MSN Home  |  My MSN  |  Hotmail
Sign in to Windows Live ID Web Search:   
go to MSNGroups 
Groups Home  |  My Groups  |  Language  |  Help  
 
Computing Solutions CenterDeemed especially "cool" by MSN.ComputingSolutionsCenter@groups.msn.com 
  
What's New
  Join Now
  Home Page  
  Rules etc  
  Message Boards  
  Linux Board  
  Windows Vista  
  Posting Guide  
  Search our Site  
  Online Safety Checklist  
  Tutorial Index  
  PC Care  
  PC Maintenance  
  Virus Info  
  Free AV Program  
  Tips and Tricks  
  
  Making your own Quick Launch Toolbar  
  Just Relax  
  Program Reviews  
  Members Groups  
  Pictures  
  Documents  
  Woodys Corral  
  Bug-Bytes  
  HijackThis setup  
  No Group e-mail  
  16Bit-DOS Error  
  Fix for flash player problems  
  
  
  Tools  
 
 
 
 
From: Woody  
 
need a little extra space on your desktop?  icons getting a bit crowded?  tired of the same old size?  well....it's a piece of cake to change them.....try different sizes and see what suits your needs...here's how:
right click an empty area on your desktop.....select "properties"...then click on the "appearance" tab at the top.....look part way down that window til you find "item". scroll and select "icon"....you will see the size option then....select one you think you may want...click on "apply" and then "ok"....watch them change. if you don't like that size, just do it til you find one that suits your fancy. have fun!!!
 
one note of importance:  if you make them smaller than 30, the little arrow indicating that they are a shortcut will disappear. If you ever go to delete something from your desktop, make sure you know what you are deleting. it may not be a shortcut. if you arent sure, just take a second, make the icons bigger again, and the shortcut arrows will appear again. no re-start even required. Woody
 
From: Woody  
ok.. here we go. if you look in your MSCONFIG start-up list....you will most likely find something called "still image monitor". (STIMON.EXE). If you  have and use an imaging device (scanner, camera) on a daily basis, you can stop reading now. if you are like me however, and are an occasional user, this may  be beneficial. STIMON is necessary to run these imaging devices, and your scanner or camera may not work if it is disabled. my scanner wouldn't when i disabled it. however, i did notice that my system resources increased by 3% when it was disabled. so i got to thinking....."hmmm,  if i use my scanner once every couple of weeks, do i need STIMON runing in the background all the time eating up 3% of my resources?" ok....so 3% doesn't sound like much, but every little bit helps. so.... here was the dilemna...i wanted to disable STIMON and let my system use the extra resources when i wasn't using my scanner, but when i needed my scanner, i would have to enable STIMON in MSCONFIG and re-boot to use it?  no way i was doing that!! 
here's what i did.....i went to C: windows/system    and scrolled down to the "STIMON" icon and right clicked on it. i made a shortcut for it to my desktop. i renamed it "pre-scan" to remind me to click it before scanning and placed it down by my start button on my desktop( i go to programs to start my scanner), so by being there, i was sure to see it as a reminder before scanning.
 
     if i had a short cut for  my scanner on my desktop, i would have put it right next to that. then  I went to MSCONFIG and unchecked STIMON.EXE
 
then i re-started as prompted, checked my resources, and had gained 3%. now all i have to do is click on the shortcut i made for STIMON before using my scanner, and everything works fine. meanwhile, if i don't use my scanner, i have those extra resources available.
one additional note:  some imaging programs, if not running in the background, will just open and run when you start them. STIMON however, will not if it is disabled. when i tried to run my scanner without STIMON running, i got the famous "this program has performed an illegal operation."....etc. message. if i forget to click on the shortcut anytime, i get that message also, and it just serves as a reminder. no big deal. i close that message box, click on the shortcut for STIMON, and im ready to scan. you may want to try this, and perhaps use this info to experiment with other imaging programs added in MSCONFIG startup. remember, you can always just enable something again of you don't like the way it works. any questions or comments...let me know. Woody
 

Drag-and-drop Printing


  1. Open My Computer and double click the Printers icon.
  2.  Ctrl+Shift+drag the icon for your printer to a blank area of the Windows desktop to create a shortcut for it.
  3. To quickly print a document file, drag the file from My Computer or Windows Explorer over the printer icon and release the mouse button.

just_luvbug

 
 

To turn off graphics to display all Web pages faster

On the Tools menu in Internet Explorer, click Internet Options.
Click the Advanced tab.
In the Multimedia area, CLEAR one or more of the Show pictures, Play animations, Play videos, or Play sounds check boxes.


