More Tips #
In a recent reader survey* the most popular articles on this blog are the ones which help with day-to-day technical problems. Here's a rundown of a few more handy tips while they sit on the ol' noggin:
- Many programs in Windows (Microsoft very much included) share consistent keyboard shortcut. A recent personal disovery is that Ctrl+Backspace can often be used to delete an entire word.
- Google Translate is ace. It's really come far and I now rate it above Babelfish. With more languages than ever before, and with dictionary, text and website translations it really is a must-have for people who have reason to search foreign sites. For instance, it is with Google Translate that I found that the Dutch for cattle grid is wildrooster. And the world is a better place now I know that.
- Renaming a file? Click it and press F2.
- Deleting a file and want to bypass the Recycle Bin? Hold down Shift and press Delete.
- Browsing a website? To open a link in a new window hold down Shift when you click it. To open in a new tab, hold down Ctrl.
- To rapidly lock a computer, press Windows key +L.
- Onions release a chemical that reacts and turns to a mild sulphuric acid in the eyes (hence the stinging). To counter this, peel the onion underwater or keep your onions in the fridge.
- While Alt+TAB lets you go forwards through your list of open programs, Alt+SHIFT+Tab lets you go backwards. It's all a bit cack-handed, but if like me you have loads of programs open it can be very useful at times.
- Alt+D in most web browsers selects the address bar so you can start typing a new web address.
- Lots of programs let you drag and drop things. For instance, in most web browsers you can select text then drag it to another window; to a textbox or to something like the address bar. You can also drag images (e.g. to the desktop or a local folder) and website links (to your Favourites folder; the address bar or the Home icon to set a new home page). Try it and see.
- In a web browser, the backspace button can normally be used to go Back a page (unless you're in a textbox at the time). If that fails, try Alt + Left Arrow.
Okay, that'll do for now.
* ie. Somebody left a comment.
Taskbar disappears? #
If you ever have a crash that takes out the taskbar on Windows (normally, any time explorer crashes or you have to kill the process), in theory it should reload automatically.
If this doesn't happen get the Task Manager up (in XP it's normally Ctrl+Alt+Del and click Task Manager). Click the File menu, then New Task (Run). Type explorer and hit OK.
In a few seconds your taskbar will be restored.