The "Best Windows Tip You Know" Thread

[WastedJoker]

Hello,

Here's my beginning contribution to what will hopefully be a very educational and interesting thread :)

TIP

Did you ever find yourself staring into your computer screen and see that long, hard to understand error message? Did you ever need to copy that loooong error or information text found in one of Windows' error/warning/information windows? Did you ever want to copy a command's output directly into your clipboard, and later to paste it into a different program or search engine (such as Google, TechNet etc.)?

Try this nifty trick:

1. Click on the error message (see example below) so that it is the uppermost window on your deskop.

2. Press Ctrl + C

3. Open Notepad or your favourite text editor.

4. Press CTRL + V.

Voila!

Using the above example, the layout is as follows:

---------------------------
Graphic Equalizer
---------------------------
The audio device supported by this application is not detected. The application will exit.
---------------------------
OK   
---------------------------

I've used Windows XP for ages and this is the first time I realised this could be done.

Source: http://www.petri.co.il/quickly_copy_error_...ay_messages.htm

[ConfusedFusion]

not a bad trick, didn't know that it could be done, will give it a shot the next time I get an error message....

[McSmiggins]

OK, I'm in, most people probably know it:-

Double click the volume control in the system tray to get the mixer up

Press Ctrl+S

Tada! Ain't that prettier?

(Only found it works on the Windows Mixer)

[flapjackman176]

OK, I'm in, most people probably know it:-

Double click the volume control in the system tray to get the mixer up

Press Ctrl+S

Tada! Ain't that prettier?

(Only found it works on the Windows Mixer)

lol did that on accident once and could never find out how i did it again. Thanks

[mpat1024]

McSmiggins, thats a cool trick!

[brandnewfantx]

Mcsmiggins, I havent heard/seen that in all the years of using xp.

[sn00pie]

OK, I'm in, most people probably know it:-

Double click the volume control in the system tray to get the mixer up

Press Ctrl+S

Tada! Ain't that prettier?

(Only found it works on the Windows Mixer)

That's neat! :woot:

[jimbo11883]

Neat little trick! I never use the Windows mixer window though, I use nVidia's mixer.

[whizbt77]

i think this thread has a lot of good potential. McSmiggins- very cool tip. just not very useful. As for me, i dont know many tricks in xp.

[thecableguy]

sweet :D

[h3xis]

i'm pretty sure everyone knows about this one but it's a combination that i use a lot. when you're in IE or Firefox and you want to go to a site, google for example, you can just type google in the address bar and then hit ctrl+enter and it automatically completes the whole address and takes you to the site.

[virgo89]

I can already tell, this thread is going to be a hit. Nice trick shirike and McSmiggins.

[MazX_Napalm]

Hold the Ctrl key when opening a folder to open it in a new window.

Hold the Shift key when opening a folder to open it in a new window with the folder list on the left.

Hold the Alt key when opening a folder to go to the folder properties (rather than Right-click, Properties)

[eddieboy]

Start key & pause/break opens system properties dialog.

Holding shift while pressing delete on selected items will delete them without them going to the recycle bin.

[MazX_Napalm]

WinKey+L = C+A+D Enter (ie locks the computer, for WXP and W2K3 only)

[illicit]

OK, I'm in, most people probably know it:-

Double click the volume control in the system tray to get the mixer up

Press Ctrl+S

Tada! Ain't that prettier?

(Only found it works on the Windows Mixer)

That is a pretty neat little trick. (Y)

[l0gphroe]

Properly old news, but here it goes anyway!

How to Remove the Recycle bin icon from the desktop.

Start Menu - Run - Then type 'gpedit.msc' and return

Now in the Group Policy window go to 'User Configuration' / 'Administrative Templates' / 'Desktop'

Enable 'Remove Recycle Bin icon from desktop'... tadaa :)

[Riz360]

Dont know if this is a 'trick' but its the one I used most often. But Start -> msconfig -> startup to stop pesky programs starting themselves.

[l0gphroe]

How to remove the shared folders in My Computer.

Start - Run - Regedit

Search for the string called 'DelegateFolders'

Only one hit, delete the subentry for that key! :) No restart required.

[hotdog666al]

Awesome tips guys!

Keep it up. :)

[sn00pie]

Fantastic stuff, this thread should be a sticky! :)

[Borbus]

On windows 2000 or XP with the classic logon enabled if on XP:

Press ctrl+alt+delete, then hold ctrl+shift and press the shut down button, if you now press ok your pc will turn off immediatly.

[alpha_omega]

%windir%\System32\control.exe userpasswords2

shows a more useful user accounts setup dialog

---------------------------------------------------------

to save your tcp/ip settings:

netsh interface dump > settings.txt

to restore em:

netsh exec settings.txt

to reset em:

netsh int ip reset [log_file_name]

[TurboTuna]

If you have the welcome screen enabled and want a temp classic login (maybe to logon to the administrator account that is hidden) pres CTRL + ALT + DEL twice!

[kitchenutensils]

i often use winkey + m to minimize all open windows :) alt+tab of course to get back the notification boxes that dont show up in the bar

some great shortcuts here : http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...b;en-us;q126449

EDIT: thats weird - the MS page isnt showin up properly in ffx :s oh well use IETab to view it