Modern computers really are getting faster. But it's been said that until things happen instantaneously, they’re not fast enough. Even at the Help Desk, the "clicks", the mouse drags, opening programs... They all seem to start taking longer and longer after a while. 
So what can be done to speed things up?
Keyboard shortcuts can be used to cut down on the number of mouse clicks and the time spent moving through options. Windows comes with several useful shortcuts.
One I use every day is a shortcut to open Windows Explorer to browse for files - hold down the Windows key and press "E" (Win+E). This is the equivalent of opening "My Computer".
Win+D minimizes all programs, so that you can see the Desktop ("D" for desktop). This is handy when you need to find a file on your desktop fast. Conversely, if you want access to a file on your desktop, and don’t want to minimize all your windows, press Win+E to open Windows Explorer and then select “Desktop”. Your desktop is just another folder in Windows and you can work on it like any other folder in Windows Explorer.
Have a bunch of Windows open and you want to switch to one that's buried? Press Alt+Tab to switch to another window. If you like, you can press and hold the Alt key and then tap the Tab key. Windows will pop up a display showing your open windows and you can select which one you like. This keyboard shortcut becomes really handy if you have two windows that you need to switch back and forth between, say if you’re copying and pasting a bunch of elements. When you press Alt+Tab, it always goes back to the last open window, so even if you have a lot of windows open, you can use Alt+Tab to just switch between your two most recent. You can also hold down the shift key to go backwards – Shift+Alt+Tab. With Vista and Windows 7 (with the Aero 3D GUI enabled), you can press Win+Tab for a neat 3D way of picking a window.
Want to close a bunch of windows? Start pressing Alt+F4 - that's the keyboard shortcut for closing a program. Every time you press Alt+F4 another program closes, so you can repeatedly tap Alt+F4 and eventually have all your programs closed.
Pressing Win+L will lock your computer so it’s protected while you’re away from it. Nobody can access your computer without putting in your password. This is handy for quick trips to the kitchen for coffee. This is a case where the keyboard shortcut is much quicker than the combination of mouse clicks and keyboard presses normally needed to lock your computer.
Win+R opens the “run” dialog box. We use this a lot at Help Desk to get to the command prompt (type cmd and press enter), or to open Windows Explorer to a known location (you can type in a path to open it, i.e. C:\Windows).
Cntl+C and cntl+V can be used to copy and paste in most programs and in Windows. Highlight or select something (you can use cntl+A to "select all") and press cntl+C to copy it. Cntl+X is the same as "cut", when you want to move something instead of copy it. Then switch to the program you want to paste into and hit cntl+V to paste what you copied or cut. This also works in Windows Explorer and is handy for copying or moving files.
Cntl+Z is handy as it invokes "un-do" in most programs. So if you're typing or pasting a bunch of text and didn't get what you expected, just tap cntl+Z to undo the mistake.
F5 is used to invoke “refresh” on many programs, including Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer. You can also use the backspace key in IE to go back to the previous page.
Finally, it’s possible to create your own keyboard shortcuts to launch files and applications. The only caveat is that the file (or a shortcut to that file) must exist on your desktop. Start by right-clicking on any icon on your desktop and selecting “properties”. About half way down the shortcut tab, you will see “Shortcut key:”. Click in that field and press the shortcut key combination that you would like to assign to that icon. It has to be ctrl+alt plus any other key. So let’s say you have an Excel spreadsheet called “my log.xls” on your desktop. You might assign ctrl+alt+L to that icon. Then when you press that combination, that file will open.
Robert Wakefield
Sr. System Engineer