If you’re like me, you like to use the keyboard for most, if not all, of your OS navigation tasks. It’s merely a personal preference, but I’d much rather use a keystroke sequence than have to remove a hand from the keyboard (I use my right hand for mousing), move the mouse, and return it. It just seems faster to me — and maybe it allows me to rely less on hand-eye coordination, which, admittedly, is less sharp now that I have much less time to spend gaming

Here are just a couple keyboard shortcuts that I’ve learned of from colleagues or come across on my own:

Ctrl+Esc
Opens the Start menu

Windows Logo
Opens the Start menu

Ctrl+Alt+Delete
Then – Displays the Windows Security window

Now – Displays LogOn screen including Lock Computer, Switch User, LogOff, Change a Password and Task Manager

Print Screen
Copies the full screen image to the Windows Clipboard

Alt+Print Screen
Copies the selected window’s image to the Windows Clipboard

Alt+Double-Click
Displays property sheet for the selected item

Alt+Enter
Displays property sheet for the selected object

Shift
Hold when loading disk to prevent AutoPlay application

Shift+F10
Same as right-click

Shift+Right-Click
Shows alternative commands for the selected object

I now find myself using many of these more and more often, especially given my inclination toward using the keyboard instead of the mouse whenever possible.

One of the great things about Windows Vista is the context-sensitivity applied to many actions. For example, think of how the Slide Show command appears in a window’s toolbar when viewing a window containing photos; or, how right-clicking a photo displays rotation options in the resulting menu. In the case of the shortcuts above, notice that when you Shift+Right-Click an .XLSX spreadsheet or .DOCX document, the Open as Read-Only option appears, which is not the case when doing the same to a .PPTX slide deck. And for all of these file types, the Copy as Path option is displayed upon Shift+Right-Click, which can be very handy if you’re looking for the fully-qualified path to the document — say, in the case of creating a hyperlink to it.

There are surely more shortcuts that I’ve yet to discover. What are some of the keyboard or other shortcuts you rely on regularly in Windows Vista? Share your tips in the Comments section and give us a chance to learn from one another!

Source: Exploring keyboard shortcuts in Windows Vista
Originally published on Thu, 12 Apr 2007 17:58:00 GMT by Nick White

Today’s tip comes from one of the writers on the SBS team. Thanks Stephen!
To make your Remote Desktop connection span multiple monitors, try this command line:
“mstsc %nameOfPc% /span”
Hope this helps!

Copyright Sean Daniel. The data on the website is available “AS IS” with no warranties and confers no rights.

Source: Want to use Remote Desktop to Span Monitors?
Originally published on Mon, 23 Apr 2007 04:44:44 GMT by Sean Daniel