Tips for using Windows Key

Windows Key

You know that Windows key on your keyboard? Most people overlook it, but that's a mistake. One press is the same as clicking the Start button with your mouse. And pressing it in concert with other keys can save you from having to reach for the mouse at all. Here are three Windows-key shortcuts you should memorize immediately:

• Windows-D - Minimizes all open windows so you can see the desktop. A second tap restores them.
• Windows-E - Opens Windows Explorer (the file-management tool, not the browser). This is much quicker than right-clicking the Start button and then Explore, or trying to find Explorer in the Start menu.
• Windows-F - Launches Windows' search tool (remember "F" for "find")
• You get a lot of processes when you press CTRL-ALT-DELETE, bring up the Task Manager, and click the Process tab. It's impossible to say with any certainty which ones you can safely close. Although attempting to end any of them produces dire warnings of apocalyptic upheaval, such disasters rarely occur.

  Of course, I wouldn't close any of them without saving every open document first. One must take precautions.

  But here's a simple rule: Don't close any process without first finding out what it does. One good place to look is ProcessLibrary.com. Just enter the name into the site's Find field, press ENTER, and see what it says.

  Actually, the site offers an even easier way to look up a process: ProcessQuickLink. This free program puts an icon next to each process in the task manager. Click any one of these icons, and your browser will open to that process's description in ProcessLibrary.com.

  But ProcessQuickLink is itself a process that grabs nearly 5MB of memory, and one of those needless autoloaders I warned you about two weeks ago. So after you install it, right-click ProcessQuickLink's systray icon and uncheck RunProcessQuickLink 2 on Windows Startup. Then manually launch the program from the Start menu when you actually need it. ProcessLibrary doesn't list every process. If it doesn't have the one you need information on, Bunk of the Answer Line forum recommends another site, AnswersThatWork. And FenderGuy2112 points out that Googling a process name is bound to turn up useful information.

  For the original forum discussion, visit http://forums.pcworld.com/message/84370

Gmail and Windows Live Together

It’s the age of integration and convenience and now, you can easily use any e-mail program while still being able to check most of your Web based accounts. POP e-mail accounts, such as Hotmail and Gmail can be accessed with any client. And today, I'm going to show you how you can get your Gmail into Windows Live Mail. Let's go!

Simply follow the steps below to start using your Gmail and Windows Live accounts together!

Step 1: When checking your Gmail account with a different client, you need to ensure that your Gmail is POP enabled. To do that, simply log in to your Gmail account. Then go to Settings, Forwarding and POP/IMAP and then set the POP option to "For All Mail." With that simple alteration, Gmail will transfer your entire Inbox or just the mail you get from that point forward. You also have the option of either keeping a copy on Google’s server or going without a backup.

Step 2: Next, log in to your Windows Live account, go to Settings/Accounts and then click on “Add an e-mail account.” That's similar to what is shown below for Gmail:

Step 3: Enter the account information for your e-mail address, password and display name. When you're done, click on Next.

Step 4: Checkmark that account as your default if you wish. Also, go ahead and ignore the message that pops up after Step 3. It advises you to follow instructions on setting up POP in Gmail, but you already did that, so you don’t need to do it again.

Step 5: Start receiving messages from your Gmail account.

How to copy and paste
All versions of Windows

One of the most elemental skills, one of the most fundamental features of Windows, is something we call "copy and paste". you follow this 4-step tutorial you'll be able to copy and paste. Once you learn how, you'll be using copy and paste for something or other - almost every day. Other than learning how to click a shortcut or use a mouse, we can't think of anything in Windows that you'll use more often.

Welcome to our visual tutorial on how to copy and paste. Copy and paste is one the most basic and fundamental features of Windows. We'll get you started right here in the newsletter. Due to the size of this tutorial, you'll need to start here and finish on the Web. So please read the following carefully and then click on the link provided to go to the next step.

This tutorial applies to all version of Windows from Windows 3.1 through Windows Vista.

Step #1:

First select the text you want to copy by placing your cursor at the beginning of the block of text you wish to copy. Now, hold down the left mouse button and drag your mouse to the end of the text you wish to copy, making sure you don't let go of the left mouse button until your done selecting the text. If you're mouse-impaired :-) you can triple left click on the paragraph to select it. How? Place your mouse cursor directly in here) to go to the next step!