Customize the Start Menu Options in Windows 7

Windows 7 provides excellent control over the Start menu. You can choose which commands appear on the Start menu and how they are arranged. You can add options for Control Panel, Devices And Printers, Network Connections, and other key tools. You can also enable or disable personalized menus on the All Programs menu.

To change the Start menu options, follow these steps:

• Right-click Start on the taskbar, and then click Properties. The Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box is displayed with the Start Menu tab selected by default.
• On the Start Menu tab, use the Power Button Action list to select the action to use when the power button is pressed. Options include Switch User, Log Off, Lock, Restart, Sleep, and Shut Down. In a 24x7 environment, or when multiple users log on to the same computer, switching users, logging off, or locking the system may be preferable to shutting down the com¬puter. If you change the default action, you can shut down the computer by clicking Start and then clicking Shutdown.
• Click Customize. This displays the Customize Start Menu dialog box.
• Use the options in the dialog box to control the general appearance of the Start menu.
• Click OK, and then click OK again to close the Taskbar And Start Menu Prop¬erties dialog box.

In the Customize Start Menu dialog box, most of the options control which commands appear on the Start menu and how they are arranged. Some items have the sub-options Display As A Link, Display As A Menu, and Don’t Display This Item. Display As A Link specifies that an item, such as Control Panel, will appear as a sepa¬rate option that opens a window when selected. Display As A Menu specifies that an item will provide access to a submenu that allows you to choose from its related options. Don’t Display This Item removes the item from the Start menu.
Other Customize Start Menu dialog box options you’ll see include the following:

• Enable Context Menus And Dragging And Dropping When this option is selected, users can right-click to display a shortcut menu and use drag and drop. Typically, you’ll want to enable this option unless there is a specific security reason to disable it.
• Highlight Newly Installed Programs When this option is selected, menus for recently installed applications are highlighted, as are the menu options.
• Open Submenus When I Pause On Them With The Mouse Pointer Con¬trols the behavior of menus. When this option is selected, menus open when you point to them. Otherwise, menus open only when you click them.
• Sort All Programs Menu By Name Controls whether menu items are organized alphabetically or by the order of installation. When this option is selected, menu items are sorted alphabetically. When this option is not selected, menu items are listed in the order of installation.
• Use Large Icons Controls the size of icons for menu options. To reduce the size of icons used on menus, clear this option. Otherwise, select this option to display standard-size icons on menus.
• Number Of Recent Programs To Display Controls the number of shortcuts to recently used programs that appear in the most frequently used list on the Start menu. Use the selection menu to assign a value from 0 to 30.The actual number of programs listed in the most frequently used list depends on the screen resolution as well as the number of items in the pinned items list, which appears above the most frequently used list on the Start menu.
• Number of Recent Items To Display In Jump List Controls how many shortcuts to recently used items appear in jump lists. Jump lists are lists of recent items organized by the program that you use to open them. They can appear on the Start menu and the taskbar. Use the selection menu to assign a value from 0 to 60.

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Customize the Start Menu Options in Windows 7

Windows 7 provides excellent control over the Start menu. You can choose which commands appear on the Start menu and how they are arranged. You can add options for Control Panel, Devices And Printers, Network Connections, and other key tools. You can also enable or disable personalized menus on the All Programs menu.

To change the Start menu options, follow these steps:

• Right-click Start on the taskbar, and then click Properties. The Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box is displayed with the Start Menu tab selected by default.
• On the Start Menu tab, use the Power Button Action list to select the action to use when the power button is pressed. Options include Switch User, Log Off, Lock, Restart, Sleep, and Shut Down. In a 24x7 environment, or when multiple users log on to the same computer, switching users, logging off, or locking the system may be preferable to shutting down the com¬puter. If you change the default action, you can shut down the computer by clicking Start and then clicking Shutdown.
• Click Customize. This displays the Customize Start Menu dialog box.
• Use the options in the dialog box to control the general appearance of the Start menu.
• Click OK, and then click OK again to close the Taskbar And Start Menu Prop¬erties dialog box.

In the Customize Start Menu dialog box, most of the options control which commands appear on the Start menu and how they are arranged. Some items have the sub-options Display As A Link, Display As A Menu, and Don’t Display This Item. Display As A Link specifies that an item, such as Control Panel, will appear as a sepa¬rate option that opens a window when selected. Display As A Menu specifies that an item will provide access to a submenu that allows you to choose from its related options. Don’t Display This Item removes the item from the Start menu.
Other Customize Start Menu dialog box options you’ll see include the following:

• Enable Context Menus And Dragging And Dropping When this option is selected, users can right-click to display a shortcut menu and use drag and drop. Typically, you’ll want to enable this option unless there is a specific security reason to disable it.
• Highlight Newly Installed Programs When this option is selected, menus for recently installed applications are highlighted, as are the menu options.
• Open Submenus When I Pause On Them With The Mouse Pointer Con¬trols the behavior of menus. When this option is selected, menus open when you point to them. Otherwise, menus open only when you click them.
• Sort All Programs Menu By Name Controls whether menu items are organized alphabetically or by the order of installation. When this option is selected, menu items are sorted alphabetically. When this option is not selected, menu items are listed in the order of installation.
• Use Large Icons Controls the size of icons for menu options. To reduce the size of icons used on menus, clear this option. Otherwise, select this option to display standard-size icons on menus.
• Number Of Recent Programs To Display Controls the number of shortcuts to recently used programs that appear in the most frequently used list on the Start menu. Use the selection menu to assign a value from 0 to 30.The actual number of programs listed in the most frequently used list depends on the screen resolution as well as the number of items in the pinned items list, which appears above the most frequently used list on the Start menu.
• Number of Recent Items To Display In Jump List Controls how many shortcuts to recently used items appear in jump lists. Jump lists are lists of recent items organized by the program that you use to open them. They can appear on the Start menu and the taskbar. Use the selection menu to assign a value from 0 to 60.

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Windows 7 - Use the Registry to Configure Custom Search Providers

Search providers are stored in the registry in either the HKEY_CURRENT_USER or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hives at Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes. To automate the process of adding search providers to computers, use a test computer to configure the search engines manually, including specifying the default search engine. Then, create a .reg file based on this registry key and its subkeys and distribute it to your client computers.

To create a .reg file, follow these steps:

• To start the Registry Editor, click Start, type Regedit, and then press Enter. 
  To configure search engines for individual users, select HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes.
• To configure search engines for all users on a computer, select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes.
• Select Export from the File menu. Save the .reg file.

You can now distribute the .reg file to computers in your organization. To configure the search engines, double-click the .reg file to open the Registry Editor and apply the settings. Unfortunately, this requires administrative credentials. If you need to distribute the updated settings without explicitly providing administrative credentials, have a developer create a Windows Installer package that creates the registry values and distribute the Windows Installer package by using Group Policy software distribution.

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Windows 7 - Use the Registry to Configure Custom Search Providers

Search providers are stored in the registry in either the HKEY_CURRENT_USER or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hives at Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes. To automate the process of adding search providers to computers, use a test computer to configure the search engines manually, including specifying the default search engine. Then, create a .reg file based on this registry key and its subkeys and distribute it to your client computers.

To create a .reg file, follow these steps:

• To start the Registry Editor, click Start, type Regedit, and then press Enter. 
  To configure search engines for individual users, select HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes.
• To configure search engines for all users on a computer, select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes.
• Select Export from the File menu. Save the .reg file.

You can now distribute the .reg file to computers in your organization. To configure the search engines, double-click the .reg file to open the Registry Editor and apply the settings. Unfortunately, this requires administrative credentials. If you need to distribute the updated settings without explicitly providing administrative credentials, have a developer create a Windows Installer package that creates the registry values and distribute the Windows Installer package by using Group Policy software distribution.

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Windows7 - What’s new in Windows PowerShell 2.0

PowerShell 2.0 is now included in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. As of October 2009, PowerShell 2.0 is available to download for Windows XP SP3, Windows 2003 SP2, Windows Vista-SP1, and Windows Server 2008 RTM.

