Yet, Windows comes with about 30 other Windows Key shortcuts, where you hold down the Windows Key and press a single letter or character to complete a task. Learning a few will really speed up your work, especially on laptops with their awkward trackpads.

I use these Windows key shortcuts most often:

Press +E to fetch the handy Computer program, which grants quick access to your drives, libraries, and favorite folders.

To align two windows side-by-side on your Desktop, press and the left arrow within one window; then press and the right arrow within the other window. The windows quickly align themselves side-by-side on your desktop, making for easy cutting and pasting between them.

Launch taskbar programs. The first program listed on my taskbar is Outlook, so pressing +1 launches that program. If it’s already running, +1 brings it to the top of my desktop’s pile o’ windows. Similarly, pressing + 2 fetches the taskbar’s second program, +3 calls up the third, and so on.

When on my laptop, + X brings up the Mobility Center, a subset of the Control Panel that deals exclusively with laptop features like checking the battery, and turning wireless Internet access on or off.

Here’s the full list of Windows Key shortcuts for Windows 7; many work in Windows Vista and Windows XP, as well:

	Open or close the Start menu.
+Pause	Display the System Properties window.
+D	Display the desktop.
+M	Minimize all open windows.
+Shift+M	Restore those minimized windows to the desktop.
+E	Open Computer.
+F	Search for a file or folder.
Ctrl++F	Search for computers (if you’re on a network).
+L	Lock your computer or switch users, handy when leaving the keyboard for a break.
+R	Open the Run dialog box.
+T	Cycle through programs on the taskbar.
+number	Start the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number. (If the program is already running, switch to that program.)
Shift++number	Start a new instance of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
Ctrl++number	Switch to the last active window of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
Alt++number	Open the Jump List for the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
+Tab	Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D.
Ctrl++Tab	Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D.
Ctrl++B	Switch to the program that just displayed a message in the notification area.
+Spacebar	Preview the desktop.
+Up Arrow	Maximize the current window.
+Left Arrow	Maximize the current window to the left side of the screen.
+Right Arrow	Maximize the current window to the right side of the screen.
+Down Arrow	Minimize the current window.
+Home	Minimize all but the current window.
+Shift+Up Arrow	Stretch the window to the top and bottom of the screen.
+Shift+Left Arrow or Right Arrow	Move a window from one monitor to another. (This assumes you’re using a second monitor.)
+P	Choose a presentation display mode if you’re using more than one monitor or a projection screen.
+G	Cycle through your Desktop gadgets.
+U	Open Ease of Access Center.
+X	Open Windows Mobility Center on laptops or netbooks.

A: One of many Facebook games, FarmVille draws millions of people together to be virtual farmers, letting them grow vegetables and raise livestock without getting their hands dirty. Unfortunately, FarmVille’s creators plug their game by notify everybody of every player’s FarmVille accomplishments, which can turn Facebook into a compost pile.

You can tell Facebook to block FarmVille’s spam fairly easily, though, letting you see all your friend’s messages except the ones automatically generated by FarmVille. To block FarmVille spam from all of Facebook’s virtual gardeners, follow these steps:

1. Login to Facebook, and head to your Facebook News Feed.
2. Find any piece of FarmVille spam inside your news feed, like the one below, and hover your mouse pointer over its top right corner until the word Hide appears, seen below.
   
3. Click the Hide button.
4. When the Hide box appears, click the Hide FarmVille button, shown below.

When the page refreshes, all the FarmVille spam will have disappeared.

If you want to resume following your friends’ virtual gardening activities, scroll down to the bottom right of your News Feed page and choose Edit Options. There, you’ll find an option to resume FarmVille’s spam.

Q: The Contacts area is missing from Outlook Express. The Contacts list is so helpful when composing my emails;  I just click the address in the Contacts folder, and it appears in the e-mail’s “To” line. Help!

A: Many Windows programs let you customize their layout, showing only the portions you find useful and hiding the rest. Unfortunately, sometimes a misplaced click will hide a feature you’ve depended upon for years.

In your case, Windows XP’s Outlook Express is now hiding the list of Contacts that usually appears in the program’s lower left corner.

