I didn't know you could do this!

[Guest theeldergeek]

I've been using Windows since circa 3.11 but I had no idea that if you double click in the top left of the active window's title bar, you can close the window.

 

Just found out by chance whilst reading something on another forum.

 

You learn something new everyday

[AngryTechnician]

Yep, that was in fact the fastest way of closing a window in 3.11 (other than Alt+F4) as the X in the top-right wasn't introduced until Windows 95.

 

It still works on Office 2007 programs, even though the standard icon menu there has been replaced by the ribbon orb.

[laserblazer]

I didn't know this; if you drag a girl back to your cave by her hair, rather than dashing her brains out with a club, she is better able to do the cooking and washing (plus any other little extras you might have in mind).

[AngryTechnician]

if you drag a girl back to your cave by her hair, rather than dashing her brains out with a club, she is better able to do the cooking and washing

Where were you six months ago? I could have avoided a quite costly jury-rigging exercise had I known this last November!

[Ignatius]

Check out Alt-Space too - it's a variation on the theme of using the left corner of the title bar.

 

also:

 

Double click anwhere on the body of the title bar.

[enjay]

Double click anwhere on the body of the title bar.

 

Yeah, I'm always surprised by the look on people's faces when I do this to maximise something - it is like I've just pulled a rabbit out of my ar... um, I mean a sack! Also, in Win7 you can drag the window to the top of the screen to maximise it, but this strikes me as being slower.

 

Other "common" shortcuts which a lot of people don't seem to know are Ctrl+A and Alt+Tab (also Win+Tab in Win7, but again this seems slower).

 

For those of you with Smart boards, also show the teachers the "right click button" on the pen tray.

[Ric_]

Don't forget the new 'shake the window' feature in Windows 7... it serves little point but it's really cool!

[enjay]

Don't forget the new 'shake the window' feature in Windows 7... it serves little point but it's really cool!

 

I've actually used it before, when I needed a student to look at a fairly small window on my screen and I had something slightly sensitive open behind it. The 'shake the window' thing allowed me to minimise the other window without ever giving it focus, so the student never saw what it was.

 

Plus, as you say, it is quite cool!

[AngryTechnician]

Don't forget the new 'shake the window' feature in Windows 7... it serves little point but it's really cool!

There's a keyboard shortcut for that too : Win+Home

 

DaveP posted this last year but it's worth repeating: Windows 7 Keyboard shortcuts

[maniac]

I only found out about a year ago that if you right hand click 'My Computer' and goto properties, you get the system part of control panel - previously to this I've always gone through control panel for it.

[ZeroHour]

I only found out about a year ago that if you right hand click 'My Computer' and goto properties, you get the system part of control panel - previously to this I've always gone through control panel for it.

 

And you also have the "Manage" option there that gets you into computer manager quickly.

[sidewinder]

Probably should have read this better - thought it said it minimizes the window, not closes it.

Did it and lost a Dell server configuration I'd been doing

[Gerry]

For a number of Control Panel items, I usually open them through Start->Run or rather Windows+R:

 

Add/Remove Programs = appwiz.cpl

Computer Managment = compmgmt.msc

Disk Managment = diskmgmt.msc

Local users and groups = lusrmgr.msc

Edited March 1, 2010 by Gerry

[ZeroHour]

Probably should have read this better - thought it said it minimizes the window, not closes it.

Did it and lost a Dell server configuration I'd been doing

 

LOL, ul

[vikpaw]

all the good examples are gone now, but what about F2 to rename the focussed item...

[srochford]

The F2 key is useful in all sorts of places - as you say, it renames files etc but it also is used in Excel and Access to start editing in a cell.

 

I reckon you should always press every key, left click, right click, double click on every object just to see what it does - that way you can often learn new and exciting things :-)

[elsiegee40]

I reckon you should always press every key, left click, right click, double click on every object just to see what it does - that way you can often learn new and exciting things :-)

 

 

Hmmmm! Probably won't be taking that bit of advice... "new" and "exciting" could well result in !

[enjay]

Shift+Click and Ctrl+Click when selecting multiple files - I'm sure we all know that one, but many users don't.

 

Also, triple-clicking to select an entire paragraph.

 

I keep meaning to write a cheat-sheet with all these on, but I wonder how many people would actually read it!

[webman]

One of the less useful shortcuts (in XP that I know of) is Alt + Esc: lowers the current window. More info here: Alt-Tab - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

I've known about the top-left icon one for a while, and regularly make use of Alt+Space and the underlined letter to execute the minimise/maximise/close-window functions.

[enjay]

Win+M minimises too. Why so many different ways to do the same thing?

 

Win+L locks the computer - I use that one whenever I walk away from my PC, and encourage those staff with longer time-outs on their screensavers to do likewise.

[Gerry]

Windows+D : view desktop - similar to Win+M, but press it again and all your windows are restored. Edited March 1, 2010 by Gerry

[HarryMonkey]

Shift+Click and Ctrl+Click when selecting multiple files - I'm sure we all know that one, but many users don't.

 

Also, triple-clicking to select an entire paragraph.

 

I keep meaning to write a cheat-sheet with all these on, but I wonder how many people would actually read it!

 

I would! It's amazing how many of these you forget over the years.

[enjay]

I would! It's amazing how many of these you forget over the years.

 

Worth setting up a wiki page on here?

[sonofsanta]

Win+L locks the computer - I use that one whenever I walk away from my PC, and encourage those staff with longer time-outs on their screensavers to do likewise.

 

I always find that hitting Ctrl+Alt+Del and then slamming Enter to lock it has a greater satisfaction quotient, and sounds like you mean business when you walk away from your PC. "And now, it's... LOCKED!"

 

Also confirming Windows + D as the skivers best friend

 

As for a new one... hmmm... Ctrl + number to go to a certain tab in IE / FF (and possibly others) is always very handy for skipping back to GMail on tab 1 etc.

[enjay]

I always find that hitting Ctrl+Alt+Del and then slamming Enter to lock it has a greater satisfaction quotient, and sounds like you mean business when you walk away from your PC. "And now, it's... LOCKED!"

 

True, but it does take both hands to press 4 keys, rather than one hand to press 2. Also, some people think Ctrl+Alt+Del is only used in bad situations, so wouldn't do it just to lock the PC.