T 'n' T: Keys to the Kingdom Five Keyboard Secrets That Are Just Your Type Gregg Keizer
Mon 4/29/02 -- My keyboard is my bud, my pal, my friend. Other than the ever-present noise of ESPN Radio in the background, the only sound in my solo office is the click and clack of my big, tappy family: the 117 keys on my high-end, only-writers-need-apply keyboard.
But everyone, even the two-fingered typists among you, can use some cool keyboard tips 'n' tricks from time to time. So this week, I'll oblige with five that will keep you cruising on the keys.
Don't forget the Windows key. You know the Windows key by itself summons the Start menu, but you might not know its role as a special shift key. I've been using one Windows-key combination for ages -- Windows-M, which minimizes all open application windows -- but I just learned a few other choice combinations while browsing through the Help file.
Windows-M: Minimizes all windows
Windows-Shift-M: Restores all windows
Windows-D: Minimizes or restores all windows -- unlike the above, it's a toggle
Windows-E: Opens My Computer
Windows-Break: Opens the System Properties dialog
Windows-F: Searches for a file or folder
Don't have a Windows key? Can't use the above tip because your ancient keyboard doesn't fly the Windows flag? Not to worry. You don't have to give up your trusty friend, nor shell out dough for something new.
If all you want is a mouseless way to bring up the Start menu, use the Ctrl-Esc combination instead. Simple.
If you want to remap an existing key as a Windows key, however, first download Microsoft's Windows 95 Kernel Toys Set. (This works with Windows 95, 98, and Me, but not 2000 or XP.) After you've downloaded it, extract its contents by double-clicking the file. Look for the file keyremap.inf, right-click it, and select Install.
Now go to the Start menu, click Settings/Control Panel/Keyboard, and click the Remap tab. Under "Right-hand Side," choose the key you want to use -- Right Alt or Right Ctrl are good candidates -- from the right side, then Windows from the left. Click OK.
Go, Speed Cursor, go! When I scroll down a document, I want to move like a NASCAR driver on too much caffeine. That's why I've set my keyboard's repeat rate to the max, so a press of the up- or down-arrow key whizzes through a Word file or lengthy Web page in nothing flat. To change this setting, select Settings from the Start menu, then Control Panel/Keyboard. Under "Repeat rate," move the slider to the far right (toward "Fast"). Click OK.
Shortcut keys for shortcuts. If you're using Windows XP, you can assign a key combination to any shortcut on the desktop or in the Start menu, letting you swear off the mouse and stick to the keyboard to launch applications from either locale.
Right-click the shortcut and select Properties from the drop-down menu. On the Shortcut tab, click in the "Shortcut Key" box, then press the key combination you want to assign. The combination must be a character (letter, number, or symbol) plus at least two of the following three keys: Ctrl, Alt, and Shift. Click OK.
Hunt and peck, rat-a-tat. Anyone over 40 remembers the days when typewriters ruled the Earth -- and after that, when heavy, mechanical IBM PC keyboards did. Compared to the noise these clickity-clacking machines made, modern, cheapo keyboards are bland and boring -- and as quiet as a nun. What's the fun of a keyboard that doesn't reward you for banging on the buttons with some sound? You can put the noise back into the N key with Noisy Keyboard, a small utility that adds typewriter-style sounds to Windows. It's free, and easily customizable. Download it from Leeos.com.