Tips

If the Show pictures or Play videos check box is cleared, you can still display an individual picture or animation on a Web page by right-clicking its icon and then clicking Show Picture.
If the pictures on the current page are still visible after you clear the Show pictures check box, you can hide them by clicking the View menu and then clicking Refresh.

 
 

Internet Explorer keyboard shortcuts

(From the Windows Help Files)


You can use shortcut keys to view and explore Web pages, use the Address bar, work with favorites, and edit.

Viewing and exploring Web pages

 

 

Press this

To do this

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+RIGHTARROW        Go to the next page
ALT+LEFT ARROW Go to the previous page
BACKSPACE Go to the previous page
SHIFT+F10 Display a shortcut menu for a link
CTRL+TAB Move forward between frames
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 this page
 

F5 or CTRL+R

Refresh the current Web page only if the time stamp for the Web version and your locally stored version are different
CTRL+F5 Refresh the current Web page, even if the time stamp for the Web version and your locally stored version are the same&
ESC Stop downloading a page
CTRL+O or
CTRL+L
Go to a new location
CTRL+N Open a new window
CTRL+W Close the current window
 F1     Display the Internet Explorer Help, or when in a dialog box, display context help on an item

CTRL+click In History or Favorites bars, open multiple folders
CTRL+left click on any link will open it up in a new window 
 
 

Using the Address bar

Press this To do this
 ALT+D                             Select the text in the Address bar
F4 Display the Address bar history
CTRL+LEFT ARROW When in the Address bar, move the cursor left to next logical break
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW When in the Address bar, move cursor right to the next logical break
CTRL+ENTER Add "www." to the beginning and ".com" to the end of the text typed in the 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

Press this                    To do this
CTRL+D                     
Add the current page to your favorites
CTRL+B                      Open the Organize Favorites dialog box
ALT+UP ARROW         Move selected item up in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites dialog box
ALT+DOWN ARROW   Move selected item down in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites
dialog box

 
 

Editing


Press this                   To do this
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

 
 
From: Woody  
here's an oldie, but a goodie...
You can turn off the animation displayed by Windows  when you minimize and maximize windows. This makes navigating Windows a lot faster, especially for those that don't have super fast video cards. Ever notice how when you minimize and maximize your windows, they seem to "shrink" and "grow"? well....if you like that, fine. If you want to speed things up though, here's a neat little tip. Simply disable that animated effect. Doing this will make windows, menus, and lists just "snap" into place. No "shrinking" and "growing" effect.
here's how to do it: 
right click on an empty space on your desktop. select "properties> click on the "effects" tab. look for the little box that says "animate windows, menus and lists". uncheck it. then click "apply" and "ok". its been awhile since i did this, so i can't remeber if you will be prompted to re-start, but i advise re-starting anyway. when you re-boot, you will notice a difference. if you don't like the change, just go back and check the option. i think you will like the "snapiness" effect though. try it!!!  have fun....Woody
 
                                                                      

                                                    Faster Re-Starting


      Perhaps you have gotten an "illegal operation" message and have been "advised" to re-start, or your resources are running low. That in itself is frustrating. Why take the extra time to re-load everything when you don't need to. Using the following method will only re-load windows, not all of your drivers. Hence, it is much faster.

    Here's how to do it......

    Just go to "start">"shut down"> and select "re-start"......when you are ready to click "ok",  hold down the "shift" key at the same time as you do so. Then release it. Windows will re-start. You'll even get a little message saying so. Try it next time and you'll see the difference.                                             Woody

Notice: Microsoft has no responsibility for the content featured in this group. Click here for more info.
  Try MSN Internet Software for FREE!
    MSN Home  |  My MSN  |  Hotmail  |  Search
Feedback  |  Help  
  ©2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.  Legal  Advertise  MSN Privacy