I'm So Pround Of My Self!

[sheepdog 10]

I know I often complain about how computer illerate I am, you would think as long as I have been on line and owned a computer I'd be a lot better at this, but there is just so much about these wicked machines that still drives me crazy. So this past weekend, when my sister in law needed help with her computer she asked me to take a look at it for her. She was unable to get online. She had called tech support and was informed that she would have to pay $1.10 per minute for assistance. (Note to any prospective Net Zero customers. When you sign up you get free tech support for the first 30 days, after that, according to their literature, there is a "nominal" fee for tech support. Personally, I don't think $1.10 is all that nominal.) Anyway, it was a pretty easy fix, her error message said her copy of Net Zero software was corrupted. I figured that most of those type isp's have free cd's to install their programs, so it was just a matter of deleting the old Net Zero, and then finding a new copy, only had to go to 2 different stores to get a free copy. Had her up and running in nothing flat. Sure made me feel good that I could actually fix a computer problem. Even if it was just a little one. My poor sister in law was completely lost, she has never even put a cd in her disk drive, let alone deleted a program or added a new one. I had been wanting to get a look at Vista anyway, so I also got the oppertunity to do that while I was working on her computer. I sure had a hard time finding anything. There is one thing I didn't figure out, maybe someone here can explain to me how copy/paste works in Vista. All I could get was an option that said, "clip it" or snip it, something like that, and it brough up this whole new window with a bunch of crap on it I would have ablsolutely no use for. I do a lot of copying bits of info from emails and such things, and pasting them into notepad for future reference, and I didn't see a simple way to to that in vista.

[rob86 2]

Congratulations on a successful repair! I didn't know Net Zero was still around, I remember using the free internet as a backup as the isp here was pretty unreliable in those days. I can't help with your Vista question though, I've never used it yet. I'm scared of it...... I've heard so many bad things about it, it's one of the reasons I haven't upgraded to a faster computer.

[The Simpleton 2]

Give yourself a pat on the back for the repair...you're on your way to going from a computer illiterate to a PhD :(As for the Vista problem, I too never used Vista but jumped directly over to Windows 7 RC and it doesn't seem to have any of that "clip it" stuff. Here's a useful tip that you may already be knowing - try using the keyboard shortcuts for cutting and pasting coz the shortcuts are same no matter what the operating system is. Select the text that you want to cut and press "Ctrl and X" to cut it (for copying it is "Ctrl and C") and select the place where you want to paste it and press "Ctrl and V" - sorry if you already knew this I'm just telling what I know. Keyboard shortcuts save a lot of time...

[Misanthrope 0]

Congratulations on your newly found skill! I am not surprised by your success, though. Anyone who can manage a homestead of your breadth is certainly qualified to take on an inanimate machine any day of the week. I know whenever I retreat indoors from a long day toiling in the sun, the computer is a always a welcome (and easy) respite from hard, dirty labor. Now I know who to pester when I've got a software problem on the Windowz side of my Mac. Gladly, I am rarely required to endure the "dark" side of this enduring machine. I believe there is a special place in Hell with Mr. Gate's name written all over it. Is he dead yet?

[k_nitin_r 8]

Hi!That's neat! You'll get brownies worth $1.10 the next time you visit your sister-in-law's place. BTW, what did you tell the guys at the store for them to give you a free CD? I distinctly remember an incident yesterday when a little boy went into a barber's shop and asked, "Could I please have a tissue?". The barber was upset at the very though of giving something away for free so he angrily chased the boy out! Could it have been the recession?Regards

[sheepdog 10]

LOL, the homestead is a lot easier to deal with, especially the critters, I just yell at them and they mind me. (for the most part) But I can scream obsenities at this machine till my teeth fall out and it doesn't seem to do one dang bit of good. Far as I know, Bill is still alive and kicking. Though I am sure the speeches at his funeral will be considerably wide and varried! kasperooney...thanks for the tip, I should try to learn more of those keyboard short cuts. I just am in the habit of using mouse only and forget about them. I actually don't know that many of them, control p to print is the only one I actually did know. Wonder if there is a list somewhere that gives all of them????k_nitin_r... As far as the free cd, it was just one of those with the software to use their dial up service, so they are just a promotion to get you to sign up with them. I got it at good old Wally World. But your right, there sure aren't very many free lunches out there anymore!Thanks guys.

