« 2008 February | Main

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Internet Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts

(this is an old article, but still accurate)

You can use shortcut keys to view and explore Web pages, use the Address bar, work with favorites, and edit. Many of these shortcuts also work with Firefox (or Netscape Navigator or Communicator), such as CTRL+D. If you use Firefox, try them out.

VIEWING AND EXPLORING WEB PAGES (Press the key or keys listed for the following results):

  • F1 = Display the IE Help, or when in a dialog box, display context help on an item
  • F11 = Toggle between Full Screen and regular view of the browser window
  • TAB = Move forward through the items on a Web page, the Address bar, and the Links bar
  • SHIFT+TAB = Move back through the items on a Web page, the Address bar, and the Links bar
  • ALT+HOME = Go to your Home page
  • ALT+RIGHT ARROW = Go to the next page
  • ALT+LEFT ARROW or BACKSPACE = Go to the previous page
  • SHIFT+F10 = Display a shortcut menu for a link
  • CTRL+TAB or F6 = Move forward between frames
  • SHIFT+CTRL+TAB = Move back between frames
  • UP ARROW = Scroll toward the beginning of a document
  • DOWN ARROW = Scroll toward the end of a document
  • PAGE UP = Scroll toward the beginning of a document in larger increments
  • PAGE DOWN = Scroll toward the end of a document in larger increments
  • HOME = Move to the beginning of a document
  • END = Move to the end of a document
  • CTRL+F = Find on the current page
  • F5 or CTRL+R = Refresh page IF time stamps of Web & locally stored versions are different
  • CTRL+F5 = Refresh page, even if time stamps of Web & locally stored versions are the same
  • ESC = Stop downloading a page
  • CTRL+O or CTRL+L = Open a file or go to a new location
  • CTRL+N = Open a new browser window
  • CTRL+W = Close the current window
  • CTRL+S = Save the current page
  • CTRL+P = Print the current page or active frame
  • ENTER = Activate a selected link
  • CTRL+E = Open Search (the Internet) in Explorer bar
  • CTRL+I = Open Favorites in Explorer bar
  • CTRL+H = Open History in Explorer bar
  • CTRL+click In History or Favorites bars = open multiple folders

USING THE ADDRESS BAR:

  • ALT+D = Select the text in the Address bar
  • F4 = Display the Address bar history
  • CTRL+LEFT ARROW = When in Address bar, moves cursor left to next logical break (. or /)
  • CTRL+RIGHT ARROW = When in Address bar, moves cursor right to next logical break (. or /)
  • CTRL+ENTER = Add "www." to beginning and ".com" to end of the text typed in Address bar
  • UP ARROW = Move forward through the list of AutoComplete matches
  • DOWN ARROW = Move back through the list of AutoComplete matches

WORKING WITH FAVORITES:

  • CTRL+D = Add the current page to your favorites (without prompting for name or location)
  • CTRL+B = Open the Organize Favorites dialog box
  • ALT+UP ARROW = Move selected item up in Favorites list in Organize Favorites dialog box
  • ALT+DOWN ARROW = Move selected item down in Favorites list in Organize Favorites dialog box

EDITING:

  • CTRL+X = Remove the selected items and copy them to the Clipboard
  • CTRL+C = Copy the selected items to the Clipboard
  • CTRL+V = Insert the contents of the Clipboard at the selected location
  • CTRL+A = Select all items on the current Web page
Posted by Tom at 9:59 AM
Edited on: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 11:02 AM
Categories: Articles, Firefox, Tips, Tricks, Tweaks

Open Source Software CDs

This is a list of a few Open Source Software CDs that I know of, that are available at this time. It does not include many of the numerous Linux distros which each include many software packages, but a few notable ones are also mentioned in a seperate list below.

Open Source Software CDs (in no particular order):

A few Linux CDs worth mentioning (in no particular order):
Most or all are available as a "Live CD" which will boot and run without any installation, unless you want to install them. There are MANY more available. A good place to read more is http://distrowatch.com/.

Posted by Tom at 9:58 AM
Categories: Articles, Recommended freeware

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Cleaning up your Start Menu

Like many of you, I get frustrated by the mess that gets put in the Windows Start Menu by numerous programs - usually at the time they install or update, but occasionally even when they just run. I don't like install routines that do not even ask you whether or where to install their shortcuts, and often find myself manually arranging and rearranging the Start Menus. (Yes, there are usually at least two in many Windows versions. See the details below.)

Of course, you can manually do the same thing yourself with Windows Explorer or any other file manager, especially a two-paned one like the freeware Xplorer2 Lite, FreeCommander, and Alt Commander, a freeware almost clone of Total Commander, or even Total Commander itself. But did you know there are programs to make it easier and faster to create or maintain order out of chaos?

Easier? Faster? OK, I'm in. I found three programs that claim to meet those goals - one freeware, one shareware, and one freeware/shareware, depending on the features you would like. As I am a huge proponent of freeware or open-source programs, if they work well, I did not install or review the shareware product "Easy Start Menu Organizer", but if you would like to read more information and user opinions/reviews, go to http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/easy-start-menu-organizer/.