To make the Contacts folder reappear, change Outlook Express’ Layout settings by following these steps:

1. Click the Start button, and open Outlook Express.
2. Click the View menu and choose Layout.
3. When the “Windows Layout Properties” window appears, click to put a checkmark in the Contacts box.
4. Click the Apply button, and the Contacts pane immediately reappears in its rightful spot.
5. Click OK to save your changes.

If you’d like to view other changes offered by the Windows Layout Properties window, spend some time in Step 3 to click the other checkboxes: Folder Bar, Folder List, Outlook Bar, Status Bar, Toolbar and Views Bar, clicking Apply after each one, in turn. If you like the change, keep it; if you don’t, click the checkbox again to return to normal.

For example, I remove the “Folder Bar” from the layout, as it takes up a little too much space on my laptop’s screen.

But whether you change layout items or not, experimenting with the Layout window lets you know exactly where to go if a Layout item suddenly disappears.

Q: Page 158 in Windows Vista for Dummies shows Internet Explorer’s Page button. When I press the Page button and choose View Source from the menu, an enormous amount of gibberish appears. Why can’t I delete that?

A: When you open Internet Explorer, click the Page button, and choose View Source from the drop-down menu, the browser shows you exactly what the current Web page sends to your computer: a bunch of special coding called “HTML” that your computer interprets to arrange the text and graphics onto the Web page.

It looks like gibberish because it’s written mostly for computers to understand, not people. In fact, most programmers don’t even read it; that code is spat out by programs designed for editing Web pages.

You can’t delete that information mainly because Internet Explorer won’t let you: The View Source page only lets you *view* that gibberish, not change it or delete it.

To get rid of the View Source page, treat it like any other window or page: Click the X in its upper right corner. Your browser will return to showing you the page, not its underpinnings.

So, why is the View Source page there at all? It serves as an easy way to examine a Web site’s building blocks, much the way an architect examines floor plans for a house. Web designers can see exactly how a Web page was built, from the ground up, examining particularly interesting bits of code to use as an inspiration when designing their own creations.

It also helps Web designers troubleshoot problems when something goes wrong with the way a browser displays their handiwork.

Unless you’re a Web designer or computer techie, the View Source option can be safely ignored.

Q:

A: Windows 7 lacks an e-mail program, which causes more than a few problems. Microsoft expects people to download and install its free Windows Live Mail e-mail program. Or, you can download competing free e-mail programs like Thunderbird, and install them to handle your e-mail chores.

But if you’re using a Web-based e-mail service, like the ones provided by many Internet Service Providers like AT&T, you’re left in the lurch: Internet Explorer doesn’t consider them to be e-mail programs, so it won’t let you send pages and links using its menu.

So, since those menu options are grayed out, you’re stuck with these convoluted steps:

1. Highlight the link you want to send from within Internet Explorer’s Address bar.
2. Right-click the highlighted link and choose Copy.
3. Log on to your e-mail service and create a new e-mail.
4. Right-click inside your blank e-mail and choose Paste.

The link will appear in your e-mail window, ready for you to send to a friend.

The grayed-out links begin working once you install an e-mail program like Windows Live Mail, but you still might have to make a few extra tweaks.

Q: I keep my song files in a single folder, listed in alphabetical order. I play them with Media Player 11, which came with Windows 7.

Some music files have the same title, but performed by different artists. To avoid duplicate file names, I added the name of the artist or group in parentheses, like In the Mood (Glen Miller) and In the Mood (Andrews Sisters) so I can tell the songs apart.

But the next day, the file names reverted to their old names.

How can I stop this from happening?

A: Media Player is the culprit here, and here’s why: Whenever you run Media Player, it automatically lists all of your songs in its Library, which lists each song’s title and artist name. Then, Media Player begins fiddling with your files, grabbing information from the Internet to make sure the songs’ include the right artist names and titles.

In your case, however, Media Player’s housekeeping is actually destroying all the time you spent arranging and naming your songs: One of Media Player’s tasks can include renaming your songs’ file names.

