.: Explorer Microsoft = Keyword Shortcuts, Tips and Tricks

Microsoft Explorer - Advanced Tips and Tricks

Disable Sounds on Blocked Pop-ups
SUMMARY: Prevent Internet Explorer 6 with Windows XP Service Pack 2 from annoying you with sounds every time pop-ups are blocked.
By default, when Internet Explorer 6 blocks a pop-up window, it plays a sound to let you know the web browser stopped the pop-up from appearing. While some people like this feature in that it lets them know how many windows were blocked, others may find this sound annoying. To disable this sound:
1. From Internet Explorer 6, Click "Tools".
2. Select "Pop-Up Blocker".
3. Select "Pop-up Blocker Settings".
4. When the "Pop-up Blocker Settings" dialog box appears, uncheck "Play a sound when a pop-up is blocked".
5. Press "Close" to close the dialog box.

Change Pop-up Blocker Filter Level SUMMARY: Filter more or less pop-up windows with Internet Explorer 6 and Windows XP Service Pack 2.
Normally, Internet Explorer 6 is configured to allow some pop-up windows to appear, especially if they are user-initiated (a pop-up appearing after clicking a button or a link). If you'd rather increase Internet Explorer 6's pop-up window blocking sensitivity to block even more windows, do the following:
1. From Internet Explorer 6, Click "Tools".
2. Select "Pop-Up Blocker".
3. Select "Pop-up Blocker Settings".
4. When the "Pop-up Blocker Settings" dialog box appears, under "Filter Level", click the pull-down and choose "High".
5. Press "Close" to close the dialog box.

Modify Favorites with the Explorer
SUMMARY: Organize Internet Explorer Favorites with a familiar Explorer interface.
Tired of using the default Internet Explorer 6 mechanisms to modify your Favorites? If you are a Windows "power user", you may find modifying your Favorites with Explorer easier.
1. From the "Start" button, choose "Run".
2. Type "Favorites" (without the quotes) and press ENTER.
(Note that this works under Windows XP and may not work on earlier versions of Windows).
From here it is easy to do the following, and more:
1. Create a folder (right-click in the window, choose "New" then "Folder" and give it a name).
2. Rename a Favorite or folder (click on a Favorite or folder, press F2, then edit).
3. Move a Favorite between folders (just drag-and-drop the Favorite).
4. Delete a Favorite or folder (right-click a Favorite or folder, select Delete).
5. Change a Favorite's URL (right-click a Favorite, choose "Properties", change the URL).

Printing in Landscape Mode
SUMMARY: Use Internet Explorer 6 to print webpages in landscape mode, making some printouts look nicer.
Often when you try to print web pages, Internet Explore 6 will clip off some of the text on the right, making the printed pages only marginally usable. If this occurs, try printing your web pages in landscape mode.
Click the "File" menu then "Page Setup". On the dialog box that appears, underneath "Orientation", click the "Landscape" radio button. Press "OK" to close.
Now, large web pages may not get truncated by IE6 as the landscape printing provides for much more horizontal room.
Always Preview Before Printing
SUMMARY: Get better webpage printouts from Internet Explorer 6 by using the Print Preview feature.
Before printing a webpage with Internet Explorer 6, always use the Print Preview mode to see how the webpage will look on a piece of paper. Just click "File" and then "Print Preview" to select this mode.
Why is Print Preview so important? Unfortunately, depending on a webpage's layout, graphic elements or blocks of text might get chopped off. Text does not always wrap correctly, so you may print out a page of important text only to find out huge sections of it missing! That is why you should always Print Preview.
If you notice missing text or graphics in your on-screen virtual printout, you can always change your paper orientation from Portrait to Landscape. Click "Close" to exit Print Preview mode. Click "File" then "Page Setup". On the "Page Setup" dialog box that follows, choose the "Landscape" radio button under "Orientation". Then press "OK" to close that dialog box. Afterwards, preview your document again to see if it looks ok and that no text or graphics are cut. If everything looks fine, click the "Print" button from the Print Preview mode to get a hardcopy of your desired page.