First, I tried the freeware SMOz (Start Menu Organizer). SMOz categorizes the items in the start menu according to a "template" file which can be easily modified to fit your needs. A sample template file (similar to an ini file) is included in the download, and consists of categories and values. Files/Directories that match a value, which can be simple text or a regular expression, are moved to directories specified by categories. This keeps your start menu clean without the pain of manually organizing it every time you reinstall windows. SMOz is fast, because it doesn’t actually perform the changes until you click "Apply". It combines the global (All Users) and the user shortcuts into a single view, but still keeps them in their separate folders, so you don’t need to worry about keeping tract of what goes where.

Honestly, I only tried this program out briefly before uninstalling it, because it just didn't "hook me". The concept sounds good, and probably would work well, once you tweaked your template.

Well, I saved the best for last. Tidy Start Menu, comes in both a freeware and pro version with a few more options.

Program description from the Tidy Start Menu website:

"Are you tired of searching for programs in a long "Start Menu" list? If so, this program is for you. It allows you to arrange all the shortcuts in the Start Menu. Your Start Menu looks neat, and you can easily and quickly find any program you want. For example, you can create a special "Games" category, and when opening the Start Menu you will see a "Games" section (instead of a list of the games) in which you will find the game you need."

Tidy Start Menu makes it very easy to organize your start menu plus it will look for broken links. In the freeware version, you can’t define your own categories, but only have the nine it comes with: Entertainment, Games, Graphics, Internet, Office, Other, Programming, Security, and Utilities, and you cannot use Drag-n-Drop. The pro version also makes it easy to assign icons to folders, even having an option to do so automatically.

In my testing of Tidy Start Menu (free), I found that it works easily and is fast to organize the main categories under your Start Menu, but I was a bit frustrated by the freeware version's limitation of not creating your own categories. Of course, you could still use this as a quick start to organizing, then exit the program and further tweak your Start Menu(s) with a standard file explorer.

My other frustration with the freeware version was that it only addressed the topmost level of your Start Menu, and, if like me, you have nested layers of menu (\Start Menu\Programs\Office\HTML & CSS Editing Tools\EasyHtml\Help), it will not help with those laying below the top level. The Drag-n-Drop offered by the Pro version may address this limitation, but I have not tried it yet.

Finally, the Pro version's ability to easily or even automatically assign icons to Start Menu folders would be a really nice feature to use, but again, if you want to do this manually, it is not that difficult. In Windows XP, just right-click on the folder icon in the Start Menu that you would like to change, and select Properties. Go to the Customize tab and click the Change Icon button. Browse to the file containing an icon that you would like to use and click Open, then OK, and OK again. Done! You need to do this for each and every folder that you want to change, but it is fairly fast to at least change the icons for your top-level folders, and it really makes your menu look better, as well as easier to use. Other Windows versions may have a slightly different method, but should be similar enough to easily figure out how to accomplish.

My verdict:

I really like Tidy Start Menu, but see no reason to pay to upgrade to the Pro version. If your Start Menu is a complete mess, it will help you to quickly and easily whip your menu into shape, and when you are through, you can further refine your work with one of the excellent two-paned file managers mentioned above. If I do test the Pro version of Tidy Start Menu, I will update this article accordingly, but for now, I definitely recommend the freeware version.

Start Menu details:

In Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows Me, the Start Menu is located in %windir%\Start Menu, or, if there are multiple users, %windir%\Profiles\username\Start Menu.

In Windows NT 4.0, 2000, XP, and 2003, the Start Menu is located in %USERPROFILE%\Start Menu for individual users, or %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu for "All Users".

In Windows Vista, the folder is located in C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu for individual users, or C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu for "All Users".

You can access the Start Menu folder by right-clicking on the Start button, and clicking "Open" to open the user Start Menu, or "Open All Users" to open the "All Users" Start Menu.

Posted by Tom at 9:45 AM
Edited on: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 9:49 AM
Categories: Articles, Recommended freeware, Tips, Tricks, Tweaks

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Recommended Tools & Sites

Recommended Tools & Sites (all free or open-source):

The "Holy Trinity" of security software for Windows includes, at a minimum, an anti-virus program, an anti-spyware program, and a firewall. If your computer is on any type of network, you need a hardware firewall, which is usually built into a router, as well as an inbound-outbound software firewall. EVERYONE who accesses the Internet, however briefly, and even just to check email,needs a software firewall. Idealy, you should also have a patch-management tool or system to help you remain current with the latest security updates. This could be as simple as manually checking the Microsoft Updates website weekly.

Here are a few recommendations for these and other categories, including replacing Windows entirely with Linux.

SECURITY TOOLS

Anti-virus:

Spyware/Adware removal:

Firewall:

Patch Management:

OTHER TOOLS

Web Browser:

  • Mozilla Firefox

Email:

  • Mozilla Thunderbird

Instant Messaging:

Office Suite:

  • OpenOffice

Word Processor only:

  • AbiWord

Text Editor:

Tweaking:

OS:

  • Ubuntu
  • PCLinuxOS
  • Freespire
  • Puppy Linux

more to come...