Windows PowerShell 2.0 includes several significant features that extend its use, improve its usability, and allow you to control and manage Windows-based environments more easily and comprehensively. Windows PowerShell 2.0 is backward compatible: Cmdlets, providers, snap-ins, scripts, functions, and profiles that were designed for Windows PowerShell 1.0 work in Windows PowerShell 2.0 without changes.

So with that, let’s check out some of the new features:

Remoting - The PowerShell 2.0 install now includes WinRm 2.0 (Windows Remote Management),  which is our implementation of the WS-Management Protocol. WS-Management allows systems the ability to access and exchange management information across an IT infrastructure. This new ability allows you to run commands on one or more remote computers from a single computer that is also running Windows PowerShell. To configure PowerShell remoting, the following must be accomplished:

1. Start PowerShell as an administrator

2. Use the “Enable-PSRemoting” cmdlet. The “Enable-PSRemoting” cmdlet performs the following operations:

• Runs the Set-WSManQuickConfig cmdlet, which performs the following tasks:
• Starts the WinRM service.
• Sets the startup type on the WinRM service to Automatic.
• Creates a listener to accept requests on any IP address.
• Enables a firewall exception for WS-Management communications.
• Enables all registered Windows PowerShell session configurations to receive instructions from a remote computer.
• Registers the "Microsoft.PowerShell" session configuration, if it is not already registered.
• Registers the "Microsoft.PowerShell32" session configuration on 64-bit computers, if it is not already registered.
• Removes the "Deny Everyone" setting from the security descriptor for all the registered session configurations.
• Restarts the WinRM service to make the preceding changes effective.

New Cmdlets - PowerShell 2.0 introduces over 100 built-in cmdlets. These cmdlets allow you to do computer-related, event log, and performance counter management tasks, among others. To see a list of new cmdlets that support the remote –computername parameter, type in the following command at a PS > prompt:

Get-Command -CommandType cmdlet | Where-Object { $_.definition -match 'computername' } | Format-Wide -property name –AutoSize

To view a list of all included cmdlets, run the following command at the PS> prompt:

get-commands

Script Debugging - For all you debuggers out there, you can now set breakpoints on lines, columns, variables and commands, and then let you specify the action that occurs when the breakpoint is hit. To get help on Debugging your PowerShell scripts, type in the following command at a PS > prompt:

Help Set-PSDebug

PowerShell GUI - Looking for a PowerShell GUI? Well, now you have it with the PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE). This new functionality enables you to run interactive commands and edit and debug scripts in a graphical environment. The main features include color-coded syntax, selective execution, graphical debugging, Unicode support, and context-sensitive help. To launch the PowerShell GUI, run PowerShell_ISE.exe.

Note: you must install the Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment feature to get the PowerShell GUI.

Background Jobs – PowerShell 2.0 now allows you to run commands or expressions asynchronously and “in the background” without interacting with the console. When you run a background job, the command prompt returns immediately, even if the command is still running. The get-command *-job command will give you a list of job cmdlets that you can use to schedule your jobs.

This is only a small listing of new features included in PowerShell 2.0. To get a complete list, checkout the links below or the about_Windows_PowerShell_2.0 help section included with PowerShell 2.0.

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Windows7 - What’s new in Windows PowerShell 2.0

PowerShell 2.0 is now included in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. As of October 2009, PowerShell 2.0 is available to download for Windows XP SP3, Windows 2003 SP2, Windows Vista-SP1, and Windows Server 2008 RTM.

Windows PowerShell 2.0 includes several significant features that extend its use, improve its usability, and allow you to control and manage Windows-based environments more easily and comprehensively. Windows PowerShell 2.0 is backward compatible: Cmdlets, providers, snap-ins, scripts, functions, and profiles that were designed for Windows PowerShell 1.0 work in Windows PowerShell 2.0 without changes.

So with that, let’s check out some of the new features:

Remoting - The PowerShell 2.0 install now includes WinRm 2.0 (Windows Remote Management),  which is our implementation of the WS-Management Protocol. WS-Management allows systems the ability to access and exchange management information across an IT infrastructure. This new ability allows you to run commands on one or more remote computers from a single computer that is also running Windows PowerShell. To configure PowerShell remoting, the following must be accomplished:

1. Start PowerShell as an administrator

2. Use the “Enable-PSRemoting” cmdlet. The “Enable-PSRemoting” cmdlet performs the following operations:

• Runs the Set-WSManQuickConfig cmdlet, which performs the following tasks:
• Starts the WinRM service.
• Sets the startup type on the WinRM service to Automatic.
• Creates a listener to accept requests on any IP address.
• Enables a firewall exception for WS-Management communications.
• Enables all registered Windows PowerShell session configurations to receive instructions from a remote computer.
• Registers the "Microsoft.PowerShell" session configuration, if it is not already registered.
• Registers the "Microsoft.PowerShell32" session configuration on 64-bit computers, if it is not already registered.
• Removes the "Deny Everyone" setting from the security descriptor for all the registered session configurations.
• Restarts the WinRM service to make the preceding changes effective.

New Cmdlets - PowerShell 2.0 introduces over 100 built-in cmdlets. These cmdlets allow you to do computer-related, event log, and performance counter management tasks, among others. To see a list of new cmdlets that support the remote –computername parameter, type in the following command at a PS > prompt:

Get-Command -CommandType cmdlet | Where-Object { $_.definition -match 'computername' } | Format-Wide -property name –AutoSize

To view a list of all included cmdlets, run the following command at the PS> prompt:

get-commands

Script Debugging - For all you debuggers out there, you can now set breakpoints on lines, columns, variables and commands, and then let you specify the action that occurs when the breakpoint is hit. To get help on Debugging your PowerShell scripts, type in the following command at a PS > prompt:

Help Set-PSDebug

PowerShell GUI - Looking for a PowerShell GUI? Well, now you have it with the PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE). This new functionality enables you to run interactive commands and edit and debug scripts in a graphical environment. The main features include color-coded syntax, selective execution, graphical debugging, Unicode support, and context-sensitive help. To launch the PowerShell GUI, run PowerShell_ISE.exe.

Note: you must install the Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment feature to get the PowerShell GUI.

Background Jobs – PowerShell 2.0 now allows you to run commands or expressions asynchronously and “in the background” without interacting with the console. When you run a background job, the command prompt returns immediately, even if the command is still running. The get-command *-job command will give you a list of job cmdlets that you can use to schedule your jobs.

This is only a small listing of new features included in PowerShell 2.0. To get a complete list, checkout the links below or the about_Windows_PowerShell_2.0 help section included with PowerShell 2.0.

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Windows 7: Learn Best Practices for Optimizing the Virtual Memory Configuration

In a default installation, Windows creates the page file in the root folder on the same drive that holds the Windows system files. The size of the page file is determined by the amount of RAM in your system. By default, the minimum size on a 32-bit (x86) system is 1.5 times the amount of physical RAM if physical RAM is less than 1 GB, and equal to the amount of physical RAM plus 300 MB if 1 GB or more is installed. The default maximum size is three times the amount of RAM, regardless of how much physical RAM is installed. On a PC with a processor that supports Physical Address Extension (PAE)—which is to say, on any PC that is capable of running Windows 7—the maximum size of the page file is 16 TB. You can see the page file in a Windows Explorer win¬dow if you configure Windows to show hidden and system files; look for Pagefile.sys in the root of your system drive.