Toggle the Status Bar Display
SUMMARY: Turn the status bar on or off to view or hide webpage information.
To view or hide the Internet Explorer 6 status bar, just select "View" then "Status Bar". The status bar is useful in that it shows when a page is loading, may mention when a page has an error, and normally shows the web address destination of a hyperlinked image.

Change Webpage Font Sizes Easier
SUMMARY: Quickly change the font size of webpage text in the toolbar.
Although Internet Explorer 6 lets you make a webpage's text larger or smaller, this feature is hidden in the "View" menu. If you frequently change a webpage's text size, why not make this option easier to access by adding it to your toolbar?
Right-click on the toolbar and choose "Customize". When the "Customize" dialog appears, look under "Available Toolbar Buttons". Scroll down until the "Size" button appears. Click the button, press "Add" to insert it in your toolbar, and then press "Close" to remove the dialog box.
Now, to change the size of the fonts on a webpage, click the new toolbar button and you can choose from a Largest, Large, Medium, Small, or Smallest text size. Note that this feature will not work on every web page you visit.

Note: The [Start] or Windows key is located between the Ctrl and Alt keys on most new keyboards. But some old vendor keyboards and some laptops do not have this key.

Keys Function

Backspace Move back

Alt + A Open the Favorites drop-down menu

Alt + D Select the current Address bar text

Alt + F Open the File drop-down menu

Alt + H Open the Help drop-down menu

Alt + T Open the Tool drop-down menu

Alt + V Open the View drop-down menu

Alt + F4 Close Internet Explorer

Alt + Home Open the Home page

Alt + Right Arrow Move forward

Alt + Left Arrow Move back

Ctrl + B Organize Favorites

Ctrl + C Copy

Ctrl + E Open the Search bar

Ctrl + F Find

Ctrl + H Open the History bar

Ctrl + I Open the Favorites bar

Ctrl + L Open a new Web page, document or folder

Ctrl + N Open a new window

Ctrl + O Open a new Web page, document or folder

Ctrl + P Print the active frame or current page

Ctrl + R Refresh

Ctrl + S Save

Ctrl + V Paste

Ctrl + W Close the window

Ctrl + Enter Add "www." To the beginning and ".com" to the end of the text in the Address bar

Tab Move through the Address bar, Links bar, and the items on the Web page

Esc Stop downloading a page

Shift + F10 Display a shortcut menu for a link

Shift + Tab Move back through the Address bar, Links bar, and the items on the Web page

F1 Open Internet Explorer Help

Removing Right-Click Items

When you right click on a folder or file with the Explorer, a list of options is available.
As more applications get installed, this list may get too large for you.

To remove items from the list:

Note the text of the item you want to remove

Start Regedit

Go to the following sections in the Registry and delete the subkey with the string you noted in Step 1.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\file
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell

Changing the Default Sound in Explorer

You can change the default sound heard when navigating to folders in the Explorer.

Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ AppEvents \ Schemes \ Apps\ Explorer \ Navigating\ .current

Change the default value to the wav file you want to use.

Leaving it blank will turn off the sound.

This also changes the default sound when opening a page in the Internet Explorer.

Running the Explorer in Separate Process (NT/XP Only)

By default, the Windows Desktop, Taskbar, and Explorer run in a single process using multiple threads. You can modify the registry so that the Taskbar and Desktop will run in one process with each instance of Explorer in a separate process.

Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer

Create a DWORD value called DesktopProcess

Give it a value of 1

Changing Drive Icons in Explorer

To change the icon used for specific drives in Explorer

Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Explorer

Create a key called DriveIcons

Within DriveIcons, create another key with the drive letter you want to change (..\DriveIcons\K)

Create another key within the drive letter key called DefaultIcon

Set the default value equal to the icon you want to use.

