Windows Help Center

Getting used to using your keyboard exclusively and leaving your mouse behind will make you much more efficient at performing any task on any Windows system. I use the following keyboard shortcuts every day:

Windows key + R = Run menu

This is usually followed by:

cmd = Command Prompt

iexplore + "web address" = Internet Explorer

compmgmt.msc = Computer Management

dhcpmgmt.msc = DHCP Management

dnsmgmt.msc = DNS Management

services.msc = Services

eventvwr = Event Viewer

dsa.msc = Active Directory Users and Computers

dssite.msc = Active Directory Sites and Services

Windows key + E = Explorer

ALT + Tab = Switch between windows

ALT, Space, X = Maximize window

CTRL + Shift + Esc = Task Manager

Windows key + Break = System properties

Windows key + F = Search

Windows key + D = Hide/Display all windows

CTRL + C = copy

CTRL + X = cut

CTRL + V = paste

Also don't forget about the "Right-click" key next to the right Windows key on your keyboard. Using the arrows and that key can get just about anything done once you've opened up any program.

Keyboard Shortcuts

[Alt] and [Esc] Switch between running applications

[Alt] and letter Select menu item by underlined letter

[Ctrl] and [Esc] Open Program Menu

[Ctrl] and [F4] Close active document or group windows (does not work with some applications)

[Alt] and [F4] Quit active application or close current window

[Alt] and [-] Open Control menu for active document

Ctrl] Lft., Rt. arrow Move cursor forward or back one word

Ctrl] Up, Down arrow Move cursor forward or back one paragraph

[F1] Open Help for active application

Windows+M Minimize all open windows

Shift+Windows+M Undo minimize all open windows

Windows+F1 Open Windows Help

Windows+Tab Cycle through the Taskbar buttons

Windows+Break Open the System Properties dialog box

acessability shortcuts

Right SHIFT for eight seconds........ Switch FilterKeys on and off.

Left ALT +left SHIFT +PRINT SCREEN....... Switch High Contrast on and off.

Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK....... Switch MouseKeys on and off.

SHIFT....... five times Switch StickyKeys on and off.

NUM LOCK...... for five seconds Switch ToggleKeys on and off.

explorer shortcuts

END....... Display the bottom of the active window.

HOME....... Display the top of the active window.

NUM LOCK+ASTERISK....... on numeric keypad (*) Display all subfolders under the selected folder.

NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN....... on numeric keypad (+) Display the contents of the selected folder.

NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN....... on numeric keypad (-) Collapse the selected folder.

LEFT ARROW...... Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder.

RIGHT ARROW....... Display current selection if it's collapsed, or select first subfolder.

Type the following commands in your Run Box (Windows Key + R) or Start Run

devmgmt.msc = Device Manager

msinfo32 = System Information

cleanmgr = Disk Cleanup

ntbackup = Backup or Restore Wizard (Windows Backup Utility)

mmc = Microsoft Management Console

excel = Microsoft Excel (If Installed)

msaccess = Microsoft Access (If Installed)

powerpnt = Microsoft PowerPoint (If Installed)

winword = Microsoft Word (If Installed)

frontpg = Microsoft FrontPage (If Installed)

notepad = Notepad

wordpad = WordPad

calc = Calculator

msmsgs = Windows Messenger

mspaint = Microsoft Paint

wmplayer = Windows Media Player

rstrui = System Restore

netscp6 = Netscape 6.x

netscp = Netscape 7.x

netscape = Netscape 4.x

waol = America Online

control = Opens the Control Panel

control printers = Opens the Printers Dialog

internetbrowser

type in u're adress "google", then press [Right CTRL] and [Enter]

add www. and .com to word and go to it

For Windows XP:

Copy. CTRL+C

Cut. CTRL+X

Paste. CTRL+V

Undo. CTRL+Z

Delete. DELETE

Delete selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin. SHIFT+DELETE

Copy selected item. CTRL while dragging an item

Create shortcut to selected item. CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item

Rename selected item. F2

Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word. CTRL+RIGHT ARROW

Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word. CTRL+LEFT ARROW

Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph. CTRL+DOWN ARROW

Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph. CTRL+UP ARROW

Highlight a block of text. CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys

Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document. SHIFT with any of the arrow keys

Select all. CTRL+A

Search for a file or folder. F3

View properties for the selected item. ALT+ENTER

Close the active item, or quit the active program. ALT+F4

Opens the shortcut menu for the active window. ALT+SPACEBAR

Close the active document in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously. CTRL+F4

Switch between open items. ALT+TAB

Cycle through items in the order they were opened. ALT+ESC

Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop. F6

Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer. F4

Display the shortcut menu for the selected item. SHIFT+F10

Display the System menu for the active window. ALT+SPACEBAR

Display the Start menu. CTRL+ESC

Display the corresponding menu. ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name

Carry out the corresponding command. Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu

Activate the menu bar in the active program. F10

Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu. RIGHT ARROW

Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu. LEFT ARROW

Refresh the active window. F5

View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer. BACKSPACE

Cancel the current task. ESC

SHIFT when you insert a CD into the CD-ROM drive Prevent the CD from automatically playing.