To see the current configuration of your system’s virtual memory, open the System dialog box in Control Panel and click the Advanced tab.. Under the Performance heading, click Settings. In the Performance Options dialog box, click the Advanced tab. And under the Virtual Memory heading, click Change.
By default, Windows creates a single page file and manages its size. The Currently Allocated number near the bottom of the dialog box shows how large the file is. If conditions on your system change (say you run an unusually large assortment of memory-intensive applications), Windows might increase or even decrease the size of the page file. All this happens without you know as long as you leave the Automatically Manage Paging File Size for All Drives option selected.
If you don’t want Windows to automatically manage the page file, you have the following options:

• You can move the page file to a different volume if you have more than one volume.
• If you have more than one volume, you can establish more than one page file.
• For any page file, you can choose between System Managed Size and Custom Size.
• If you choose Custom Size, you can specify an initial size and a maximum size.
• You can remove a paging file from a volume by selecting the volume and choosing No Paging File. (In fact, you can do this to get rid of all paging files, although doing so is not recommended, even on systems with a lot of RAM.)

Should you get involved in managing the page file? If you have more than one physical disk, moving the page file to a fast drive that doesn’t contain your Windows system files is a good idea. Using multiple page files split over two or more physical disks is an even better idea, because your disk controller can process multiple requests to read or write data concurrently. But don’t make the mistake of creating two or more page files using multiple volumes on a single physical disk. If, for example, you have a single hard disk that contains volumes C, D, and E, splitting the page file over two or more of these volumes, might actually make your computer run more slowly.
If you are short of hard disk space, you might consider setting a smaller initial page file size. Monitor peak usage levels over time; if the peak is well below the current page file size, you can consider reducing the initial size to save disk space. On the other hand, if you’re not short of disk space, there’s nothing to be gained from doing this and you might occasionally overload your custom settings, thereby degrading the performance of your system.
Should you enlarge your page file? Most users won’t need to do this. But you might want to keep an eye on the green line in the Memory chart on the Overview tab of Resource Monitor. If that line is spiking off the top of the graph a great deal of the time during your normal work, you might consider increasing the maximum size of your page file. (Note that you should disregard page file spikes and disk activity in general that takes place while you’re not actually working. This is likely to be the result of search indexing, defragmentation, or other background processes and does not indicate a problem with your actual work performance.

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Windows 7: Learn Best Practices for Optimizing the Virtual Memory Configuration

In a default installation, Windows creates the page file in the root folder on the same drive that holds the Windows system files. The size of the page file is determined by the amount of RAM in your system. By default, the minimum size on a 32-bit (x86) system is 1.5 times the amount of physical RAM if physical RAM is less than 1 GB, and equal to the amount of physical RAM plus 300 MB if 1 GB or more is installed. The default maximum size is three times the amount of RAM, regardless of how much physical RAM is installed. On a PC with a processor that supports Physical Address Extension (PAE)—which is to say, on any PC that is capable of running Windows 7—the maximum size of the page file is 16 TB. You can see the page file in a Windows Explorer win¬dow if you configure Windows to show hidden and system files; look for Pagefile.sys in the root of your system drive.

To see the current configuration of your system’s virtual memory, open the System dialog box in Control Panel and click the Advanced tab.. Under the Performance heading, click Settings. In the Performance Options dialog box, click the Advanced tab. And under the Virtual Memory heading, click Change.
By default, Windows creates a single page file and manages its size. The Currently Allocated number near the bottom of the dialog box shows how large the file is. If conditions on your system change (say you run an unusually large assortment of memory-intensive applications), Windows might increase or even decrease the size of the page file. All this happens without you know as long as you leave the Automatically Manage Paging File Size for All Drives option selected.
If you don’t want Windows to automatically manage the page file, you have the following options:

• You can move the page file to a different volume if you have more than one volume.
• If you have more than one volume, you can establish more than one page file.
• For any page file, you can choose between System Managed Size and Custom Size.
• If you choose Custom Size, you can specify an initial size and a maximum size.
• You can remove a paging file from a volume by selecting the volume and choosing No Paging File. (In fact, you can do this to get rid of all paging files, although doing so is not recommended, even on systems with a lot of RAM.)

Should you get involved in managing the page file? If you have more than one physical disk, moving the page file to a fast drive that doesn’t contain your Windows system files is a good idea. Using multiple page files split over two or more physical disks is an even better idea, because your disk controller can process multiple requests to read or write data concurrently. But don’t make the mistake of creating two or more page files using multiple volumes on a single physical disk. If, for example, you have a single hard disk that contains volumes C, D, and E, splitting the page file over two or more of these volumes, might actually make your computer run more slowly.
If you are short of hard disk space, you might consider setting a smaller initial page file size. Monitor peak usage levels over time; if the peak is well below the current page file size, you can consider reducing the initial size to save disk space. On the other hand, if you’re not short of disk space, there’s nothing to be gained from doing this and you might occasionally overload your custom settings, thereby degrading the performance of your system.
Should you enlarge your page file? Most users won’t need to do this. But you might want to keep an eye on the green line in the Memory chart on the Overview tab of Resource Monitor. If that line is spiking off the top of the graph a great deal of the time during your normal work, you might consider increasing the maximum size of your page file. (Note that you should disregard page file spikes and disk activity in general that takes place while you’re not actually working. This is likely to be the result of search indexing, defragmentation, or other background processes and does not indicate a problem with your actual work performance.

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Windows 7 - Use Windows PowerShell to Monitor System Performance

Windows 7 - Hide Updates that you do not Ever Want to Install

If you choose not to download and install an update, it’s available for you the next time you visit Windows Update…and the next time, and the time after that as well. You might have a good reason for not accepting a particular update—perhaps it makes improvements to a Windows feature you never use—and there’s no reason it should clutter your list of available updates. To remove an item from the list without installing it, you hide it. This is a pretty easy trick, but the option for hiding updates in the list is itself somewhat hidden and often goes overlooked.

In the list of available updates, right-click any update that you don’t want to see again, and choose Hide Update. If you later change your mind—or if you just want to see a list of the updates you’ve chosen to hide—on the main Windows Update page, click Restore Hidden Updates.

Windows 7 - Use Windows PowerShell to Monitor System Performance

A new feature in Windows 7 is the ability to use Windows PowerShell for gathering performance data. Three new Windows PowerShell cmdlets provide functionality as follows:

Get-counter Gets real-time performance counter data from local and remote computers.

Import-counter Exports Performance Counter Sample Set objects as performance counter log (.blg, .csv, .tsv) files.

Export-counter Imports performance counter log files and creates objects that represent each counter sample in the log.
For example, the following Windows PowerShell command gets the current “% Processor Time” combined values for all processors on the local computer every 2 seconds until it has 100 values and displays the captured data:

PS C:\Users\mallen>Get-counter -Counter "\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time" -SampleInterval 2 -MaxSamples 100

The following command continuously gets the current “% Processor Time” combined values for all processors on the local computer every second (the default sampling interval) and displays the captured data until you press CTRL+C:

PS C:\Users\mallen>Get-counter -Counter "\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time" –Continuous

You can pipe the output of the Get-counter cmdlet into the Export-counter cmdlet.For example, the following command gets the current “% Processor Time” combined values for all processors on the local computer every 2 seconds until it has 100 values and exports the captured data as a performance counter log file named Data1.blg, which is saved in the current directory (here the root folder of user user1 profile):

PS C:\Users\ user1>Get-counter "\Processor(*)\% Processor Time" -SampleInterval 2 -MaxSamples 100 | Export-counter -Path $home\data1.blg
You can also pipe the output of the Import-counter cmdlet into the Export-counter cmdlet. You might do this, for example, to convert a performance monitor log file from one format to another, such as from .csv to .blg format.

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Windows 7 - Use Windows PowerShell to Monitor System Performance

Windows 7 - Hide Updates that you do not Ever Want to Install

If you choose not to download and install an update, it’s available for you the next time you visit Windows Update…and the next time, and the time after that as well. You might have a good reason for not accepting a particular update—perhaps it makes improvements to a Windows feature you never use—and there’s no reason it should clutter your list of available updates. To remove an item from the list without installing it, you hide it. This is a pretty easy trick, but the option for hiding updates in the list is itself somewhat hidden and often goes overlooked.

