Filed under: Windows, Productivity
Windows power-user tips that you might not know about
by Jordan Running Sep 27th 2006 at 1:40PM
Windows power-users are a fickle bunch, and to them the average list of "super-secret Windows tips" is about as fresh as the average Windows ME install. I found a surprising number of gems, however, in this Joel on Software discussion thread. Did you know, for example, that in Microsoft word you can type =rand() anywhere and it will be replaced with filler text (more if you put a number in the parentheses)? Or that Alt+Esc sends the active window the the background? Or that Shift+* will expand all of the subdirectories in a directory tree? Advice is also proffered in the form of registry tweaks and downloadable utilities. Post your own super ninja Windows tips in your comments.
With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet.
They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
GreeneBastard said 4:09PM on 9-27-2006
Super ninja windows tip #1......
LINUX!!!
Hahahahaha!
GB
Reply
duke hafa said 4:18PM on 9-27-2006
old stuff
=rand(x,y)
x = # of paragraphs
y = # of sentences
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog, sure Microsoft, that brown fox did pooped all over your ie, we knew it already
Reply
hubs said 11:39PM on 9-27-2006
window key + e
window key + d
good stuff
Reply
Zaine Ridling said 11:06PM on 9-27-2006
Doesn't work in Word 2007. :-(
Reply
LazyMegaMan said 12:34AM on 9-28-2006
You'd think this kinda stuff would come in the manual...
Reply
Jeroen said 2:42AM on 9-28-2006
Has anyone ever had that he ACCIDENTLY HIT THE CAPS KEY?
If you select the text in word and press SHIFT+F3 it will become lowercase with a first capital in each word. Hit Shift+F3 again and it will all be lower case. Saves time of typing it again
Reply
Sergio said 3:19PM on 9-28-2006
A very undiscoverable trick is to right-click-drag files from one folder to another.. instead of moving or copying, after you release the right button, it'll give you the opportunity to perform an operation on the dragged files. I find it handy to use with .zip files. Another drag-reated trick is that you can ALT+TAB during any dragging to make the desired window move to the top..no more dragging to the taskbar or arranging the windows prior to drag.
Reply
Jim said 1:11AM on 9-29-2006
If you're moving a bunch of files, holding down the SHIFT key while clicking "No" in the "do you want to overwrite this file?" dialog is interpreted by Explorer as "No to All" (even though you'll never find this tip on MS's site, in a manual, or even the GUI itself).
Reply
pravijn said 6:16PM on 9-29-2006
excellent post!
Reply