Use these keyboard shortcuts for dialog boxes:

To Press

Move forward through tabs. CTRL+TAB

Move backward through tabs. CTRL+SHIFT+TAB

Move forward through options. TAB

Move backward through options. SHIFT+TAB

Carry out the corresponding command or select the corresponding option. ALT+Underlined letter

Carry out the command for the active option or button. ENTER

Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box. SPACEBAR

Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons. Arrow keys

Display Help. F1

Display the items in the active list. F4

Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box. BACKSPACE

If you have a Microsoft Natural Keyboard, or any other compatible keyboard that includes the Windows logo key and the Application key , you can use these keyboard shortcuts:

Display or hide the Start menu. WIN Key

Display the System Properties dialog box. WIN Key+BREAK

Show the desktop. WIN Key+D

Minimize all windows. WIN Key+M

Restores minimized windows. WIN Key+Shift+M

Open My Computer. WIN Key+E

Search for a file or folder. WIN Key+F

Search for computers. CTRL+WIN Key+F

Display Windows Help. WIN Key+F1

Lock your computer if you are connected to a network domain, or switch users if you are not connected to a network domain. WIN Key+ L

Open the Run dialog box. WIN Key+R

Open Utility Manager. WIN Key+U

accessibility keyboard shortcuts:

Switch FilterKeys on and off. Right SHIFT for eight seconds

Switch High Contrast on and off. Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN

Switch MouseKeys on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK

Switch StickyKeys on and off. SHIFT five times

Switch ToggleKeys on and off. NUM LOCK for five seconds

Open Utility Manager. WIN Key+U

shortcuts you can use with Windows Explorer:

Display the bottom of the active window. END

Display the top of the active window. HOME

Display all subfolders under the selected folder. NUM LOCK+ASTERISK on numeric keypad (*)

Display the contents of the selected folder. NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN on numeric keypad (+)

Collapse the selected folder. NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN on numeric keypad (-)

Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder. LEFT ARROW

Display current selection if it's collapsed, or select first subfolder. RIGHT ARROW

After repeated requests for beep codes i have decided to post them here maybe they could be pinned

Standard Original IBM POST Error Codes

Code Description

1 short beep System is OK

2 short beeps POST Error - error code shown on screen No beep Power supply or system board problem Continuous beep Power supply, system board, or keyboard problem Repeating short beeps Power supply or system board problem

1 long, 1 short beep System board problem

1 long, 2 short beeps Display adapter problem (MDA, CGA)

1 long, 3 short beeps Display adapter problem (EGA)

3 long beeps 3270 keyboard card

IBM POST Diagnostic Code Descriptions

Code Description

100 - 199 System Board

200 - 299 Memory

300 - 399 Keyboard

400 - 499 Monochrome Display

500 - 599 Colour/Graphics Display

600 - 699 Floppy-disk drive and/or Adapter

700 - 799 Math Coprocessor

900 - 999 Parallel Printer Port

1000 - 1099 Alternate Printer Adapter

1100 - 1299 Asynchronous Communication Device, Adapter, or Port

1300 - 1399 Game Port

1400 - 1499 Colour/Graphics Printer

1500 - 1599 Synchronous Communication Device, Adapter, or Port

1700 - 1799 Hard Drive and/or Adapter

1800 - 1899 Expansion Unit (XT)

2000 - 2199 Bisynchronous Communication Adapter

2400 - 2599 EGA system-board Video (MCA)

3000 - 3199 LAN Adapter

4800 - 4999 Internal Modem

7000 - 7099 Phoenix BIOS Chips

7300 - 7399 3.5" Disk Drive

8900 - 8999 MIDI Adapter

11200 - 11299 SCSI Adapter

21000 - 21099 SCSI Fixed Disk and Controller

21500 - 21599 SCSI CD-ROM System

AMI BIOS Beep Codes

Code Description

1 Short Beep System OK

2 Short Beeps Parity error in the first 64 KB of memory

3 Short Beeps Memory failure in the first 64 KB

4 Short Beeps Memory failure in the first 64 KB Operational of memory

or Timer 1 on the motherboard is not functioning

5 Short Beeps The CPU on the motherboard generated an error

6 Short Beeps The keyboard controller may be bad. The BIOS cannot switch to protected mode

7 Short Beeps The CPU generated an exception interrupt

8 Short Beeps The system video adapter is either missing, or its memory is faulty

9 Short Beeps The ROM checksum value does not match the value encoded in the BIOS

10 Short Beeps The shutdown register for CMOS RAM failed

11 Short Beeps The external cache is faulty

1 Long, 3 Short Beeps Memory Problems

1 Long, 8 Short Beeps Video Card Problems

Phoenix BIOS Beep Codes

Note - Phoenix BIOS emits three sets of beeps, separated by a brief pause.