In the list of available updates, right-click any update that you don’t want to see again, and choose Hide Update. If you later change your mind—or if you just want to see a list of the updates you’ve chosen to hide—on the main Windows Update page, click Restore Hidden Updates.

Windows 7 - Use Windows PowerShell to Monitor System Performance

A new feature in Windows 7 is the ability to use Windows PowerShell for gathering performance data. Three new Windows PowerShell cmdlets provide functionality as follows:

Get-counter Gets real-time performance counter data from local and remote computers.

Import-counter Exports Performance Counter Sample Set objects as performance counter log (.blg, .csv, .tsv) files.

Export-counter Imports performance counter log files and creates objects that represent each counter sample in the log.
For example, the following Windows PowerShell command gets the current “% Processor Time” combined values for all processors on the local computer every 2 seconds until it has 100 values and displays the captured data:

PS C:\Users\mallen>Get-counter -Counter "\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time" -SampleInterval 2 -MaxSamples 100

The following command continuously gets the current “% Processor Time” combined values for all processors on the local computer every second (the default sampling interval) and displays the captured data until you press CTRL+C:

PS C:\Users\mallen>Get-counter -Counter "\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time" –Continuous

You can pipe the output of the Get-counter cmdlet into the Export-counter cmdlet.For example, the following command gets the current “% Processor Time” combined values for all processors on the local computer every 2 seconds until it has 100 values and exports the captured data as a performance counter log file named Data1.blg, which is saved in the current directory (here the root folder of user user1 profile):

PS C:\Users\ user1>Get-counter "\Processor(*)\% Processor Time" -SampleInterval 2 -MaxSamples 100 | Export-counter -Path $home\data1.blg
You can also pipe the output of the Import-counter cmdlet into the Export-counter cmdlet. You might do this, for example, to convert a performance monitor log file from one format to another, such as from .csv to .blg format.

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Windows 7 Library

Windows 7 Libraries is a great way to organize your data. But still there are some tasks which are most needed with respect to libraries, and cannot be easily performed by a nontechnical user like backing up libraries, adding network locations to libraries and such other tasks.

The Windows 7 Library Tool is a small app which lets you perform such tasks with just a couple of clicks.

At the bottom you will find buttons to play with your library settings, you can create new library, modify any existing one, delete any particular library and make backups. The key features of this tool include that it lets you add non-indexed folders to the library, you can create libraries backup, and it lets you change library icons as well.

Select any particular library and hit the Edit button, you will find a dialogue box where you can play with the library’s properties.

It works on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7.

Library tool can be downloaded from Library Tool
(http://zornsoftware.talsit.info/?page_id=37&did=2 )

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Windows 7 Library

Windows 7 Libraries is a great way to organize your data. But still there are some tasks which are most needed with respect to libraries, and cannot be easily performed by a nontechnical user like backing up libraries, adding network locations to libraries and such other tasks.

The Windows 7 Library Tool is a small app which lets you perform such tasks with just a couple of clicks.

At the bottom you will find buttons to play with your library settings, you can create new library, modify any existing one, delete any particular library and make backups. The key features of this tool include that it lets you add non-indexed folders to the library, you can create libraries backup, and it lets you change library icons as well.

Select any particular library and hit the Edit button, you will find a dialogue box where you can play with the library’s properties.

It works on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7.

Library tool can be downloaded from Library Tool
(http://zornsoftware.talsit.info/?page_id=37&did=2 )

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Drag and Drop to Command Prompt feature in Windows 7

The Windows 7 Command Prompt now supports drag & drop of files. This means that to enter the destination of any file you can just drag & drop it into the command prompt window.

This small feature is not so useful for most users, but for those who work frequently in Windows command prompt, this is a lifesaver.

Sadly this drag & drop functionality is only for files and does not apply with some text commands which you might need to copy/paste in the command prompt quickly. Whether the files are executable, text files, documents, or whatever, they can now all be dragged and dropped into the command prompt.

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Drag and Drop to Command Prompt feature in Windows 7

The Windows 7 Command Prompt now supports drag & drop of files. This means that to enter the destination of any file you can just drag & drop it into the command prompt window.

This small feature is not so useful for most users, but for those who work frequently in Windows command prompt, this is a lifesaver.

Sadly this drag & drop functionality is only for files and does not apply with some text commands which you might need to copy/paste in the command prompt quickly. Whether the files are executable, text files, documents, or whatever, they can now all be dragged and dropped into the command prompt.

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Windows 7 Key Board Shortcuts

General keyboard shortcuts

* F1: Display Help
* Ctrl + C (or Ctrl + Insert): Copy the selected item
* Ctrl + X: Cut the selected item
* Ctrl + V (or Shift + Insert): Paste the selected item
* Ctrl + Z: Undo an action
* Ctrl + Y: Redo an action
* Delete (or Ctrl + D): Delete the selected item and move it to the Recycle Bin
* Shift + Delete: Delete the selected item without moving it to the Recycle Bin first
* F2: Rename the selected item
* Ctrl + Right Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word
* Ctrl + Left Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word
* Ctrl + Down Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph
* Ctrl + Up Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph
* Ctrl + Shift with an arrow key: Select a block of text
* Shift + any arrow key: Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document
* Ctrl + any arrow key + Spacebar: Select multiple individual items in a window or on the desktop
* Ctrl + A: Select all items in a document or window
* F3: Search for a file or folder
* Alt + Enter: Display properties for the selected item
* Alt + F4: Close the active item, or exit the active program
* Alt + Spacebar: Open the shortcut menu for the active window
* Ctrl + F4: Close the active document (in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
* Alt + Tab: Switch between open items
* Ctrl + Alt + Tab: Use the arrow keys to switch between open items
* Ctrl + Mouse scroll wheel: Change the size of icons on the desktop
* Windows logo key + Tab: Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D
* Ctrl+ Windows logo key + Tab: Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D
* Alt + Esc: Cycle through items in the order in which they were opened
* F6: Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop
* F4: Display the address bar list in Windows Explorer
* Shift + F10: Display the shortcut menu for the selected item
* Ctrl + Esc: Open the Start menu
* Alt + underlined letter: Display the corresponding menu
* Alt + underlined letter: Perform the menu command (or other underlined command)
* F10: Activate the menu bar in the active program
* Right Arrow: Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu
* Left Arrow: Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu
* F5 (or Ctrl + R): Refresh the active window
* Alt + Up Arrow: View the folder one level up in Windows Explorer
* Esc: Cancel the current task
* Ctrl + Shift + Esc: Open Task Manager
* Shift when you insert a CD: Prevent the CD from automatically playing
* Left Alt + Shift: Switch the input language when multiple input languages are enabled
* Ctrl + ShiftL: Switch the keyboard layout when multiple keyboard layouts are enabled
* Right or Left Ctrl + Shift: Change the reading direction of text in right-to-left reading languages

Ease of Access keyboard shortcuts

* Right Shift for eight seconds: Turn Filter Keys on and off
* Left Alt + Left Shift + PrtScn (or PrtScn): Turn High Contrast on or off
* Left Alt + Left Shift + Num Lock: Turn Mouse Keys on or off
* Shift five times: Turn Sticky Keys on or off
* Num Lock for five seconds: Turn Toggle Keys on or off
* Windows logo key + U: Open the Ease of Access Center

