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Homepage > Master Essential Laptop Shortcuts To Save Hours Of Time

Master Essential Laptop Shortcuts To Save Hours Of Time

12/04/2011 15:42

There's a lot of time you could be saving if you use a laptop computer. Do you know about all of the shortcuts which you could use on your machine? Knowing and using these shortcuts will help your keyboard last longer in addition to saving you a lot of time. There are shortcuts for almost every action and can boost your productivity significantly.

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Your keyboard can do a lot of things you may not be aware of. For instance, you can quick launch many of your applications from the keyboard. You can even make your own keyboard shortcuts to launch applications that have desktop icons, applications on your quick launch bar or from your Start menu. You can do this by right clicking on the application's icon and selecting Properties from the menu that pops up. In the shortcut box, enter the key which you want to assign as the keyboard shortcut for this application. By default this will be Ctrl+Alt plus a key of your choosing, but this can be changed to any combination of Ctrl, Alt, Shift or F1 through F12. Once you've entered this, click OK.

A great tip for Microsoft Word: If you press Shift + F5, you will see where you are located on the page. Pressing this combination again will locate the last three places you made changes to your document or saved. This shortcut can show you up to three of your most recent changes or saves.

You can make your web searches faster and your results more relevant by correctly setting your search parameters. T do a search for results which fall within a range of numbers, you can put "..." in between your search terms, like so: "laptop $1000...1500" will search only for laptops between these amounts. You can filter words out of your searches by using a "-" before the word you want to keep out of your results. For instance, "virus - computer" will show you results related to the non-computer type of viruses. Another good tip is using "~" in front of a search term to find results including the search term and its commonly used synonyms. Thus, "~computer help" will also give you results including terms like "PC" "laptop" or even "hardware".

You can magnify web pages using only your mouse. This can be done with your scroll wheel on your mouse. This works on both Internet Explorer and Firefox. Just hold down Ctrl and turn the wheel towards you to magnify, away to decrease size. This trick also works In MS Office!

Ever wanted to be able to turn your computer off faster and have it shut down more quickly? It's easy. In Windows XP, you'll find this setting in the Control Panel. Under the Performance and Maintenance tab in Power Options, select the Advanced button. After locating this, click the "When I press the power button on my computer" and select Shutdown, then click OK. In Vista, this can be set from Power Options in the Control Panel, but this time under System Settings. Again, select the Advanced tab and the "When I press the power button..." option, select Shutdown and click Save Changes.

Use an external keyboard and mouse whenever you can. You might need a PS/2 splitter cable or a USB hub to do this. On the laptop products page, you'll find places to get these accessories. There are models where these splitters won't work. You'll usually have two ports on these models, however, so don't panic quite yet. If you have both a PS/2 port and a USB port, get a mouse with one type of interface, a keyboard with the other.

Remember ergonomic principles and place your keyboard and mouse at or no more than an inch below your elbow height while seated. If you can't adjust the height of your work area, a keyboard tray can be used to keep the mouse and keyboard at the proper height. Again, the laptop products page can point you in the right direction for small adjustable tables ideal for working at with your computer.

Keep you laptop close to you - if you have to lean forward to see the screen, it is too far away and can cause neck strain. Also, this slows down the rate at which you work.

Keep your laptop at a height where the screen is directly in front of you. There are many monitor stands and laptop holders made just for this purpose. If you will be using your laptop at a fixed workstation, consider one of these to help your productivity.

Sit back in your chair and don't lean your head forwards. If need be, get a chair in which you can comfortably sit while working. These can be expensive, but if you work on a laptop often, you will find a chiropractor far more expensive. If you aren't comfortable while you work, you will be far less productive. Keep your wrists on the wrist rest. Move your fingers, not your wrists. Your wrist should be in line with your elbows.

When ever you can, use keyboard commands. These save time and keystrokes. Reflective lighting should be avoided. Keep the brightness of your screen at a level which is comfortable to you. You may need to experiment a bit to find this ideal level.

Keep your screen clean. You'd be surprised how much a smudge can slow you down. They're distracting, but easily taken care of, do so whenever you need to.

Try not to work on a hotel bed or at a high table. This will slow you down and can lead to an aching back more quickly than you may realize.

If your knees will be at a noticeably lower level than your hips and your lower back is not being adequately supported at the same time, you need to support your feet. A footrest is the way to go here, even an improvised one. This will make you more comfortable, letting you work with less distraction.

One last time saving tip. Free is good, right? Not always. A lot of free software comes bundled with spyware and other annoyances which can really slow down your computer. By not downloading these items in the first place, you'll keep you computer running faster.

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