June 2024

More Tips & Tricks
This edition of Ken’s Korner’s Newsletter covers June 2024.

Hidden Features
There are some very handy features built into Windows 11 that a lot of people don’t know about. Some of these can save you a lot of time and trouble in your daily lives.

You may remember that many of these tips were discussed back in the 2022 edition of this newsletter. Since then, some new features have been added. Let’s look at them and review some of the older tricks and shortcuts.

Some of the more commonly used keyboard shortcuts are:

• • Ctrl + C Copy the highlighted section.
• • Ctrl + X Cut the highlighted section.
• • Ctrl + V Paste the contents of the clipboard.
• • Ctrl + Z Undo the last command.

These are very useful shortcuts but there are many more.

Access Task Manager quickly:
Most everyone has ad to use the Task Manager at one time or another. A frozen app that has to be terminated by force. You probably know how to get there with Ctrl + Alt+ Delete but did you know you can get there faster with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Esc?

Scrolling inactive windows:
It may seem like a small thing but being able to scroll through another window in the background while the focus is on a separate window can be a real time saver.

Keyboard shortcuts for window management:
This feature has been around since Windows 10 but it is still a good one for managing the various open windows on your screen. Just use the Windows and Arrow keys.

• Windows key + Up Arrow – Maximize the active window so it takes up the entire desktop. If the window is already maximized it snaps to the top half of the screen.
• Windows key + Down Arrow – Sets the active window to a smaller size if it is maximized. Or hide the window on the task bar if it is not maximized.
• Windows key + Left Arrow – Snap the active windows to the left half of the screen. If you are running multiple monitors, it will also snap to the next monitor.
• Windows key + Right Arrow – Snap the active windows to the right half of the screen. As in the previous example if you are running multiple monitors, it will snap to the next monitor.

Launch a program from the task bar:
If you press the Windows key and a number key it will launch the corresponding pinned app from the task bar. It will switch to that app I the app is already running. A few notes on this feature:

1. This works with the original number keys. If you have a numeric keypad on your keyboard, those numbers may not work here.
2. The numbering starts after the Task View icon which is number one. The progression goes from left to right. There is no number zero. The Start button and Search area are not included.

Resize the icons:
This is an easy one. Just hold the Ctrl key down and scroll the mouse window up or down to resize the icons. It is that simple.

God Mode:
I didn’t make up that name, Microsoft did. If you want easy access to a list of features normally hidden in Control Panel set up the God Mode. It is actually a simple process. You can create the God Mode folder most anywhere, but it is usually best to have it on your desktop.

You just create a new folder on the desktop. Right click the mouse on some unused space on the desktop and select New and Folder. Then rename it “GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}” and press Enter. The folder will disappear and be replaced with a Control Panel icon. Open it and you will find a host of settings for all sorts of things. Have fun exploring the God Mode.

Shake to minimize:
If you are one of those people who often find that they have a plethora of windows open while working on something you are not alone. Having too many windows open can be distracting and make it harder to find the one window that you wanted. Windows 11 allows you to use “Aero Shake”. Click on the top bar of the window that you want to keep open and shake it. All the other windows will minimize leaving you with a clean desktop with only the chosen window open.

To enable this feature, go to settings, System Multitasking and turn on “Title bar window shake”. Then get the shakes.

Snipping Tool:
You probably know about the snipping tool; you may have even used it a few times. But did you know there is a quick easy way to open the Snipping tool? Did you know that you can use it to record video as well as still shots. Press the Windows key + Shift + S to launch the Snipping Tool. Then click the camcorder icon and select the recording area and click “Start” to begin recording.

Snipping Tool:
You probably know about the snipping tool; you may have even used it a few times. But did you know there is a quick easy way to open the Snipping tool? Did you know that you can use it to record video as well as still shots. Press the Windows key + Shift + S to launch the Snipping Tool. Then click the camcorder icon and select the recording area and click “Start” to begin recording.

It should be noted that there is no time limit on the length of the recording. Currently there are no audio capabilities in the Snipping Tool. That function is currently only available on the Insiders version. So, it is reasonable to assume that will be included in future editions.