[The Simpleton 2]

Here are some of the shortcuts that you can use in any version of Windows. There's no need for you to memorise all of them! Just see which ones you need to use frequently and soon you will remember them automatically as you keep on using them. I took these from the Microsoft Support Site

Windows system key combinations

* F1: Help
* CTRL+ESC: Open Start menu
* ALT+TAB: Switch between open programs
* ALT+F4: Quit program
* SHIFT+DELETE: Delete item permanently
* Windows Logo+L: Lock the computer (without using CTRL+ALT+DELETE)

Windows program key combinations

* CTRL+C: Copy
* CTRL+X: Cut
* CTRL+V: Paste
* CTRL+Z: Undo
* CTRL+B: Bold
* CTRL+U: Underline
* CTRL+I: Italic


Mouse click/keyboard modifier combinations for shell objects

* SHIFT+right click: Displays a shortcut menu containing alternative commands
* SHIFT+double click: Runs the alternate default command (the second item on the menu)
* ALT+double click: Displays properties
* SHIFT+DELETE: Deletes an item immediately without placing it in the Recycle Bin


General keyboard-only commands

* F1: Starts Windows Help
* F10: Activates menu bar options
* SHIFT+F10 Opens a shortcut menu for the selected item (this is the same as right-clicking an object
* CTRL+ESC: Opens the Start menu (use the ARROW keys to select an item)
* CTRL+ESC or ESC: Selects the Start button (press TAB to select the taskbar, or press SHIFT+F10 for a context menu)
* CTRL+SHIFT+ESC: Opens Windows Task Manager
* ALT+DOWN ARROW: Opens a drop-down list box
* ALT+TAB: Switch to another running program (hold down the ALT key and then press the TAB key to view the task-switching window)
* SHIFT: Press and hold down the SHIFT key while you insert a CD-ROM to bypass the automatic-run feature
* ALT+SPACE: Displays the main window's System menu (from the System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the window)
* ALT+- (ALT+hyphen): Displays the Multiple Document Interface (MDI) child window's System menu (from the MDI child window's System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the child window)
* CTRL+TAB: Switch to the next child window of a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) program
* ALT+underlined letter in menu: Opens the menu
* ALT+F4: Closes the current window
* CTRL+F4: Closes the current Multiple Document Interface (MDI) window
* ALT+F6: Switch between multiple windows in the same program (for example, when the Notepad Find dialog box is displayed, ALT+F6 switches between the Find dialog box and the main Notepad window)


Shell objects and general folder/Windows Explorer shortcuts
For a selected object:

* F2: Rename object
* F3: Find all files
* CTRL+X: Cut
* CTRL+C: Copy
* CTRL+V: Paste
* SHIFT+DELETE: Delete selection immediately, without moving the item to the Recycle Bin
* ALT+ENTER: Open the properties for the selected object

To copy a file
Press and hold down the CTRL key while you drag the file to another folder.
To create a shortcut
Press and hold down CTRL+SHIFT while you drag a file to the desktop or a folder.

