Windows 98 Shortcuts

There's one in every office. The person who opens every app on a PC without touching the mouse. Now, you too can be a shining example of PC proficiency. Quietly memorize the following keyboard shortcuts, and you'll amaze friends and family with your speedy navigation.

"Mouse? I don't need no stinking mouse..."

Tiny Buttons

Every Windows 98 window displays three little buttons in its upper right corner. When clicked, these buttons will (from left to right) minimize, maximize or restore, or close that window. Anyone knows that, right? But here's a little secret for everyone who's tired of dragging the mouse all the way up to those tiny little buttons: There are keyboard equivalents for all of them.

To minimize the active window, press Alt-spacebar, N.

To maximize the active window, press Alt-spacebar, X.

To restore the active window, press Alt-spacebar, R.

To close the active window, press Alt-spacebar, C (or even easier, press Alt-F4).

Hot! Hot! Hot!

If you have an application that you open frequently, stop wasting time looking for its shortcut (or Start menu name) every time you want to open it. You can set up a keyboard combo to open that application from anywhere on your system, no matter how many windows you have open.

If you haven't already, create a shortcut to the application in your location of choice. (You can bury it in a folder, if you want--you'll only need it to set up the keyboard combo.) Right-click the shortcut, select Properties, and click the Shortcut tab. Click inside the text box next to Shortcut Key and then type the letter you'd like to use in combination with Ctrl-Alt to open the application. (You'll notice that Windows fills in the Ctrl-Alt part for you.) For example, you might use "W" for Microsoft Word. Click OK, and your hot key is complete.

Now just forget about that shortcut (but don't delete it). Press the keyboard combo, such as Ctrl-Alt-W, and your application appears without fuss or muss.

'D' Is for Desktop

Reader J. Heath writes, "I recently discovered a keyboard trick that works in Windows 98. Hold down the Windows key, press the letter 'D,' and the desktop appears. Press the same combo again, and all minimized windows are restored to the screen."

Thanks for the tip, J.! Here are some more keyboard combos for the Windows key (assuming you have one).

• Windows-E opens Windows Explorer.
  
  
• Windows-F opens Find.
  
  
• Windows-M minimizes all open windows (Shift-Windows-M undoes this command).
  
  
• Windows-R opens the Run window.
  
  
• Windows-F1 opens Help.
  
  
• Windows-L logs you off Windows.
  
  
• Windows-Tab cycles through the Taskbar buttons.
  
  
• Windows-Break opens the System Properties dialog box.