Windows logo key keyboard shortcuts

* Windows logo key: Open or close the Start menu.
* Windows logo key + Pause: Display the System Properties dialog box.
* Windows logo key + D: Display the desktop.
* Windows logo key + M: Minimize all windows.
* Windows logo key + Shift + M: Restore minimized windows to the desktop.
* Windows logo key + E: Open Computer.
* Windows logo key + F: Search for a file or folder.
* Ctrl + Windows logo key + F: Search for computers (if you’re on a network).
* Windows logo key + L: Lock your computer or switch users.
* Windows logo key + R: Open the Run dialog box.
* Windows logo key + T: Cycle through programs on the taskbar.
* Windows logo key + number: Start the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number. If the program is already running, switch to that program.
* Shift + Windows logo key + number: Start a new instance of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
* Ctrl + Windows logo key + number: Switch to the last active window of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
* Alt + Windows logo key + number: Open the Jump List for the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
* Windows logo key + Tab: Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D.
* Ctrl+Windows logo key + Tab: Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D.
* Ctrl+Windows logo key + B: Switch to the program that displayed a message in the notification area.
* Windows logo key + Spacebar: Preview the desktop.
* Windows logo key + Up Arrow: Maximize the window.
* Windows logo key + Left Arrow: Maximize the window to the left side of the screen.
* Windows logo key + Right Arrow: Maximize the window to the right side of the screen.
* Windows logo key + Down Arrow: Minimize the window.
* Windows logo key + Home: Minimize all but the active window.
* Windows logo key + Shift + Up Arrow: Stretch the window to the top and bottom of the screen.
* Windows logo key + Shift+ Left Arrow or Right Arrow: Move a window from one monitor to another.
* Windows logo key + P: Choose a presentation display mode.
* Windows logo key + G: Cycle through gadgets.
* Windows logo key + U: Open Ease of Access Center.
* Windows logo key + X: Open Windows Mobility Center.

Dialog box keyboard shortcuts

* Ctrl + Tab: Move forward through tabs
* Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Move back through tabs
* Tab: Move forward through options
* Shift + Tab: Move back through options
* Alt + underlined letter: Perform the command (or select the option) that goes with that letter
* Enter: Replaces clicking the mouse for many selected commands
* Spacebar: Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box
* Arrow keys: Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons
* F1: Display Help
* F4: Display the items in the active list
* Backspace: Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box

Taskbar keyboard shortcuts

* Shift + Click on a taskbar button: Open a program or quickly open another instance of a program
* Ctrl + Shift + Click on a taskbar button: Open a program as an administrator
* Shift + Right-click on a taskbar button: Show the window menu for the program
* Shift + Right-click on a grouped taskbar button: Show the window menu for the group
* Ctrl + Click on a grouped taskbar button: Cycle through the windows of the group

Windows Explorer keyboard shortcuts

* Ctrl + N: Open a new window
* Ctrl + W: Close the current window
* Ctrl + Shift + N: Create a new folder
* End: Display the bottom of the active window
* Home: Display the top of the active window
* F11: Maximize or minimize the active window
* Ctrl + Period (.): Rotate a picture clockwise
* Ctrl + Comma (,): Rotate a picture counter-clockwise
* Num Lock + Asterisk (*) on numeric keypad: Display all subfolders under the selected folder
* Num Lock + Plus Sign (+) on numeric keypad: Display the contents of the selected folder
* Num Lock + Minus Sign (-) on numeric keypad: Collapse the selected folder
* Left Arrow: Collapse the current selection (if it’s expanded), or select the parent folder
* Alt + Enter: Open the Properties dialog box for the selected item
* Alt + P: Display the preview pane
* Alt + Left Arrow: View the previous folder
* Backspace: View the previous folder
* Right Arrow: Display the current selection (if it’s collapsed), or select the first subfolder
* Alt + Right Arrow: View the next folder
* Alt + Up Arrow: View the parent folder
* Ctrl + Shift + E: Display all folders above the selected folder
* Ctrl + Mouse scroll wheel: Change the size and appearance of file and folder icons
* Alt + D: Select the address bar
* Ctrl + E: Select the search box
* Ctrl + F: Select the search box

Magnifier keyboard shortcuts

* Windows logo key + Plus Sign or Minus Sign: Zoom in or out
* Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar: Preview the desktop in full-screen mode
* Ctrl + Alt + F: Switch to full-screen mode
* Ctrl + Alt + L: Switch to lens mode
* Ctrl + Alt + D: Switch to docked mode
* Ctrl + Alt + I: Invert colors
* Ctrl + Alt + arrow keys: Pan in the direction of the arrow keys
* Ctrl + Alt + R: Resize the lens
* Windows logo key + Esc: Exit Magnifier

Paint keyboard shortcuts

* Ctrl + N: Create a new picture
* Ctrl + O: Open an existing picture
* Ctrl + S: Save changes to a picture
* F12: Save the picture as a new file
* Ctrl + P: Print a picture
* Alt + F4: Close a picture and its Paint window
* Ctrl + Z: Undo a change
* Ctrl + Y: Redo a change
* Ctrl + A: Select the entire picture
* Ctrl + X: Cut a selection
* Ctrl + C: Copy a selection to the Clipboard
* Ctrl + V: Paste a selection from the Clipboard
* Right Arrow: Move the selection or active shape right by one pixel
* Left Arrow: Move the selection or active shape left by one pixel
* Down Arrow: Move the selection or active shape down by one pixel
* Up Arrow: Move the selection or active shape up by one pixel
* Esc: Cancel a selection
* Delete: Delete a selection
* Ctrl + B: Bold selected text
* Ctrl + +: Increase the width of a brush, line, or shape outline by one pixel
* Ctrl + -: Decrease the width of a brush, line, or shape outline by one pixel
* Ctrl + I: Italicize selected text
* Ctrl + U: Underline selected text
* Ctrl + E: Open the Properties dialog box
* Ctrl + W: Open the Resize and Skew dialog box
* Ctrl + Page Up: Zoom in
* Ctrl + Page Down: Zoom out
* F11: View a picture in full-screen mode
* Ctrl + R: Show or hide the ruler
* Ctrl + G: Show or hide gridlines
* F10 or Alt: Display keytips
* Shift + F10: Show the current shortcut menu
* F1: Open Paint Help

Remote Desktop Connection keyboard shortcuts

* Alt + Page Up: Move between programs from left to right.
* Alt + Page Down: Move between programs from right to left.
* Alt + Insert: Cycle through programs in the order that they were started in.
* Alt + Home: Display the Start menu.
* Ctrl + Alt + Break: Switch between a window and full screen.
* Ctrl + Alt + End: Display the Windows Security dialog box.
* Alt + Delete: Display the system menu.
* Ctrl + Alt + Minus Sign (-) on the numeric keypad: Place a copy of the active window, within the client, on the Terminal server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing Alt + PrtScn on a local computer).
* Ctrl + Alt + Plus Sign (+) on the numeric keypad: Place a copy of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing PrtScn on a local computer).
* Ctrl + Alt + Right Arrow: “Tab” out of the Remote Desktop controls to a control in the host program (for example, a button or a text box). Useful when the Remote Desktop controls are embedded in another (host) program.
* Ctrl + Alt + Left Arrow: “Tab” out of the Remote Desktop controls to a control in the host program (for example, a button or a text box). Useful when the Remote Desktop controls are embedded in another (host) program.