Posted by Tom at 10:10 AM
Categories: Articles, Favorite Websites, Recommended freeware

Can I safely delete Windows update files?

Can I safely delete Windows update files to free space on my hard drive?

(Operating System: Windows XP)

When you install updates from Windows Update, backup folders are created for the files that were replaced during the update. These are created so that you can easily uninstall a particular Hotfix, if it causes problems with your system -- it may conflict with some software or hardware you have installed. Over time, these folders accumulate to occupy a significant amount of disk space -- it could be about 250 - 500 MB or more. Can they be safely deleted with no problems, and if so, what is the recommended procedure?

If your system is working well as updated, and it has been stable for a week or two, then you may not feel the need to keep the backup files. To view these files/folders, open Windows Explorer and look in your Windows folder (usually C:\Windows\). There will be a number of sub-folders with names in the form "$Ntupdate------$" and if you're using the NTFS file system, the names will normally be blue because they're compressed. Each folder has a specific name ending in the name of a particular Windows update. If you were to go to "Add/Remove Programs" and select a Windows update to uninstall, the information on how to run this process would come from the corresponding $Ntuninstall folder. Of course, if you "uninstall" the Hotfixs, then your system will be put back to its original condition, security holes and all. So you want to "delete" those files, not "uninstall" them. Let yourself go and delete them with the directions below

Note that this is not what you're normally supposed to do when you uninstall software because it leaves dangling uninstallers and other Registry stuff, but this is different and Microsoft has made it easy for you. If you look at "Add/Remove programs" after you have finished, you'll see that all those uninstallation tags are gone.

If you want to save space by deleting these files, but are nervous and want to back them up first, you can burn them to CD, or copy them to a larger or second hard drive.

A programmer named Doug Knox has prepared a utility that will assist in removing those files even easier. It has the surprisingly intuitive name of "XP Remove Hotfix Backup", and you can find it at http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm. The utility won't remove all the files in your NtUninstall folder, but it will let you easily remove the ones related to "hotfixes". It will also removes the associated Registry entries for these items in Add/Remove Programs.

NOTE: This utility does NOT remove application specific hotfix backups (Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, Media player and etc.). It will only remove hotfix backups that are specific to the Windows XP operating system.

Additionally, you may not notice an immediate recovery of disk space. This is because the backup files are protected by System Restore. When they are deleted, System Restore places a copy in the most recent, or a new, restore point. As older restore points are flushed out, and new ones created, you'll see the space gain.

This is a one-way operation. If you remove the Hotfix backup files and the Registry entries, it cannot be undone, unless you back up these items manually.

To manually remove files, including any not removed by "XP Remove Hotfix Backup":

1. The files may be hidden. To show them, go to your Windows or winnt folder. Click on "TOOLS", then "FOLDER OPTIONS", then "VIEW". Check the radio button for "Show hidden files and folders", and click "OK".

2. Delete the actual folders that begin with "$NTServicePackUinistall$" and "$NTUninstall****" (DO NOT DO THIS FROM WITHIN "ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS"). WARNING: Do NOT delete "$hf_mig$"!

3. You can also delete the files in "\SoftwareDistribution\download". They are the 'source' files, and are huge, and are not needed after the update is installed. Depending on installation method of the service Pack, this file may not be present.

4. Do NOT delete "C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles". Those files may be needed if you have problems later and sometimes for hardware installations. It is used by Windows File Protection as a backup for system files.

Sources of info:

Posted by Tom at 9:40 AM
Edited on: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 9:49 AM
Categories: Articles, Tips, Tricks, Tweaks

Monday, January 28, 2008

Services offered

Tom's Mr. Fix-It Computer Services:

  • PC repair, upgrade, troubleshooting
  • Hardware and software installation
  • Windows re-installation
  • Linux installation
  • General cleaning and tweaking for improved performance
  • Virus, spyware, adware removal
  • Individualized tutoring
  • Data transfer from one computer to another
  • Data backups to CD/DVD
  • Digital photography services available (*)
  • Reasonable rates and on-site visits
  • Secure CD shredding
  • Custom CD labels designed and printed
  • Software recommendations including replacement of all Microsoft products, usually with freeware or open-sourced equivalents.
  • and more ...

* Digital photography services:

  • Digital photos enhanced (Ex: photos converted to charcoal sketch effect)
  • Photos scanned and archived to CD/DVD
  • Photo restoration (removal of red-eye, scratches, etc.)
Posted by Tom at 9:13 AM
Edited on: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 9:51 AM
Categories: Mr. Fix-It's Services

Welcome

Welcome to my computer services page.

This site is a perpetual work-in-progress, so stop by often to see what's new, and please understand that some pages (as well as this entire site) may be incomplete.

I welcome your feedback on anything you find here, or would like to see. I may not always be able to check my messages every day, but I will get back to you as quickly as possible.

Thank you for visiting.

Tom Spindler

Tom's Mr. Fix-It Computer Services,

serving the Southwest Louisiana area

(337) 478-8301

Services offered

email me

Posted by Tom at 9:08 AM
Edited on: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 9:54 AM
Categories: Mr. Fix-It's Services, Welcome