Powering Up – Part 1

Taking stabs at bettering Windows performance and productivity.

Aa aa aashiqui mein teri, jaa jaa jaayegi jaan meri
Tu meri jannat hain, tu hi meri chahat hain
Tu meri bechaini, tu hi meri raahat hain
Tu hi manzil meri…

May the chief muse of the English language (and Himmesh bhai) pardon me for this blasphemous blending. Problem is I can’t think of any other words that describe my sentiments for Windows better. I have spent a quarter of my life seeking ways to optimise working in Windows--perfecting its pedigree, polishing its parts, finding workarounds, ever seeking new methods to eke a wee bit more out from it. So much so that tuning, twisting, twirling and tweaking the OS has become almost an indecent obsession for me. Hence the several inches of space devoted to it here. Let's kick off with some simple file management quickies that can help you take a stab at better performance, productivity and pace.

Need to select more than one file or folder at a time? Switch to List or Details view. Press Shift before clicking on the first and last file to select all the files betwixt them. Want to make a non-sequential selection? Keep Ctrl pressed and click on the files you want to pick. If you need to select most of the files in folder, use Ctrl+A to select all files. Then press Ctrl and click on the ones you don't want selected to weed them out.

Once you've made your selection you know you can right-click and use the SendTo menu to jiggle the files to a few predefined set of destinations. But that's not all: You can even rework these right-click default destinations. Click on Start > Run. Type “sendto” in the field and hit Enter to open the SendTo folder. Now just copy/drag the folder/drive shortcuts you want appearing in the right-click menu. Dat’s it!

Remember, if you want to copy files from one folder to another in the same drive, press and hold the Ctrl key down as you drag the files. Else Windows will automatically move the files. And if you need to move files from one drive to another, hold Shift down to ensure that they are moved, not copied.

To eradicate files without having them lounging around in the Recycle Bin, hold Shift down when you hit Delete. And if you want to bypass the trashcan permanently, right-click on the Bin, select Properties, tick Do not move files to Recycle Bin, and click OK.

Ever tried renaming a number of files in one sitting? It is tedious and a major pain. You can attain salvation here via a batch processing freeware called Rename Tool at www.1-4a.com/rename.

This was only a soft opener. Hang loose, I have a whole caboodle out there. Because:
Tu meri saansen hain, tu hi meri dhadkan hain
Tu meri madhoshi, tu hi meri tadpan hain
Tu hi manzil meri


Shoo that Mouse!
The mouse doesn’t necessarily make life easier. Or faster. Many a time, the keyboard is the quickest way to get from Point A to Point B. Here’s how:

Win key + E: Launches Windows Explorer
Win key + Pause/Break: Launches System Control Panel
Win key + M: Minimises open windows
Win key + Shift + M: Undoes minimise
Win key (or Ctrl + Esc): Start menu
Win key + R: Launches Run command box
F1: Launches Help
F2: Renames selected file or folder
F3: (or Windows + F) Launches Search
F4: Views drop-down menu for Address bar in Explorer/IE
F5: Refreshes/reloads current window
F10: Selects first menu item at top of window
Alt + Enter: Views properties for selected object
Alt + Double-click file/folder: Views file/folder’s properties
Alt + Down Arrow: Expands drop-down menu
Alt + F4: Closes current window or program
Alt + F6: Switches between dialog boxes within the same program
Alt + Spacebar: Displays selected window’s System menu
Alt + Tab: Cycles between open programs
Shift + Del: Deletes item permanently
Shift + F10: Launches context menu