Calculator keyboard shortcuts

* Alt + 1: Switch to Standard mode
* Alt + 2: Switch to Scientific mode
* Alt + 3: Switch to Programmer mode
* Alt + 4: Switch to Statistics mode
* Ctrl + E: Open date calculations
* Ctrl + H: Turn calculation history on or off
* Ctrl + U: Open unit conversion
* Alt + C: Calculate or solve date calculations and worksheets
* F1: Open Calculator Help
* Ctrl + Q: Press the M- button
* Ctrl + P: Press the M+ button
* Ctrl + M: Press the MS button
* Ctrl + R: Press the MR button
* Ctrl + L: Press the MC button
* %: Press the % button
* F9: Press the +/– button
* /: Press the / button
* *: Press the * button
* +: Press the + button
* -: Press the – button
* R: Press the 1/× button
* @: Press the square root button
* 0-9: Press the number buttons (0-9)
* =: Press the = button
* .: Press the . (decimal point) button
* Backspace: Press the backspace button
* Esc: Press the C button
* Del: Press the CE button
* Ctrl + Shift + D: Clear the calculation history
* F2: Edit the calculation history
* Up Arrow key: Navigate up in the calculation history
* Down Arrow key: Navigate down in the calculation history
* Esc: Cancel editing the calculation history
* Enter: Recalculate the calculation history after editing
* F3: Select Degrees in Scientific mode
* F4: Select Radians in Scientific mode
* F5: Select Grads in Scientific mode
* I: Press the Inv button in Scientific mode
* D: Press the Mod button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + S: Press the sinh button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + O: Press the cosh button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + T: Press the tanh button in Scientific mode
* (: Press the ( button in Scientific mode
* ): Press the ) button in Scientific mode
* N: Press the ln button in Scientific mode
* ;: Press the Int button in Scientific mode
* S: Press the sin button in Scientific mode
* O: Press the cos button in Scientific mode
* T: Press the tan button in Scientific mode
* M: Press the dms button in Scientific mode
* P: Press the pi button in Scientific mode
* V: Press the F-E button in Scientific mode
* X: Press the Exp button in Scientific mode
* Q: Press the x^2 button in Scientific mode
* Y: Press the x^y button in Scientific mode
* #: Press the x^3 button in Scientific mode
* L: Press the log button in Scientific mode
* !: Press the n! button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + Y: Press the y?x button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + B: Press the 3?x button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + G: Press the 10x button in Scientific mode
* F5: Select Hex in Programmer mode
* F6: Select Dec in Programmer mode
* F7: Select Oct in Programmer mode
* F8: Select Bin in Programmer mode
* F12: Select Qword in Programmer mode
* F2: Select Dword in Programmer mode
* F3: Select Word in Programmer mode
* F4: Select Byte in Programmer mode
* K: Press the RoR button in Programmer mode
* J: Press the RoL button in Programmer mode
* <: Press the Lsh button in Programmer mode
* >: Press the Rsh button in Programmer mode
* %: Press the Mod button in Programmer mode
* (: Press the ( button in Programmer mode
* ): Press the ) button in Programmer mode
* |: Press the Or button in Programmer mode
* ^: Press the Xor button in Programmer mode
* ~: Press the Not button in Programmer mode
* &: Press the And button in Programmer mode
* A-F: Press the A-F buttons in Programmer mode
* Spacebar: Toggles the bit value in Programmer mode
* A: Press the Average button in Statistics mode
* Ctrl + A: Press the Average Sq button in Statistics mode
* S: Press the Sum button in Statistics mode
* Ctrl + S: Press the Sum Sq button in Statistics mode
* T: Press the S.D. button in Statistics mode
* Ctrl + T: Press the Inv S.D. button in Statistics mode
* D: Press the CAD button in Statistics mode

WordPad keyboard shortcuts

* Ctrl + N: Create a new document
* Ctrl + O: Open an existing document
* Ctrl + S: Save changes to a document
* F12: Save the document as a new file
* Ctrl + P: Print a document
* Alt + F4: Close WordPad
* Ctrl + Z: Undo a change
* Ctrl + Y: Redo a change
* Ctrl + A: Select the entire document
* Ctrl + X: Cut a selection
* Ctrl + C: Copy a selection to the Clipboard
* Ctrl + V: Paste a selection from the Clipboard
* Ctrl + B: Make selected text bold
* Ctrl + I: Italicize selected text
* Ctrl + U: Underline selected text
* Ctrl + =: Make selected text subscript
* Ctrl + Shift + =: Make selected text superscript
* Ctrl + L: Align text left
* Ctrl + E Align text center
* Ctrl + R:: Align text right
* Ctrl + J: Justify text
* Ctrl + 1: Set single line spacing
* Ctrl + 2: Set double line spacing
* Ctrl + 5: Set line spacing to 1.5
* Ctrl + Shift + >: Increase the font size
* Ctrl + Shift + <: Decrease the font size
* Ctrl + Shift + A: Change characters to all capitals
* Ctrl + Shift + L: Change the bullet style
* Ctrl + D: Insert a Microsoft Paint drawing
* Ctrl + F: Find text in a document
* F3: Find the next instance of the text in the Find dialog box
* Ctrl + H: Replace text in a document
* Ctrl + Left Arrow: Move the cursor one word to the left
* Ctrl + Right Arrow: Move the cursor one word to the right
* Ctrl + Up Arrow: Move the cursor to the line above
* Ctrl + Down Arrow: Move the cursor to the line below
* Ctrl + Home: Move to the beginning of the document
* Ctrl + End: Move to the end of the document
* Ctrl + Page Up: Move up one page
* Ctrl + Page Down: Move down one page
* Ctrl + Delete: Delete the next word
* F10: Display keytips
* Shift + F10: Show the current shortcut menu
* F1: Open WordPad Help

Windows Help viewer keyboard shortcuts

* Alt + C: Display the Table of Contents
* Alt + N: Display the Connection Settings menu
* F10: Display the Options menu
* Alt + Left Arrow: Move back to the previously viewed topic
* Alt + Right Arrow: Move forward to the next (previously viewed) topic
* Alt + A: Display the customer support page
* Alt + Home: Display the Help and Support home page
* Home: Move to the beginning of a topic
* End: Move to the end of a topic
* Ctrl + F: Search the current topic
* Ctrl + P: Print a topic
* F3: Move the cursor to the searchbox

Windows Journal keyboard shortcuts

* Ctrl + N: Start a new note
* Ctrl + O: Open a recently used note
* Ctrl + S: Save changes to a note
* Ctrl + Shift + V: Move a note to a specific folder
* Ctrl + P: Print a note
* Alt + F4: Close a note and its Journal window
* Ctrl + Z: Undo a change
* Ctrl + Y: Redo a change
* Ctrl + A: Select all items on a page
* Ctrl + X: Cut a selection
* Ctrl + C: Copy a selection to the Clipboard
* Ctrl + V: Paste a selection from the Clipboard
* Esc: Cancel a selection
* Delete: Delete a selection
* Ctrl + F: Start a basic find
* Ctrl + G: Go to a page
* F5: Refresh find results
* F5: Refresh the note list
* F6: Toggle between a note list and a note
* Ctrl + Shift + C: Display a shortcut menu for column headings in a note list
* F11: View a note in full-screen mode
* F1: Open Journal Help

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Windows 7 Key Board Shortcuts

General keyboard shortcuts

* F1: Display Help
* Ctrl + C (or Ctrl + Insert): Copy the selected item
* Ctrl + X: Cut the selected item
* Ctrl + V (or Shift + Insert): Paste the selected item
* Ctrl + Z: Undo an action
* Ctrl + Y: Redo an action
* Delete (or Ctrl + D): Delete the selected item and move it to the Recycle Bin
* Shift + Delete: Delete the selected item without moving it to the Recycle Bin first
* F2: Rename the selected item
* Ctrl + Right Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word
* Ctrl + Left Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word
* Ctrl + Down Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph
* Ctrl + Up Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph
* Ctrl + Shift with an arrow key: Select a block of text
* Shift + any arrow key: Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document
* Ctrl + any arrow key + Spacebar: Select multiple individual items in a window or on the desktop
* Ctrl + A: Select all items in a document or window
* F3: Search for a file or folder
* Alt + Enter: Display properties for the selected item
* Alt + F4: Close the active item, or exit the active program
* Alt + Spacebar: Open the shortcut menu for the active window
* Ctrl + F4: Close the active document (in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
* Alt + Tab: Switch between open items
* Ctrl + Alt + Tab: Use the arrow keys to switch between open items
* Ctrl + Mouse scroll wheel: Change the size of icons on the desktop
* Windows logo key + Tab: Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D
* Ctrl+ Windows logo key + Tab: Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D
* Alt + Esc: Cycle through items in the order in which they were opened
* F6: Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop
* F4: Display the address bar list in Windows Explorer
* Shift + F10: Display the shortcut menu for the selected item
* Ctrl + Esc: Open the Start menu
* Alt + underlined letter: Display the corresponding menu
* Alt + underlined letter: Perform the menu command (or other underlined command)
* F10: Activate the menu bar in the active program
* Right Arrow: Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu
* Left Arrow: Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu
* F5 (or Ctrl + R): Refresh the active window
* Alt + Up Arrow: View the folder one level up in Windows Explorer
* Esc: Cancel the current task
* Ctrl + Shift + Esc: Open Task Manager
* Shift when you insert a CD: Prevent the CD from automatically playing
* Left Alt + Shift: Switch the input language when multiple input languages are enabled
* Ctrl + ShiftL: Switch the keyboard layout when multiple keyboard layouts are enabled
* Right or Left Ctrl + Shift: Change the reading direction of text in right-to-left reading languages

