Basic Operations

Adding SendTo Context Menu to Favorites

Click the Start button, click Run, type "sendto" (without the quotes) in the dialog box, and click OK. The SendTo menu opens as icons for shortcuts to be added such as a shortcut to Notepad and Paint. Now select Favorites from the menu bar and "add" this window to your favorites. This makes it easily accessible to update with other shortcuts.

An Easy Way to Close Applications

As you know, you can close an opened application by pressing Alt+F4. Actually, there is another method, by pressing Alt+spacebar then followed by C.

Bigger Dialog Boxes

Probably you didn't realize that Common Dialogs inside an application (Notepad, Paint, etc), such as File - Open and File - Save As boxes are now resizable in the Windows 9X/Me. Just look in the lower right-hand corner for that familiar Explorer-like resize handle. Now, you can see more than just a handful of files when you're in those dialogs.

Closing All Your Applications Fast

Use this tip to close all opened applications quickly. Click the Start-Run menu, type Taskman, and then click OK to open the Task Manager application. Press and hold the SHIFT key, click the first application from the list, click the last application, and then click the Windows - End Task menu. You can also create a shortcut to the Task

Manager in the Start menu.

Are you tired to close your running applications one by one? Just select Shutdown from the Start menu and pick the "Close all programs and log on as a different user?" option. Then log back on as the same user.

Creating Hot Keys

As an alternative to activate a Windows 9X/Me application, you can create hot keys. To create a hot key, right-click an application shortcut, choose Properties, click Shortcut tab, and then type a letter in the Shortcut key box (for example W for Word). Automatically, Windows 9X/Me will use the CTRL+ALT+W keys as the hot keys.

Date Information

To get information about the current time, you only need to see the clock at the right corner of Taskbar. How to see the today date? Move your mouse pointer to the clock and wait a moment. Date, month, and year will appear for several seconds and then disappear.

Don't Recycle My Files

You have several secret files that you do not want to keep them in the Recycle Bin. To do so, press the Shift key while you press the Del key or click the Delete menu.

Faster Quick View

Do you want to see your document previews faster? Open Windows Explorer, and then activate the Quick View application to see the first file's content. For the next files you can drag the file icons directly into the Quick View window. For easier operation, both windows (Explorer and Quick View) can be tilled vertically on the screen. If you only want to see bitmap, jpeg or gif files, open the Paint window instead of Quick View. The same method can be applied in Media Player to see multimedia files (wave, midi, avi, etc.) or NotePad for text file (*.txt).

Faster New Documents

To get faster new documents, right-click an empty space on the Windows 9X/Me desktop. From the pop-up menu choose New, and then from the list select the type of your new document. On the desktop will appear a shortcut icon. Rename this shortcut if it is necessary, and then double-click on it to start creating the new document.

How to Delete Files from Floppy & Zip Disks

As you know when you delete a file from a floppy, it is gone forever. Same problem occurs with zip disks. To get around this problem, first create a folder on the C:/ drive called "Deleted File". Create a shortcut to "Deleted File" and cut/paste it into the Windows/Send to folder. Paste another shortcut to "Deleted File" on the Desktop [Optional]. Now whenever one wants to delete files from a floppy or zip disk, send them to Deleted File first. You can delete them later.

Microsoft Natural Keyboard Shortcuts

The Winkey is between Ctrl & Alt on the left side, and Menu & Alt on the right side of your keyboard. As you now, if you press the Winkey the Start Menu will be opened instantly. More than that, you can use it to simplify other tasks. For examples:

Launches Start button (Winkey)
Display the Run dialog box (Winkey + R)
Minimize all windows currently open (Winkey + M)
Undo Minimize all windows (Winkey + Shift + M)
Start Help (Winkey + F1)
Start Explorer (Winkey + E)
Start Find Files/Folders dialog box (Winkey + F)
Start Find Computer dialog box (CTRL + Winkey + F)