Feb 26
Windows Without the Mouse
Jason Cooper
I’ve been a C/D/H consultant for five years. I have the dual distinction of being both C/D/H’s first Southeast Michigan consultant AND our first VMware Certified Professional. Specializing in desktop management and virtualization, projects involving MetaFrame or ZENworks or VMware expose me to almost every corner of the enterprise, from messaging to networking to collaboration.
Technology is what I work at. Family and music are what I work for. In my copious spare time I enjoy gardening, camping, and cycling. I play guitar and a little harmonica, sometimes simultaneously. It occurs to me that I could duct tape a tambourine to my knee, but that would just be too weird.
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Here are a few of my favorite keyboard shortcuts to help you keep those fingers on the home row.
- Ctrl+Esc ~ This “clicks” the Start button on the taskbar
- Ctrl+Shift+Esc ~ Open Task Manager
- [Windows Key]+R ~ Opens the “Run” dialog from the Start Menu
- [Windows Key]+D ~ Minimizes all Windows (show desktop) -or- restores previously minimized Windows
- [Windows Key]+L ~ Locks the desktop (as if screen saver engaged)
- Ctrl+E ~ In Internet Explorer 7 and above (and Firefox) homes the cursor on the Search Bar
- F11 ~ In Internet Explorer, switches to full screen mode
- PrntScrn ~ Captures an image of the screen to the Windows clipboard
- Alt+PrntScrn ~ Captures an image of the active window to the Windows clipboard
- [Windows Key]+S ~ If you have OneNote installed, activates the screen capture function of OneNote
If you’re a user of Terminal Services (aka Remote Desktop) some keyboard shortcuts only work in full screen mode. There are a few alternatives which can be useful.
- Ctrl+Alt+End ~ Sends Ctrl+Alt+Delete to the RDP session , opening the Windows Security dialog box
- Ctrl+Alt+Break ~ Toggles the Terminal Services client display from window to full screen
- Alt+Insert ~ Cycles through running programs on the remote computer (Alt+TAB in the RDP Session)
- Alt+Home ~ Displays the remote computer’s Start menu
- Ctrl+Alt+Minus (on number pad) ~ Captures an image of the active window to the Windows clipboard to the remote Windows clipboard ( Alt+PrntScrn in the RDP session)
- Ctrl+Alt+Plus (on number pad) ~ Captures an image of the remote session screen to the remote Windows clipboard (PrntScrn in the RDP session)
And for Citrix users, here a few ICA equivalent keystrokes.
- Shift+F1 ~ Displays the remote computer’s Start menu
- Shift+F2 ~ Toggles the display of the Windows title bar
- Shift+F3 ~ Closes remote application
- Ctrl+F1 ~ Sends Ctrl+Alt+Delete to the ICA session , opening the Windows Security dialog box
- Ctrl+F2 ~ Displays the remote computer’s Start menu
- Ctrl+F3 ~ Displays the Task Manager in the ICA session.
The Windows Help system in both XP and Vista has lots of keyboard tips right at your fingertips. Just search for “keyboard shortcuts”. Here are some links to get you started.
Keyboard shortcuts for Windows