This page is as much a set of reminders for myself as for anyone else, but if it is helpful to you, you are welcome!
Computer Tips and Tricks
Windows (XP)
A list of useful (but not well-documented) programs built into Microsoft Windows. These can all be run from the CMD line, or directly through RUN:
msconfig (change startup options, reversibly)
ipconfig (needs a window - use CMD; see current IP Address, subnet mask, and default gateway)
Some other potentially useful tricks can be found here.
For my fellow mouse-haters, here's a list of Windows keyboard shortcuts. A handy one that's missing from this list is that hitting PrintScreen in windows copies a screenshot to the clipboard. Holding down the ALT key while hitting PrintScreen copies to the content of your currently acitve window to the clipboard. If you are running Google's (free) Picassa Image Software when you do it, it will automatically be brought into Picassa, making it a snap to print. I do this routinely with Google Maps, as I want what it shows on the screen rather than the junk it sends to the printer if I click print!
Other computer tricks:
Actually, here's a keyboard shortcut in most
browsers that can be really handy, especailly as we all get older (or
if we have good eyes and a tiny screen):
You can generally scale
the font on a webpage by using whatever that computer uses as a command
key (CTRL on a PC, Command/Apple on a Mac) and the + or - keys (on either the
keypad or the top row).
Need a graphic image of a PDF file, but don't have the full-blown Acrobat? Take a screenshot!
One more thing:
I had a crazy time with the sound going out on a Latitude D600 Laptop. In order to make what I learned more searchable, I've given it its own page.
Macintosh (OS X)
Essential shortcuts:
Force Quit: Right-click(really - click on the right side of the mouse) or Command-(left)-click on the application icon in the dock, or Command-Option-Escape
Screen Capture: Variations on the theme of Command-shift-3 (whole screen) and Command-shift-4 (selected region), adding Control to put the image on the clipboard rather than saving to a .PNG file on the desktop
A complete list of keyboard shortcuts: http://support.apple.com/kb/