Code Description

1-1-3 CMOS read/write failure

1-1-4 ROM BIOS checksum error

1-2-1 Programmable interval timer failure

1-2-2 DMA initialisation failure

1-2-3 DMA page register read/write failure

1-3-1 RAM refresh verification failure

1-3-3 First 64k RAM chip or data line failure

1-3-4 First 64k RAM odd/even logic failure

1-4-1 Address line failure first 64k RAM

1-4-2 Parity failure first 64k RAM

2-_-_ Faulty Memory

3-1-_ Faulty Motherboard

3-2-4 Keyboard controller Test failure

3-3-4 Screen initialisation failure

3-4-1 Screen retrace test failure

3-4-2 Search for video ROM in progress

4-2-1 Timer tick interrupt in progress or failure

4-2-2 Shutdown test in progress or failure

4-2-3 Gate A20 failure

4-2-4 Unexpected interrupt in protected mode

4-3-1 RAM test in progress or failure>ffffh

4-3-2 Faulty Motherboard

4-3-3 Interval timer channel 2 test or failure

4-3-4 Time of Day clock test failure

4-4-1 Serial port test or failure

4-4-2 Parallel port test or failure

4-4-3 Math coprocessor test or failure

Low 1-1-2 System Board select failure

Low 1-1-3 Extended CMOS RAM failure 

BIOS Beep Codes

When a computer is first turned on, or rebooted, its BIOS performs a power-on self test (POST) to test the system's hardware, checking to make sure that all of the system's hardware components are working properly. Under normal circumstances, the POST will display an error message; however, if the BIOS detects an error before it can access the video card, or if there is a problem with the video card, it will produce a series of beeps, and the pattern of the beeps indicates what kind of problem the BIOS has detected.

Because there are many brands of BIOS, there are no standard beep codes for every BIOS.

The two most-used brands are AMI (American Megatrends International) and Phoenix.

Below are listed the beep codes for AMI systems, and here are the beep codes for Phoenix systems.

AMI Beep Codes

Beep Code Meaning

1 beep DRAM refresh failure. There is a problem in the system memory or the motherboard.

2 beeps Memory parity error. The parity circuit is not working properly.

3 beeps Base 64K RAM failure. There is a problem with the first 64K of system memory.

4 beeps System timer not operational. There is problem with the timer(s) that control functions on the motherboard.

5 beeps Processor failure. The system CPU has failed.

6 beeps Gate A20/keyboard controller failure. The keyboard IC controller has failed, preventing gate A20 from switching the processor to protect mode.

7 beeps Virtual mode exception error.

8 beeps Video memory error. The BIOS cannot write to the frame buffer memory on the video card.

9 beeps ROM checksum error. The BIOS ROM chip on the motherboard is likely faulty.

10 beeps CMOS checksum error. Something on the motherboard is causing an error when trying to interact with the CMOS.

11 beeps Bad cache memory. An error in the level 2 cache memory.

1 long beep, 2 short Failure in the video system.

1 long beep, 3 short A failure has been detected in memory above 64K.

1 long beep, 8 short Display test failure.

Continuous beeping A problem with the memory or video.

BIOS Beep Codes

Phoenix Beep Codes

Phoenix uses sequences of beeps to indicate problems. The "-" between each number below indicates a pause between each beep sequence. For example, 1-2-3 indicates one beep, followed by a pause and two beeps, followed by a pause and three beeps. Phoenix version before 4.x use 3-beep codes, while Phoenix versions starting with 4.x use 4-beep codes. Click here for AMI BIOS beep codes.

4-Beep Codes

Beep Code Meaning

1-1-1-3 Faulty CPU/motherboard. Verify real mode.

1-1-2-1 Faulty CPU/motherboard.

1-1-2-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.

1-1-3-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components. Initialize chipset registers with initial POST values.

1-1-3-2 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.

1-1-3-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components. Initialize CPU registers.

1-1-3-2

1-1-3-3

1-1-3-4 Failure in the first 64K of memory.