If you have a file that has more than one icon in it, such as a DLL file, use the standard C:\full_path\icon_file.dll,x
where x is the number of the icon within the file icon_file.dll.

Changing Drive Labels in Explorer (Windows2000 and XP)

Normally the Explorer shows drive labels as "Compact Disk", "Removable Disk" ect.

To change the name of this label for specific drives:

Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Explorer

Create a key called DriveIcons

Within DriveIcons, create another key with the drive letter you want to change (..\DriveIcons\K)

Create another within the drive letter key called DefaultLabel

Give the Default Value for this key the label you want to appear for that drive letter. (Jazz Drive etc.)

Restart the computer

Resetting Graphics PreView in Explorer

For Windows98, ME or Windows 2000, if you have View as Web Page enabled but do not see a picture preview in Explorer:

Start Regedit
Go to Registry key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ file type \ ShellEx \ {BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}

Make sure the Default Value "{7376D660-C583-11d0-A3A5-00C04FD706EC}"

Keeping Filenames in the Case You Want

To stop Windows from changing the case of your filenames to upper or lower case:

Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced

Double-click DontPrettyPath (or create this key with a type of REG_DWORD if it doesn't exist)

Set the value to 1 to keep the case as you type it or 0 to adjust the case as Explorer requires

Click OK

Close Regedit

Changing the Explorer's Web View Background

If you use Web View for your Internet Explorer, you can change the background that appears.

Edit or recreate the file >C:\Windows\Web\Wvleft.bmp

Make sure you keep the file dimensions the same 182x237 pixels

Moving Up and Down Directory Levels

To go one directory deeper, key RIGHT ARROW

To back out one directory level, key LEFT ARROW

Hiding the File Menu in the Explorer

To hide the File Menu in Explorer:

Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Create a new Binary Value

Name it NoFileMenu

Give it a value of 01 00 00 00

Reboot the computer

Explorer Session from the Start Menu

To open the Explorer with a session on the Start Menu,
you can just right click on the START button and choose EXPLORE

Most avid windowers know that "Start | Settings | Taskbar | Start Menu Programs | Advanced..."
will start an Explorer session focused on the Start Menu directory.
This allows you to easily and quickly add/modify your Start menu.

To immediately access this Explorer session from the Start menu itself,

Open Explorer and open the Windows directory.

Right-drag EXPLORER.EXE to the desktop, then select "Create shortcut here."

Open the properties to this shortcut, select the Shortcut tab and add the following switches to the command line in Target: "/e,/root,c:\windows\Start Menu".

Double-click on the title of the shortcut and change it to "Configure Start Menu."

Open "Start | Settings | Taskbar | Start Menu Programs | Advanced..." and drag the shortcut just created into the window on the right.

This will place a configuration item in the first level of the Start Menu.

These command-line options will allow a similar Explorer session to be started with any folder as the root.

Automatically Adjusting Right-Panel Column Widths

The column widths in the right hand panel of the Explorer might not be the correct sizes to display all the file information.
To automatically adjust all the columns at once to show all the information,

Click somewhere on the right-hand panel

Simply press the Ctrl-+ key.

The Name, Size, Type and Modified columns will automatically adjust themselves to display all their information.

Note: The + is the one on the numeric keyboard

Inserting the Name of a File into a Document

When you need to insert the exact name of a file into a document:

Open the Explorer

Right click on the file you want to reference

Select Rename. You can either right click and select Rename or press the F2 key.

Instead of renaming it, right click on it again, and select Copy.

Then you can paste the exact file name into your document

a Folder
Adding a second Explorer to the menu that pops up when right clicking on any folder or the Start Button.
This is handy to be able to open Explorer non-expanded and also for being able to open a second Explorer (non-expanded) while already in Explorer.

