How To Quickly View A Calendar

Sometimes I need just a quick glance at a clock or a calendar.

Yes, I have clocks and calendars all over the place, and even on my phone (I have stopped wearing a wristwatch these days). And I have “calendar” apps and programs. I don’t know about you, but I spend enough time in front of a computer that the first place I look for the time is in the lower right corner — the clock in my Taskbar.
This has been true for years.

Should I just need today’s date, I hover the cursor over the Taskbar clock. If that is not showing, I press the Windows key, then “B”, and then the <– left arrow key. Which “unhides” the Taskbar and produces a pop-open window..

Should it be that I need a quick glance at the month’s calendar, I add one more key-press.

Press the Windows key, then “B“, and then the <– left arrow key, and then Enter.

I admit that is kind of a convoluted, and hard to remember keyboard shortcut. (Mainly for use when “Autohide the Taskbar” is enabled) So usually what I do to quickly see a calendar is one mouse click on the Taskbar clock.

Simple enough.

Today’s quote: “Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.” ~ Peter Marshall

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Quickly Open Programs With A Keyboard “Shortcut”

All of us have our favorite, and “most used” programs. And we probably have created Desktop (icon) shortcuts for them, and perhaps, added them to our QuickLaunch area, so we can get right to them. This tutorial shows how there’s an easier and faster way to start them. (Works in all versions of Windows.)

I use Microsoft Word rather frequently (but not frequently enough to put in my crowded QuickLaunch) – so I am going to use it as my example. Normally, to get to Word, I have to:

• Click the Start button
• Click All Programs
• Scroll down to and click Microsoft Office
• And click on Word 2010

That’s too many steps! Let’s fix that.

1) Go to the start menu and right-click on the program for which the keyboard shortcut is to be created. In my case, Word.

2) Click on Properties.

3) Locate the Shortcut key pane, and click once inside it.

4) Press – once – the key you want to become your launcher-shortcut. (In my case, I chose “W”, for “Word”.)

Once the key is selected, ‘Ctrl + Alt’ is automatically added.

5) Click Apply, then OK.

That’s it. From now on, to open Word I simply have to press Ctrl and Alt and the selected key –> W (a modified “three-fingered salute”). You can do this as many times as you like, for as many programs as you like, such as setting Ctrl+Alt+E to open Excel.. but you cannot use the same letter/key (duplication) more than once.

I think you’ll agree, Ctrl+Alt+W is slightly faster and easier than

• Click the Start button
• Click All Programs
• Scroll down to and click Microsoft Office
• And click on Word 2010

Today’s quotable quote: “Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.”  ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Fixing Desktop Icons

This is a shortcut to one of my games.. it should have a picture (icon)

If you notice one day that some of your Desktop icons aren’t displaying correctly – you see a generic white rectangle instead of the graphic – you can easily “rebuild” the Windows icon cache and restore your shortcut icons to normal.

1) First, you need to “unhide” (aka “show”) your system files and folders (if they aren’t already. If so, skip to #2).

• Click your Start button, and Control Panel
• Double-click on Folder Options
• Click on the View tab and scroll down just a bit
• Click on the Show radio button
• Click Apply, then OK

2) Next, Click your Start button, and Computer.

The repair restores it to this.

3) Browse to your C:\Users\*your user name*\AppData\Local folder.

{Double-click the Local disk (c:) icon, then the Users folder, then the folder that matches your User name, then the AppData folder, then the Local folder.}

4) Locate, then right-click on IconCache.db, and select Delete. If prompted, click Yes to confirm. (Yes. Delete it. It has been “corrupted”, in Geek parlance, and needs to go away.)

5) Reboot (aka “restart”) your computer.

Once your computer has started back up, the icon cache will automatically be rebuilt (may take a few moments) and your icons should now display correctly.

That’s it. You’re done. (Except, maybe, [say, if other people use your computer] you may want to go back to Step 1 and hide the system files and folders again.. to prevent any accidental disastrous deleting.. Your call.)

Your “feedback” is requested: (Thanks to all who have participated!)

(Voting is following my prediction…)

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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How to repair/tweak your "Send To" menu

A handy time-saver is the Send To feature, found in the right-click menu (called the “context menu”). By using the Send To command, you can quickly send a file to different locations such as a ‘zipped’ folder, another person using e-mail, or the My Documents folder.

This image shows the default places you can send your file in Windows XP: compressed file, desktop, mail recipient, My Documents, and 3½” floppy disk. You can remove Send To destinations you never use — such as the floppy drive if your machine doesn’t have one (most newer PCs don’t) — or add destinations you use frequently, in a few simple steps.

Tip of the day: Take control of your menus. This process is much like adding/removing shortcuts from your Start Up folder, which I’ve discussed in this prior article. First, we need to open the Send To folder, which is a “hidden” folder inside your Documents and Settings folder (to read my article on hiding/unhiding folders, click here). Open your Run dialogue by hitting Windows key+R, or Start >Run, and type in “sendto” (no quotes).
Here you see the Send To shortcuts which appear on your right-click submenu. To remove an item you never use, just drag it to your Recycle bin (I have already deleted the floppy drive). I frequently send files to a folder on another computer on my network, and for purposes of example I am going to demonstrate adding that to my Send To menu — but this method can be adapted for any location you’d like to send files.
[update 10/1/07: this can method can also include a printer.] Right-click on any blank area in the Send To window and select (click) New, then Shortcut.
Now the Create Shortcut Wizard opens. We need to browse to our new destination so click on the browse button. To choose a destination, click on it and then click OK. To find my folder on the other computer, I ‘drilled down’ by expanding the plus signs until I could see my folder. Now complete the Wizard by clicking OK, Next, Finish. Now my new shortcut appears in my Send To window.
Now all I have to do to send a file from this machine to my ‘storage’ machine is right-click on it…
and select “downloads on P3”.

Today’s free link: Today, some fun: Knight Online is an extremely popular online fantasy game. From site: “Knight Online is the critically acclaimed medieval fantasy MMORPG developed by Mgame and Noah System. Since its introduction in Korea several years ago, Knight Online has thrilled millions of players in over 80 countries. Players choose between El Moradian Humans and Karusian Tuareks, adventuring as rogues, warriors, mages, and priests.”

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix 

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