1-1-4-1 Level 2 cache error.

1-1-4-3 I/O port error.

1-2-1-1 Power management error.

1-2-1-2

1-2-1-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.

1-2-2-1 Keyboard controller failure.

1-2-2-3 BIOS ROM error.

1-2-3-1 System timer error.

1-2-3-3 DMA error.

1-2-4-1 IRQ controller error.

1-3-1-1 DRAM refresh error.

1-3-1-3 A20 gate failure.

1-3-2-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.

1-3-3-1 Extended memory error.

1-3-3-3

1-3-4-1

1-3-4-3 Error in first 1MB of system memory.

1-4-1-3

1-4-2-4 CPU error.

1-4-3-1

2-1-4-1 BIOS ROM shadow error.

1-4-3-2

1-4-3-3 Level 2 cache error.

1-4-4-1

1-4-4-2

2-1-1-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.

2-1-1-3

2-1-2-1 IRQ failure.

2-1-2-3 BIOS ROM error.

2-1-2-4

2-1-3-2 I/O port failure.

2-1-3-1

2-1-3-3 Video system failure.

2-1-1-3

2-1-2-1 IRQ failure.

2-1-2-3 BIOS ROM error.

2-1-2-4 I/O port failure.

2-1-4-3

2-2-1-1 Video card failure.

2-2-1-3

2-2-2-1

2-2-2-3 Keyboard controller failure.

2-2-3-1 IRQ error.

2-2-4-1 Error in first 1MB of system memory.

2-3-1-1

2-3-3-3 Extended memory failure.

2-3-2-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.

2-3-2-3

2-3-3-1 Level 2 cache error.

2-3-4-1

2-3-4-3 Motherboard or video card failure.

2-3-4-1

2-3-4-3

2-4-1-1 Motherboard or video card failure.

2-4-1-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.

2-4-2-1 RTC error.

2-4-2-3 Keyboard controller error.

2-4-4-1 IRQ error.

3-1-1-1

3-1-1-3

3-1-2-1

3-1-2-3 I/O port error.

3-1-3-1

3-1-3-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.

3-1-4-1

3-2-1-1

3-2-1-2 Floppy drive or hard drive failure.

3-2-1-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.

3-2-2-1 Keyboard controller error.

3-2-2-3

3-2-3-1

3-2-4-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.

3-2-4-3 IRQ error.

3-3-1-1 RTC error.

3-3-1-3 Key lock error.

3-3-3-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.

3-3-3-3

3-3-4-1

3-3-4-3

3-4-1-1

3-4-1-3

3-4-2-1

3-4-2-3

3-4-3-1

3-4-4-1

3-4-4-4 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.

4-1-1-1 Floppy drive or hard drive failure.

4-2-1-1

4-2-1-3

4-2-2-1 IRQ failure.

4-2-2-3

4-2-3-1

4-2-3-3

4-2-4-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.

4-2-4-3 Keyboard controller error.

4-3-1-3

4-3-1-4

4-3-2-1

4-3-2-2

4-3-3-1

4-3-4-1

4-3-4-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.

4-3-3-2

4-3-3-4 IRQ failure.

4-3-3-3

4-3-4-2 Floppy drive or hard drive failure.

3-Beep Codes

Beep Code Meaning

1-1-2 Faulty CPU/motherboard.

1-1-3 Faulty motherboard/CMOS read-write failure.

1-1-4 Faulty BIOS/BIOS ROM checksum error.

1-2-1 System timer not operational. There is a problem with the timer(s) that control functions on the motherboard.

1-2-2

1-2-3 Faulty motherboard/DMA failure.

1-3-1 Memory refresh failure.

1-3-2

1-3-3

1-3-4 Failure in the first 64K of memory.

1-4-1 Address line failure.

1-4-2 Parity RAM failure.

1-4-3 Timer failure.

1-4-4 NMI port failure.

2-_-_ Any combination of beeps after 2 indicates a failure in the first 64K of memory.

3-1-1 Master DMA failure.

3-1-2 Slave DMA failure.

3-1-3

3-1-4 Interrupt controller failure.

3-2-4 Keyboard controller failure.

3-3-1

3-3-2 CMOS error.

3-3-4 Video card failure.

3-4-1 Video card failure.

4-2-1 Timer failure.

4-2-2 CMOS shutdown failure.

4-2-3 Gate A20 failure.

4-2-4 Unexpected interrupt in protected mode.

4-3-1 RAM test failure.

4-3-3 Timer failure.

4-3-4 Time of day clock failure.

4-4-1 Serial port failure.

4-4-2 Parallel port failure.

4-4-3 Math coprocessor.