Open My Computer

Choose View-Options-File Types

Select the File Folder file type

Click Edit

For ACTION, type EXPLORER2

For APPLICATION USED, type C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n,/e,/select,C:\

Click OK and close all windows

Run REGEDIT

Expand HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

Locate and expand DIRECTORY

Locate and expand SHELL

Locate and expand EXPLORER2

Select COMMAND

On the right window RIGHT CLICK on DEFAULT

Select MODIFY

Remove the space and %1 at the end of the line

Click OK and close REGEDIT

EXPLORER2 will show up and launch a non-expanded view of Explorer whenever you right-click on the START BUTTON or any folder, even if you are already in Explorer.

The whole procedure can be done in REGEDIT, but this may be safer for users not experienced with REGEDIT

Finding Files from Explorer

To find files from a particular directory:

Start the Explorer

Go to the directory you want to search

Press the F3 key

The Find File dialog box will come up with the initial directory being the one you highlighted

Printing a Directory from Explorer

To make a Print Directory option from a right-click in Explorer:

In Explorer, choose View / Options / File Types

Highlight Folder (not File Folder)

Click on the Edit button

Click on the New button

In the Action box, type &Print Dir

In the Application use to perform action box type C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM /C DIR %1 /S /A /O:N > PRN

You can use other switches for COMMAND.COM (COMMAND.COM /?) or DIR (DIR /? | MORE) to customize to your preference.

Opening a DOS Prompt in the Directory You Want

You can use the Explorer to easily open up a DOS window to a specific directory.

From Explorer Option Menu select File Types

Highlight the object for Folder - NOT File Folder

Click the Edit button

From the 'Edit File Type' panel click the 'New' button

Action is '&Goto DOS Prompt'

Application used is C:\windows\command.com /k cd %1

Select OK, then Close and Close.

Now from Explorer secondary (right) click the folder you want to go to in DOS

From the menu select 'GotDOS Prompt' (or hit G) and you are in that directory with a DOS windows

For Win NT 4.0 same tip, but substitute cmd.exe for command.com)

Starting Explorer with No Drives Expanded

Normally when you start the Explorer, it expands the folders on the root of the C: Drive.
For those computers with multiple hard drives plus CD ROM Drives, this might not always be what you want.
If you want it to start without expanding any drives, use the following switches:

EXPLORER /n, /e, /select, c:\

This will work with NT 4.0 as well

Opening Explorer and System Properties from My Computer

By holding Shift key and double-clicking My Computer you get anExplorer view of My Computer.

By holding down Alt and key and double-clicking My Computer you get the System Properties of Control Panel.

Opening Explorer from My Computer

To open an explorer view of "My Computer", in "My Computer" or an Explorer window,

Select the View menu, Options.

Click the File Types Tab

Highlight the Folders entry

Click the Edit button

Highlight the action you wish (Open, Explore, Explore From Here)

Click the Set Default button.

This is much easier than editing the registry and easily changeable.

Undo Last Command in Explorer

When you use the Explorer to Copy, Move, Rename or Delete Files or Folders,
you can Undo your last action by pressing Ctrl-Z

File Copying in Explorer Without Opening Two Sessions

There was a previous tip regarding opening two Explorer sessions, tiling them, and drag and dropping files from one to the other.
An another way to copy files without needing to open a second Explorer session is to:

Highlight the file(s) you want to copy

Right click on the mouse

Select Copy

In Explorer, move to the target directory

Right click on the mouse

Select Paste

The files will now be copied

Easier File Copying with Explorer

One difference between Explorer and File Manager is that with File Manager
you could open up two windows to more easily copy files between drives.
To do the same thing with Explorer:

Close all running applications

Start two copies of Explorer

Press Ctrl-Esc to bring up the task bar

Right click on an open space

Select Tile Horizontally or Vertically depending on your preference

Your two Explorer sessions will now split the screen and you can copy between them by
dragging files like before.

Expanding All Subfolders in Explorer

To quickly have Explorer expand all subfolders for a selected drive or folder,
simply press the asterisk (*) key on the numeric keypad.

