
Windows and M
Pressing the Windows key followed by M minimises all open windows in a flash. You can then hit Shift and Windows and M to maximise them again. Alternatively press Windows and D, which has the same effect as clicking the Show Desktop icon on the Taskbar.
Shift
Press and hold down the Shift key when you insert an audio CD in your CD/DVD drive to disable the AutoRun feature temporarily and stop the disc playing automatically.
Shift and Delete
Permanently removes the selected file or folder from your computer without sending it to the Recycle Bin. A confirmation box appears first to prevent accidental deletion.
Windows and R
Brings up the Run window, from which you can launch programs and open files directly, access features such as the System Configuration Utility and Registry Editor, and much more.
Windows and L
Locks your computer. This is useful when you want to keep your work private. If you’ve applied a password to your user account, you’ll need to enter this to get back into Windows.
Page 2: Learn some of the best program shortcuts.
Published on 16 October 2007