Ease of Access keyboard shortcuts

* Right Shift for eight seconds: Turn Filter Keys on and off
* Left Alt + Left Shift + PrtScn (or PrtScn): Turn High Contrast on or off
* Left Alt + Left Shift + Num Lock: Turn Mouse Keys on or off
* Shift five times: Turn Sticky Keys on or off
* Num Lock for five seconds: Turn Toggle Keys on or off
* Windows logo key + U: Open the Ease of Access Center

Windows logo key keyboard shortcuts

* Windows logo key: Open or close the Start menu.
* Windows logo key + Pause: Display the System Properties dialog box.
* Windows logo key + D: Display the desktop.
* Windows logo key + M: Minimize all windows.
* Windows logo key + Shift + M: Restore minimized windows to the desktop.
* Windows logo key + E: Open Computer.
* Windows logo key + F: Search for a file or folder.
* Ctrl + Windows logo key + F: Search for computers (if you’re on a network).
* Windows logo key + L: Lock your computer or switch users.
* Windows logo key + R: Open the Run dialog box.
* Windows logo key + T: Cycle through programs on the taskbar.
* Windows logo key + number: Start the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number. If the program is already running, switch to that program.
* Shift + Windows logo key + number: Start a new instance of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
* Ctrl + Windows logo key + number: Switch to the last active window of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
* Alt + Windows logo key + number: Open the Jump List for the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
* Windows logo key + Tab: Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D.
* Ctrl+Windows logo key + Tab: Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D.
* Ctrl+Windows logo key + B: Switch to the program that displayed a message in the notification area.
* Windows logo key + Spacebar: Preview the desktop.
* Windows logo key + Up Arrow: Maximize the window.
* Windows logo key + Left Arrow: Maximize the window to the left side of the screen.
* Windows logo key + Right Arrow: Maximize the window to the right side of the screen.
* Windows logo key + Down Arrow: Minimize the window.
* Windows logo key + Home: Minimize all but the active window.
* Windows logo key + Shift + Up Arrow: Stretch the window to the top and bottom of the screen.
* Windows logo key + Shift+ Left Arrow or Right Arrow: Move a window from one monitor to another.
* Windows logo key + P: Choose a presentation display mode.
* Windows logo key + G: Cycle through gadgets.
* Windows logo key + U: Open Ease of Access Center.
* Windows logo key + X: Open Windows Mobility Center.

Dialog box keyboard shortcuts

* Ctrl + Tab: Move forward through tabs
* Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Move back through tabs
* Tab: Move forward through options
* Shift + Tab: Move back through options
* Alt + underlined letter: Perform the command (or select the option) that goes with that letter
* Enter: Replaces clicking the mouse for many selected commands
* Spacebar: Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box
* Arrow keys: Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons
* F1: Display Help
* F4: Display the items in the active list
* Backspace: Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box

Taskbar keyboard shortcuts

* Shift + Click on a taskbar button: Open a program or quickly open another instance of a program
* Ctrl + Shift + Click on a taskbar button: Open a program as an administrator
* Shift + Right-click on a taskbar button: Show the window menu for the program
* Shift + Right-click on a grouped taskbar button: Show the window menu for the group
* Ctrl + Click on a grouped taskbar button: Cycle through the windows of the group

Windows Explorer keyboard shortcuts

* Ctrl + N: Open a new window
* Ctrl + W: Close the current window
* Ctrl + Shift + N: Create a new folder
* End: Display the bottom of the active window
* Home: Display the top of the active window
* F11: Maximize or minimize the active window
* Ctrl + Period (.): Rotate a picture clockwise
* Ctrl + Comma (,): Rotate a picture counter-clockwise
* Num Lock + Asterisk (*) on numeric keypad: Display all subfolders under the selected folder
* Num Lock + Plus Sign (+) on numeric keypad: Display the contents of the selected folder
* Num Lock + Minus Sign (-) on numeric keypad: Collapse the selected folder
* Left Arrow: Collapse the current selection (if it’s expanded), or select the parent folder
* Alt + Enter: Open the Properties dialog box for the selected item
* Alt + P: Display the preview pane
* Alt + Left Arrow: View the previous folder
* Backspace: View the previous folder
* Right Arrow: Display the current selection (if it’s collapsed), or select the first subfolder
* Alt + Right Arrow: View the next folder
* Alt + Up Arrow: View the parent folder
* Ctrl + Shift + E: Display all folders above the selected folder
* Ctrl + Mouse scroll wheel: Change the size and appearance of file and folder icons
* Alt + D: Select the address bar
* Ctrl + E: Select the search box
* Ctrl + F: Select the search box

Magnifier keyboard shortcuts

* Windows logo key + Plus Sign or Minus Sign: Zoom in or out
* Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar: Preview the desktop in full-screen mode
* Ctrl + Alt + F: Switch to full-screen mode
* Ctrl + Alt + L: Switch to lens mode
* Ctrl + Alt + D: Switch to docked mode
* Ctrl + Alt + I: Invert colors
* Ctrl + Alt + arrow keys: Pan in the direction of the arrow keys
* Ctrl + Alt + R: Resize the lens
* Windows logo key + Esc: Exit Magnifier

Paint keyboard shortcuts

* Ctrl + N: Create a new picture
* Ctrl + O: Open an existing picture
* Ctrl + S: Save changes to a picture
* F12: Save the picture as a new file
* Ctrl + P: Print a picture
* Alt + F4: Close a picture and its Paint window
* Ctrl + Z: Undo a change
* Ctrl + Y: Redo a change
* Ctrl + A: Select the entire picture
* Ctrl + X: Cut a selection
* Ctrl + C: Copy a selection to the Clipboard
* Ctrl + V: Paste a selection from the Clipboard
* Right Arrow: Move the selection or active shape right by one pixel
* Left Arrow: Move the selection or active shape left by one pixel
* Down Arrow: Move the selection or active shape down by one pixel
* Up Arrow: Move the selection or active shape up by one pixel
* Esc: Cancel a selection
* Delete: Delete a selection
* Ctrl + B: Bold selected text
* Ctrl + +: Increase the width of a brush, line, or shape outline by one pixel
* Ctrl + -: Decrease the width of a brush, line, or shape outline by one pixel
* Ctrl + I: Italicize selected text
* Ctrl + U: Underline selected text
* Ctrl + E: Open the Properties dialog box
* Ctrl + W: Open the Resize and Skew dialog box
* Ctrl + Page Up: Zoom in
* Ctrl + Page Down: Zoom out
* F11: View a picture in full-screen mode
* Ctrl + R: Show or hide the ruler
* Ctrl + G: Show or hide gridlines
* F10 or Alt: Display keytips
* Shift + F10: Show the current shortcut menu
* F1: Open Paint Help

Remote Desktop Connection keyboard shortcuts

* Alt + Page Up: Move between programs from left to right.
* Alt + Page Down: Move between programs from right to left.
* Alt + Insert: Cycle through programs in the order that they were started in.
* Alt + Home: Display the Start menu.
* Ctrl + Alt + Break: Switch between a window and full screen.
* Ctrl + Alt + End: Display the Windows Security dialog box.
* Alt + Delete: Display the system menu.
* Ctrl + Alt + Minus Sign (-) on the numeric keypad: Place a copy of the active window, within the client, on the Terminal server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing Alt + PrtScn on a local computer).
* Ctrl + Alt + Plus Sign (+) on the numeric keypad: Place a copy of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing PrtScn on a local computer).
* Ctrl + Alt + Right Arrow: “Tab” out of the Remote Desktop controls to a control in the host program (for example, a button or a text box). Useful when the Remote Desktop controls are embedded in another (host) program.
* Ctrl + Alt + Left Arrow: “Tab” out of the Remote Desktop controls to a control in the host program (for example, a button or a text box). Useful when the Remote Desktop controls are embedded in another (host) program.