Command Prompt Tricks

Many people think that the command prompt is just for hard core geeks, but there are a lot of handy things you can do from the command prompt. Many of them require an “Elevated” or Administrator level Command Prompt. To get an Elevated Command Prompt you can type CMD in the search area and and then select Runs as administrator or from the Windows Tools menu under All apps Right Click the Command Prompt icon and select run as administrator. I have reached the point where I am almost always going for the Elevated Command Prompt out of habit, even when it is not required. Just so that I don’t have to remember which function do and which functions don’t require it. Here are some useful Command Prompt functions for you to try:

Tasklist:
This is a simple command. Basically, it is a text-based version of Task Manager. Just type tasklist at the command prompt and it will display every running on your desktop or laptop.

The first collum lists the image name, (the name of the task). The second column lists the Process ID, (PID). The third column lists the type of session. The fourth column lists the memory usage. You can kill any of these tasks with the command “taskkill / PID# here. You can kill several programs at once. For more instructions type taskkill /?

Ipconfig:
This is a great function for computer networking. By itself it will return the IP address of your computer plus several other network details. By using the “all” switch, (ipconfig /all) you can find more information about the local network. Additionally, ipconfig /release removers the current DHCP issued IP address, ipconfig /renew obtains a new IP address from the DHCP server. To clear out the DNS cache use the flushdns switch, (ipconfig /flushdns). For more information about ipconfig you can type ipconfig /? at the command prompt.

Ping:
The Packet Internet Groper, this is one of the oldest functions, but it can be very useful when troubleshooting network issues. It simply contacts another computer node and returns a confirmation or loss of the packets and the time the packet took to make the trip. A similar function is Traceroute, (in Windows it is tracert) which takes the ping idea one step further and returns a list of all the nodes it went through to get to the destination and the time each step took. Both are good ways to check the connection to another computer or network.

Ver:
If you need to know the precise version of Windows that you are working with type. They ver command will return information showing which build of Windows is running.

Systeminfo:
This one is similar to ver but it goes a little farther returning all the available information about the machine and the OS that is currently running. That can be quite a lot and maybe a bit overwhelming, but you can specify what information you are looking for. For example, if your type systeminfo | find /i “boot time” it will return the most recent system boot up time. (Note that is the pipe symbol not a colon after systeminfo and don’t forget the quote marks. For more information about this command, you can type systeminfo /? At the command prompt.

Diskpart:
While many of these operations can be done through the user interface sometime only the old command prompt will work. Diskpart will return all the disks that are connected to he computer and number them. The next step is to type select disk and the number of the disk you want. From here you can clean up the disk, format the disk and even change the structure from FAT, NTFS or GPT. For more information you can type diskpart /? At the command prompt.

Chkdsk:
Yes, the old check disk is still in there. When HDD were the mainstay of computer data storage it was more common, but it does have some useful functions. With the /F switch it can still check and repair file system issues. This is one that does require the Elevated Command Prompt.

System File Checker:
More robust and useful that check disk is the System File Checker. To run it you will need an Elevated Command Prompt and then just type sfc.exe /scannow and wait for it to finish. It may seem like it has locked up and stopped working but just be patient. It has more ability than the check disk. It will return one of three results, no problems found, problems found and fixed or problems found that it couldn’t fix.

DISM;
If the result from the System File Checker was that it found problems that it couldn’t fix then the next step is to run the DISM. In the old days when you bought a computer it came with CD’s so that you could re-install the programs if they became damaged. DISM is the modern version of that. It checks with Microsoft and compares the system files on your machine with what they have at Microsoft. If needed it will repair your system by replacing damaged or missing files with fresh ones from the manufacturer. You will need an Elevated Command Prompt and type in “DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth” without the quotes and wait for it to complete.

Like the System File Checker, DISM may appear to have locked up and stopped working. Just be patient and let it finish.

Help:
You may have noticed that in several examples you can get additional information by typing /? after the command. That is true for all the command prompt functions. You can get all the available variations, modifications and even some examples.

There are many more handy command prompt items that exist. It would fill a book let alone a newsletter. This is just a start. Hopefully it is enough to get you interested.

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And remember — always back it up!