General folder/shortcut control

* F4: Selects the Go To A Different Folder box and moves down the entries in the box (if the toolbar is active in Windows Explorer)
* F5: Refreshes the current window.
* F6: Moves among panes in Windows Explorer
* CTRL+G: Opens the Go To Folder tool (in Windows 95 Windows Explorer only)
* CTRL+Z: Undo the last command
* CTRL+A: Select all the items in the current window
* BACKSPACE: Switch to the parent folder
* SHIFT+click+Close button: For folders, close the current folder plus all parent folders

Windows Explorer tree control

* Numeric Keypad *: Expands everything under the current selection
* Numeric Keypad +: Expands the current selection
* Numeric Keypad -: Collapses the current selection.
* RIGHT ARROW: Expands the current selection if it is not expanded, otherwise goes to the first child
* LEFT ARROW: Collapses the current selection if it is expanded, otherwise goes to the parent


Properties control

* CTRL+TAB/CTRL+SHIFT+TAB: Move through the property tabs


Accessibility shortcuts

* Press SHIFT five times: Toggles StickyKeys on and off
* Press down and hold the right SHIFT key for eight seconds: Toggles FilterKeys on and off
* Press down and hold the NUM LOCK key for five seconds: Toggles ToggleKeys on and off
* Left ALT+left SHIFT+NUM LOCK: Toggles MouseKeys on and off
* Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN: Toggles high contrast on and off


Microsoft Natural Keyboard keys

* Windows Logo: Start menu
* Windows Logo+R: Run dialog box
* Windows Logo+M: Minimize all
* SHIFT+Windows Logo+M: Undo minimize all
* Windows Logo+F1: Help
* Windows Logo+E: Windows Explorer
* Windows Logo+F: Find files or folders
* Windows Logo+D: Minimizes all open windows and displays the desktop
* CTRL+Windows Logo+F: Find computer
* CTRL+Windows Logo+TAB: Moves focus from Start, to the Quick Launch toolbar, to the system tray (use RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW to move focus to items on the Quick Launch toolbar and the system tray)
* Windows Logo+TAB: Cycle through taskbar buttons
* Windows Logo+Break: System Properties dialog box
* Application key: Displays a shortcut menu for the selected item


Microsoft Natural Keyboard with IntelliType software installed

* Windows Logo+L: Log off Windows
* Windows Logo+P: Starts Print Manager
* Windows Logo+C: Opens Control Panel
* Windows Logo+V: Starts Clipboard
* Windows Logo+K: Opens Keyboard Properties dialog box
* Windows Logo+I: Opens Mouse Properties dialog box
* Windows Logo+A: Starts Accessibility Options (if installed)
* Windows Logo+SPACEBAR: Displays the list of Microsoft IntelliType shortcut keys
* Windows Logo+S: Toggles CAPS LOCK on and off


Keyboard commands

* TAB: Move to the next control in the dialog box
* SHIFT+TAB: Move to the previous control in the dialog box
* SPACEBAR: If the current control is a button, this clicks the button. If the current control is a check box, this toggles the check box. If the current control is an option, this selects the option.
* ENTER: Equivalent to clicking the selected button (the button with the outline)
* ESC: Equivalent to clicking the Cancel button
* ALT+underlined letter in dialog box item: Move to the corresponding item

[onitenki 0]

congrats! you are on your way to geekhood! kasperooney mentioned the general windows shortcuts that you could use. with windows vista (awesome operating system but I too will be leaving them in October for Windows 7) they have added a few more shortcuts that is designed to make it more appealing. I made sure I didnt add anything that kasperooney mentioned. But for the one I did add that was from there, they made some upgrades or "tweaks " to make it more visually better. (i took took this from the microsoft website)Windows logo key +T Cycle through programs on the taskbar Windows logo key +TAB Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3-D CTRL+Windows logo key +TAB Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3-D Windows logo key +SPACEBAR Bring all gadgets to the front and select Windows Sidebar Windows logo key +G Cycle through Sidebar gadgets Windows logo key +U Open Ease of Access Center Windows logo key +X Open Windows Mobility Center Windows logo key with any number key Open the Quick Launch shortcut that is in the position that corresponds to the number. For example, Windows logo key +1 to launch the first shortcut in the Quick Launch menu.

Edited June 15, 2009 by onitenki (see edit history)