Calculator keyboard shortcuts

* Alt + 1: Switch to Standard mode
* Alt + 2: Switch to Scientific mode
* Alt + 3: Switch to Programmer mode
* Alt + 4: Switch to Statistics mode
* Ctrl + E: Open date calculations
* Ctrl + H: Turn calculation history on or off
* Ctrl + U: Open unit conversion
* Alt + C: Calculate or solve date calculations and worksheets
* F1: Open Calculator Help
* Ctrl + Q: Press the M- button
* Ctrl + P: Press the M+ button
* Ctrl + M: Press the MS button
* Ctrl + R: Press the MR button
* Ctrl + L: Press the MC button
* %: Press the % button
* F9: Press the +/– button
* /: Press the / button
* *: Press the * button
* +: Press the + button
* -: Press the – button
* R: Press the 1/× button
* @: Press the square root button
* 0-9: Press the number buttons (0-9)
* =: Press the = button
* .: Press the . (decimal point) button
* Backspace: Press the backspace button
* Esc: Press the C button
* Del: Press the CE button
* Ctrl + Shift + D: Clear the calculation history
* F2: Edit the calculation history
* Up Arrow key: Navigate up in the calculation history
* Down Arrow key: Navigate down in the calculation history
* Esc: Cancel editing the calculation history
* Enter: Recalculate the calculation history after editing
* F3: Select Degrees in Scientific mode
* F4: Select Radians in Scientific mode
* F5: Select Grads in Scientific mode
* I: Press the Inv button in Scientific mode
* D: Press the Mod button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + S: Press the sinh button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + O: Press the cosh button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + T: Press the tanh button in Scientific mode
* (: Press the ( button in Scientific mode
* ): Press the ) button in Scientific mode
* N: Press the ln button in Scientific mode
* ;: Press the Int button in Scientific mode
* S: Press the sin button in Scientific mode
* O: Press the cos button in Scientific mode
* T: Press the tan button in Scientific mode
* M: Press the dms button in Scientific mode
* P: Press the pi button in Scientific mode
* V: Press the F-E button in Scientific mode
* X: Press the Exp button in Scientific mode
* Q: Press the x^2 button in Scientific mode
* Y: Press the x^y button in Scientific mode
* #: Press the x^3 button in Scientific mode
* L: Press the log button in Scientific mode
* !: Press the n! button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + Y: Press the y?x button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + B: Press the 3?x button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + G: Press the 10x button in Scientific mode
* F5: Select Hex in Programmer mode
* F6: Select Dec in Programmer mode
* F7: Select Oct in Programmer mode
* F8: Select Bin in Programmer mode
* F12: Select Qword in Programmer mode
* F2: Select Dword in Programmer mode
* F3: Select Word in Programmer mode
* F4: Select Byte in Programmer mode
* K: Press the RoR button in Programmer mode
* J: Press the RoL button in Programmer mode
* <: Press the Lsh button in Programmer mode
* >: Press the Rsh button in Programmer mode
* %: Press the Mod button in Programmer mode
* (: Press the ( button in Programmer mode
* ): Press the ) button in Programmer mode
* |: Press the Or button in Programmer mode
* ^: Press the Xor button in Programmer mode
* ~: Press the Not button in Programmer mode
* &: Press the And button in Programmer mode
* A-F: Press the A-F buttons in Programmer mode
* Spacebar: Toggles the bit value in Programmer mode
* A: Press the Average button in Statistics mode
* Ctrl + A: Press the Average Sq button in Statistics mode
* S: Press the Sum button in Statistics mode
* Ctrl + S: Press the Sum Sq button in Statistics mode
* T: Press the S.D. button in Statistics mode
* Ctrl + T: Press the Inv S.D. button in Statistics mode
* D: Press the CAD button in Statistics mode

WordPad keyboard shortcuts

* Ctrl + N: Create a new document
* Ctrl + O: Open an existing document
* Ctrl + S: Save changes to a document
* F12: Save the document as a new file
* Ctrl + P: Print a document
* Alt + F4: Close WordPad
* Ctrl + Z: Undo a change
* Ctrl + Y: Redo a change
* Ctrl + A: Select the entire document
* Ctrl + X: Cut a selection
* Ctrl + C: Copy a selection to the Clipboard
* Ctrl + V: Paste a selection from the Clipboard
* Ctrl + B: Make selected text bold
* Ctrl + I: Italicize selected text
* Ctrl + U: Underline selected text
* Ctrl + =: Make selected text subscript
* Ctrl + Shift + =: Make selected text superscript
* Ctrl + L: Align text left
* Ctrl + E Align text center
* Ctrl + R:: Align text right
* Ctrl + J: Justify text
* Ctrl + 1: Set single line spacing
* Ctrl + 2: Set double line spacing
* Ctrl + 5: Set line spacing to 1.5
* Ctrl + Shift + >: Increase the font size
* Ctrl + Shift + <: Decrease the font size
* Ctrl + Shift + A: Change characters to all capitals
* Ctrl + Shift + L: Change the bullet style
* Ctrl + D: Insert a Microsoft Paint drawing
* Ctrl + F: Find text in a document
* F3: Find the next instance of the text in the Find dialog box
* Ctrl + H: Replace text in a document
* Ctrl + Left Arrow: Move the cursor one word to the left
* Ctrl + Right Arrow: Move the cursor one word to the right
* Ctrl + Up Arrow: Move the cursor to the line above
* Ctrl + Down Arrow: Move the cursor to the line below
* Ctrl + Home: Move to the beginning of the document
* Ctrl + End: Move to the end of the document
* Ctrl + Page Up: Move up one page
* Ctrl + Page Down: Move down one page
* Ctrl + Delete: Delete the next word
* F10: Display keytips
* Shift + F10: Show the current shortcut menu
* F1: Open WordPad Help

Windows Help viewer keyboard shortcuts

* Alt + C: Display the Table of Contents
* Alt + N: Display the Connection Settings menu
* F10: Display the Options menu
* Alt + Left Arrow: Move back to the previously viewed topic
* Alt + Right Arrow: Move forward to the next (previously viewed) topic
* Alt + A: Display the customer support page
* Alt + Home: Display the Help and Support home page
* Home: Move to the beginning of a topic
* End: Move to the end of a topic
* Ctrl + F: Search the current topic
* Ctrl + P: Print a topic
* F3: Move the cursor to the searchbox

Windows Journal keyboard shortcuts

* Ctrl + N: Start a new note
* Ctrl + O: Open a recently used note
* Ctrl + S: Save changes to a note
* Ctrl + Shift + V: Move a note to a specific folder
* Ctrl + P: Print a note
* Alt + F4: Close a note and its Journal window
* Ctrl + Z: Undo a change
* Ctrl + Y: Redo a change
* Ctrl + A: Select all items on a page
* Ctrl + X: Cut a selection
* Ctrl + C: Copy a selection to the Clipboard
* Ctrl + V: Paste a selection from the Clipboard
* Esc: Cancel a selection
* Delete: Delete a selection
* Ctrl + F: Start a basic find
* Ctrl + G: Go to a page
* F5: Refresh find results
* F5: Refresh the note list
* F6: Toggle between a note list and a note
* Ctrl + Shift + C: Display a shortcut menu for column headings in a note list
* F11: View a note in full-screen mode
* F1: Open Journal Help

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