Whilst holding down the Windows key press the Break key usually top right somewhere to get the System Properties window up giving fast tab access to a lot of tweakable stuff.

Here's a keyboard short cut we should think to use more, whilst holding down the Windows key (it often has the Windows logo on it and sometimes start) press the E key, a My Computer window opens ... E for My ComputEr?

Hold down the Alt key to the left of the space bar and press user key f4 on the top row, the current window closes, saves having to reach out for the mouse.

This one's always popular so worth repeating; open a Word document and highlight a word or phrase.  Whilst holding down the shift key press and release the user key F3 on the top left there ... now do it again ... and do it again, good eh?

All we wanted to do was check the RAM on a chum's laptop but the language was set to Hungarian and we couldn't see the My Computer icon on the crowded desktop.  Things would have been easier if we'd remembered the keyboard shortcut Windows/Start+E which opens My Computer.  (That's whilst holding down the Windows key second left bottom row press the E key.)

User key F5 in the top row usually refreshes or reloads whatever you're doing.  It's particularly relevant in your web browser; the browser normally only pulls in a web page from the Internet when you first visit the page during a session, when you return to the page during the same session the browser shows you what it loaded last time and with a frequently changing web site like this one the displayed page could be out of date.  Pressing user key F5 makes the browser reload making sure you see the most up to date page.

User key F5 is also useful when a page seems to be not loading or stuck, using F5 to re-start the page load will sometimes clear the log jam on the Internet.

If you hold down the Control (Ctrl) and Alt keys bottom left of the keyboard and then press the Delete key you will open the Windows Task Manager and the Applications tab will list all the programmes you have running.  If one of your programmes has got stuck (probably with a Not Responding status in Task Manager) and won't let you close it you can force closure by highlighting (like Near The Coast etc in the pic) the prog in the Apps list by clicking on it and then clicking the End Task button.

Task Manager can sometimes be a little premature.  In the pic the bottom New Folder is shown as Not Responding but it was Adobe Bridge as always being slow to sort itself out at start up and later its status changed to Running.

th 10 de 09

In both Internet Explorer and FireFox pressing user key f11 (keyboard top row towards the right) makes the toolbars and all the other crud go away, pressing it again brings them back.

mo 23 no 09

Here's a good one to worry the children; whilst holding down the CTRL and Alt keys (bottom left) press and release the arrow right key, that's the → key not the > key.  Good eh?  Try Ctrl+Alt + the ← and ↓ keys and the ↑ key to get back where you started.

su 31 my 09

You absolutely have to know about Control Plus Zed, that's whilst holding down the control key press and release the Z key.  Ctrl + Z undoes your last action; for example in file explorer you've just deleted a file?  Ctrl + Z will restore it.  Just accidentally deleted a massive table?  Ctrl + Z will restore it, it's oops on turbo boost.  Regret the past 35 years of marriage?  Well there are limits.

Press Ctrl + Z a second time and your action before last will be undone; for example the file you deleted before the one that's just been restored will be restored.  Eventually after repeated Ctrl + Zs it will stop restoring because only so many actions are held by the system.  An irritating gotcha in some apps, notably Photoshop which just loves being just a bit different, is Ctrl + Zing a second time undoes the restore from the previous Ctrl + Z so you are now back where you started.  You need Ctrl + Alt + Z to step back through the action history.

So chant it now Control Plus Zed, It Saves Your Head.

If like us you've got a euro sign on the $4 key but  don't know how to get at it the trick is the angry dog key (Alt Grrrr) immediately to the right of the spacebar; whilst holding down Alt Gr press and release 4 ... € see, it works!

su 11 my 08

1812  Spencer Perceval became the only British Prime Minister to be assassinated

Whilst holding down the Windows key (usually second from left bottom row) press and release the D key.  Do it again.  The key combination minimizes or restores all open windows, so a quick way to see the desktop.

mo 3 de 07

1901  King Camp Gillette patented the safety razor

The Brewer claims he gave up on computers when Ali told him To stop the computer you press the start button ...  These days we'd be hard pressed without the Windows key, the one that usually nestles second from left on the bottom row of the keyboard.  But what if your keyboard doesn't have a Windows key?  Or the key cap is missing or you can't find the bloody thing on a strange laptop?  There is a work round, whilst holding down the control key (far left bottom row) press and release the escape key (far left top row), up pops the Start window on the screen!

There is a limitation, you can't do clever stuff like whilst holding down the Windows key press and release D minimising all open windows and revealing the Desktop.

we 7 no 07

Here's a bit of good clean fun.  Whilst holding down the Windows key press and release R.  This will pop  up the Run window.  (The Windows key is usually second left bottom row and marked with the Windows logo, and sometimes with Start.  Another way to pop up the Run window is to click on Start [bottom left of the screen] and then Run.)  Type osk into the Run window text box and then click OK.

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