Starting Explorer when opening a Folder

To have an Explorer window be the default when you open up a Folder:

Open up any folder.

Select View / Options

Select File Types

Go down to Folder

Click on Edit

Highlight Explore

Click on Set Default

Click on Close

Click on Close again

Now when you open a folder, you will get an Explorer window with the programs or shortcuts in the right panel
and the regular explorer window in the left panel.

Explorer Shortcut Keys

F4 - Displays the Combo Box

F5 - Refresh the display

Ctrl+G - Go to a specific directory

Ctrl+Z - Undo last action

Backspace - Go up one directory

Starting the Explorer from the Current DOS Directory

Changing the Sort order in Explorer

To change the sort order of the right window of MS Explorer
simply double click on the Name button underneath the toolbar
to change the sort order from ascending to descending, a single
click after that will toggle. The same works for Size, Type and Date Modified.

Using the Explorer's SEND TO Feature

When you right click on a file, SEND TO is one of the options.

To add other directories or programs, simply drag them to the SEND TO folder that is directly under the directory where you installed Win95.

This will allow you to quickly move files to commonly used areas.

For example, you can SEND TO applications like WinZip.

Internet Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts

Viewing and exploring Web pages

F1 Display the Internet Explorer Help, or when in a dialog box, display context help on an item

F11 Toggle between Full Screen and regular view of the browser window

TAB Move forward through the items on a Web page, the Address bar, and the Links bar

SHIFT+TAB Move back through the items on a Web page, the Address bar, and the Links bar

ALT+HOME Go to your Home page

ALT+RIGHT ARROW Go to the next page

ALT+LEFT ARROW or
BACKSPACE Go to the previous page

SHIFT+F10 Display a shortcut menu for a link

CTRL+TAB or
F6 Move forward between frames

SHIFT+CTRL+TAB Move back between frames

UP ARROW Scroll toward the beginning of a document

DOWN ARROW Scroll toward the end of a document

PAGE UP Scroll toward the beginning of a document in larger increments

PAGE DOWN Scroll toward the end of a document in larger increments

HOME Move to the beginning of a document

END Move to the end of a document

CTRL+F Find on this page

F5 or
CTRL+R Refresh the current Web page only if the time stamp for the Web version and your locally stored version are different

CTRL+F5 Refresh the current Web page, even if the time stamp for the Web version and your locally stored version are the same

ESC Stop downloading a page

CTRL+O or
CTRL+L Go to a new location

CTRL+N Open a new window

CTRL+W Close the current window

CTRL+S Save the current page

CTRL+P Print the current page or active frame

ENTER Activate a selected link

CTRL+E Open Search in Explorer bar

CTRL+I Open Favorites in Explorer bar

CTRL+H Open History in Explorer bar

CTRL+click In History or Favorites bars, open multiple folders

Using the Address bar

Press this

To do this

ALT+D Select the text in the Address bar

F4 Display the Address bar history

CTRL+LEFT ARROW When in the Address bar, move the cursor left to the next logical break (. or /)

CTRL+RIGHT ARROW When in the Address bar, move the cursor right to the next logical break (. or /)

CTRL+ENTER Add "www." to the beginning and ".com" to the end of the text typed in the Address bar

UP ARROW Move forward through the list of AutoComplete matches

DOWN ARROW Move back through the list of AutoComplete matches

Working with favorites

Press this

To do this

CTRL+D Add the current page to your favorites

CTRL+B Open the Organize Favorites dialog box

ALT+UP ARROW Move selected item up in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites dialog box

ALT+DOWN ARROW Move selected item down in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites dialog box

Editing

Press this

To do this

CTRL+X Remove the selected items and copy them to the Clipboard

CTRL+C Copy the selected items to the Clipboard

CTRL+V Insert the contents of the Clipboard at the selected location

CTRL+A Select all items on the current Web page

Remap the Right-Alt Key to be the Windows Key

Submitted 11/10/01

Create a Scancode entry in the Registry as follows:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout

Create a new binary entry called Scancode Map with the following values

00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 5B EO 38 EO 00 00 00 00

Reboot the computer

Submitted by Julian Toler

Disabling the Windows Key with NT or Windows2000

To disable the use of the Windows Key for the two operating Systems,

Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Keyboard Layout

Add a Binary Value called Scancode Map

Give it a value of 00000000000000000300000000005BE000005CE000000000

Reboot the computer

Undo

Submitted 2/18/98

Press CTRL + Z to undo things like renaming a file in Explorer

Submitted by Melissa Gaugert

Minimizing All Windows

To minimize all windows:

Press Ctrl-ESC to bring up the Task Bar

Press Alt-M

This makes it a lot easier to minimize windows when all your open applications are full screen.

Submitted by Imar Spaanjaars

Note from Bob: With the Microsoft Keyboard, you can accomplish the same thing by pressing the Window-M key.

Shortcut to System Properties

Submitted 2/4/98

To access the System Properties screen quickly, simply hold down the ALT key while double clicking on the My Computer icon.

Submitted by Stuart H

Submitted 11/2/97

While holding the windows key, press the Pause / Break key.
This will open up the System Properties box.
From here you can easily get to the Device Manager

Submitted by Emperor

Duplicating the Right Mouse Click

Submitted 1/21/98

Pressing the Shift-F10 key will be the same as clicking the right-mouse button.

Submitted by Roberto Magistrelli

Accessing Programs from the Start Button

Submitted 9/13/97

To access your programs more quickly from your start button, with out aid of a mouse, hit ctrl+esc to open your start menu.
Then, type the letter for the directory you are looking for.
For example, to access the ever popular game of solitaire, CTRL+ESC, then "P" for programs, "A" for accessories, "G" for games, then "S" for Solitaire.
If there is more than one entry for the letter, keep hitting the letter until you reach your desired location. Then, hit enter.

Submitted by Derek Wittstruck

Quickly Starting Explorer

Submitted 7/29/97

You can quickly start an explorer session by holding down the Windows key on a Microsoft Keyboard and pressing the E.key

Submitted by David Thorne

Internet Explorer Shortcuts

Here are a few IE keyboard shortcuts:

Go Back to the previous page Alt+Left Arrow

Go Forward to the next page Alt+Right Arrow

Add to Favorites on the current web page Ctrl+D

Open the History folder Ctrl+H

Open the Organize Favorites window Ctrl+B

Lets you open a new web page Ctrl+L

Open a new browser window Ctrl+N

Reload the current page Ctrl+R

Close the active Internet Explorer window Ctrl+W

Bringing up the Properties Window

While holding the ALT key double click on an icon to bring up the properties.

Resizing and Moving a Window

To Resize or Move a window:

Press Alt-Space

Press the S key - To Resize

Press the M key - To Move

You can now use the arrow keys to resize or move the window

Key stroking is faster than mouse moving

Submitted 1/23/96

In desktop you can press "m", "My Briefcase is highlighted, press "enter" will open this applet.

If you do not press "enter",

The next "m" key stroke will highlight "My Computer".

"Ctrl"-"Esc", press "P" for Programs, "enter","M""enter", you get to the first program or folder that starts with "M"

Other applets will also be opened the same way.

Explorer Shortcut Keys

F4 - Displays the Combo Box

F5 - Refresh the display

Ctrl+Z - Undo last action

Backspace - Go up one directory

Quickly Search for Files

To quickly open up the Find all Files window

Press Ctrl+ESC ESC

Press F3

To copy a file with a Mouse/Keyboard combo

Drag the file while holding down the CTRL key - A + will appear on the icon

To move a file with a Mouse/Keyboard combo

Drag file while holding down SHIFT key - Nothing appears on the icon

If moving a icon with the mouse and an arrow appears, it will create a shortcut.
You can press shift or ctrl at anytime during the drag
and it will change this little part of the icon.