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Keyboard Shortcuts and Easter Eggs
Keyboard Shortcuts
- [Ctrl][A] : Select everything in the window
- [Ctrl][C] : Copy the selected item
- [Ctrl][X] : Cut the selected item
- [Ctrl][V] : Paste whatever has been cut or copied
- [Ctrl][Z] : Undo whatever you just did
- [Ctrl] [Esc] : Opens the start menu (just like clicking "start")
- [Ctrl][Alt][Del]: Brings up a menu to kill running programs, reboot, or shutdown the computer
- [Alt] [F4] : Closes the active program.
- [Alt] [Tab] : Switches from one open application to another
- [F1] : Brings up help menu in most programs
- [Win][M] : Minimize all open windows on the screen
- [Win][E] : Starts the Windows Explorer program (not IE)
- [Win][R] : Brings up the "Run" window
- [Win][Break] : Opens the System Properties window
Make Your Own Keyboard Shorcuts
- Put a shortcut to a program on your desktop.
- Right-click the shortcut and select "Properties"
- Click the "Shortcut" tab
- Click on the "Shortcut Key" line
- Hold down [Ctrl] or [Alt] and press one more key. Your keyboard shortcut will be [Ctrl][Alt] and whatever other key you pressed.
- Click "OK"
- As long as that shortcut is on the desktop (or in a folder on the desktop) your magic shortcut keys will work.
Boot Up Tricks
- Press [F8] before Windows starts and the computer will show a menu that lets you start in "Safe Mode", DOS prompt only, or other neat options.
- Hold [Shift] when you insert a CD to keep the CD from automatically starting / running.
Easter Eggs
Individual programs often have hidden features or keyboard shortcuts. These can be "cheats" that let you win a game automatically, or even hidden games (like the flight simulator built into Microsoft Excel 97). They are often just ways for the programmer to slip their names into the program. These hidden program features are called "Easter Eggs". To find out if a program you use has any Easter Eggs, check out one of these sites:
The Easter Egg Archive
Eggs Central
Egg Heaven 2000
Some Samples
- In MS Word, on a new page type
rand=(2,5) and press [Enter]. Word will automatically print out 2 paragraphs with five sentences each (the sentence is The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog). Change the numbers to change how many sentences and paragraphs it prints.
- In Minesweeper, at the start of the game hold down both mouse buttons, click on the top left corner box and press [Esc]. This will turn off the game timer so that you get a high score. (You may have to click at least one block on the screen first to make this work.)
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