Monday, July 30, 2001		Article

Press Shift + F10 for context menu
Vipul Verma

MOST persons often customise themselves according to the default Windows settings rather than customising Windows according to their needs. One common example of this could be the case of Auto-play function in some CDs. Many persons who wish to explore the CD, which is designed for auto-play, either wait for the CD to load itself first or try to stop playing it by whatever means.

By using a simple trick, you can easily suspend the auto-play feature and use the CD the way you want. The simple trick is to press and hold down the Shift key while inserting the CD. This will bypass the auto-play function temporarily. There are several other tips, which help using the software better. For example, in case of the Internet Explorer, if you wish to access the Address bar and also wish to see the contents in the drop down menu, then all you need to do is press F4. This will open the full address bar on your desktop, including the drop down list. This function does not only apply to the Internet explorer only but also applies to any folder window.

Normally, we create short cuts by dragging the icon from program Window to the desktop. But each icon, which is dragged, does not become a short cut. Well! This is due to the properties of the icon, which is being dragged. While dragging you can make out whether you are making a short cut or are moving the icon altogether from the program Windows to the desktop. Thus, while dragging icons an arrow inside the white box means it will become a shortcut when you drop it. Similarly, a plus sign (+) would mean you're copying the icon from the source to destination. But if you do not see any sign at all that is neither plus sign nor arrow, then this would mean you're moving the icon. So now you can utilise the drag-and-drop feature in a better and more effective way.

There are many other tips and tricks, which can prove to be effective in day-to-day Windows operations. If you wish to close all open folders in the path to the folder, all the way to the root then the easiest way is to hold down the Shift key while closing a folder. Similarly, if you wish to explore the context menu of the currently selected item, that is the menu that you get by clicking the right mouse button, then simply Press Shift + F10. This will open the quick context menu on your screen. It is easy to use mouse in some cases. But having a good command on keyboard also plays a great role in overall efficient ways.

For example, the Windows button on your keyboard is actually a great thing. It has numerous functions, which normally persons are not aware of. Using this key (Windows Key) in combination with other keys can help you perform many tasks effortlessly. Following are some of the key combinations using the Windows key.

Key Combination Result

Find All Files Windows Key+F

Find Computer Ctrl+Windows Key+F

Help Windows Key+F1

Display the Run command Windows Key+R

Display the Start menu Windows Key

Display the System Properties Windows Key+Pause

dialog box

Display Windows Explorer Windows Key+E

Minimize or restore all windows Windows Key+D

Minimize all open windows Windows Key+M

Undo minimise all windows Shift+Windows Key+M

These are some of the functions of the Windows key, which people normally do not use and few of those, who use normally use it, do so for invoking the Start menu. Using these shortcuts, you can make the best use of not just the Windows key, but can also use your keyboard most effectively.

Computer users for long have been asking for the procedure for removing the contents in the Media player viewed so far as at times, you may not wish to share your media file with other computer users. The solution for this problem is mentioned here in, but before we proceed, it is advised to first make the copy of your registry as this procedure would require some changes in registry.

Normally, default Windows media player keep a list of all recent video and audio files that you have played and also any streaming media you have viewed or listened to over the Internet. This could prove risky, as it could be a privacy hazard. The Windows Media player does not offer a feature to remove the list of the files last viewed but by carrying out some changes in registry, these files can be removed. Normally the most recent list of files, which is normally played by the media player are stored under below mentioned registry keys:

REGEDIT4

[-HKEY_USERS\ .Default\ Software\ Microsoft\ MediaPlayer\ Player\ RecentFileList]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ MediaPlayer\ Player\ RecentFileList]

For removing the last play list, simply copy the above entries in the Notepad, and save it as NOPLAY.REG. Now replace the ".Default" string above with your Windows operating system user's name if any. Run it from Start button -> Settings > Taskbar > Advanced > Add > type/paste this command line (to import the REG file in "silent" mode): REGEDIT /S C:\ REGFILES\ NOPLAY.REG then click Next > scroll down to Startup > highlight Startup > click Next > click Finish, to empty your recent WMP history every time Windows GUI loads. Now you must make sure first that you exit WMP first. If WMP is open, it will rewrite the current history list into the Registry upon closing. Now this will eliminate your play list of media player. You can also create a DOS batch file (i.e. NOPLAY.BAT) with these lines:

@%windir\ %REGEDIT /S C:\ REGFILES\ NOPLAY.REG

@C:\ Program Files\ Windows Media Player\ WMPLAYER if using WMP7, or with these lines:@%windir\ %REGEDIT /S C:\ REGFILES\ NOPLAY.REG

@C:\ Program Files\ Windows Media Player\ MPLAYER2 if using WMP6, and then make a short cut to it. Change the paths if different on your PC.