To fix the problem, you need to dive into Media Player’s settings by following these steps:

1. Open Media Player, either by clicking its icon on your taskbar, or clicking Start, choosing All Programs, and double-clicking Windows Media Player.
2. Click the Organize button and choose Options from the drop-down menu.
3. Click the Options window’s Library tab.
4. Click to remove the checkmark by “Rename music files using rip music settings.”
5. Click the OK button.

The next time you play your songs in Media Player, the program won’t rename them.

Q: I want to mirror my hard drive on an external hard drive. On page 237 of Windows 7 For Dummies, your book says “the  [Backup and Restore] program also creates a system image – an exact copy of the drive Windows 7 lives on.” Is this

A: Windows 7’s Backup and Restore program offers several options, including one for creating a “System Image.” Meant for backups, a System Image creates an exact copy of your Windows 7 hard drive and packs it into one large file, which you can store on a second hard drive. (A portable hard drive works great for this and other tasks.)

System Image provides a perfect backup for most people, as it contains everything on their C drive: Windows 7, all your installed programs, and all the files created with those programs.

So, how does a System Image differ from the “Backup and Restore” program’s normal backup? A regular backup copies your files, mostly from Windows 7’s Libraries:  Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos. If you accidentally erase a file or two, turn to your regular backup to cherry pick the lost files you want to restore.

A System Image, by contrast, copies the entire drive. Restoring it is an all-or-nothing affair: You can return to the exact setup you had when you made the system image — but you can’t grab that file you accidentally deleted from your Documents library.

That’s why System Image provides a near perfect backup. When your hard drive eventually dies, you can restore your data from your System Image file: You boot from your Win 7 installation DVD (or a System Repair disc, which you can create when making the System Image), and choose a menu option to restore your hard drive from a System Image file.

Your computer grabs the System Image, places it onto your replacement hard drive, and you can begin working again from the time and date that you made that System Image backup.

When you have a System Image, you won’t need to reinstall Windows 7, your programs, nor your data files: It’s all there. You won’t even need to reactivate Windows, or mess with those annoying product keys.

It’s worth creating a System Image at least once a week, as every hard drive will eventually die. Creating a System Image ensures your work won’t die along with it. And, if your computer came with Windows 7 pre-installed, create a System Repair Disc along with it — you rarely, if ever, receive a Windows 7 installation DVD when Windows 7 comes pre-installed.

Technical note: If you have more than one version of Windows installed on your computer, say, Windows 7 on one partition, and Windows Vista on a second partition — the System Image will copy both versions of Windows, bringing them both back to life if you need them.

A: Holding down the Ctrl key and pressing the letter “s” is one of many Windows shortcut keys. Shortcut keys are time savers, letting you keep your fingers on the keyboard while working, rather than knocking over the coffee while reaching for the mouse.

Pressing Ctrl+S means to “save your current document,” but Ctrl+S does slightly different things depending on what you’re currently doing:

• If you open an existing file, change a few things, and press Ctrl+S, your program saves the new information inside your opened file, keeping the file stored in its original location.
• If you create something new with a program and press Ctrl+S, the program creates a new file, asking you to choose a name and location to store your masterpiece. Most programs even simplify things by suggesting a file name and a location: They usually offer to place your new file inside one of your existing folders, depending on whether you’re working on a document, a music file, a video, or a picture. To retrieve that file later, return to that chosen folder.
• If you press Ctrl+S and you’re not working in a program, Windows does nothing. After all, you haven’t created any work to save.

But, you may ask, how do you find the file’s location if you don’t remember where you originally saved it?

You can find a file’s name and location in any of several ways:

• Click the Start menu and click Recent Items to see a list of the past 15 files you’ve created. Right-click a file’s name and choose “Open File Location” from the pop-up menu; Windows immediately opens the folder containing your long-sought file. (Windows even highlights the errant file’s name for easy clicking retrieval.)
• On the taskbar, right-click the icon of the program that created the file; hover your mouse pointer over the file’s name, and Windows lists the file’s location in a pop-up menu.
• Can’t even remember the file’s name? Click the Start menu and type a few words you remember from inside the document. Windows begins listing files containing those words. When you spot the right file, right-click its name and choose Open File Location.

The “Open File Location” command comes in handy whenever you can spot a file’s name, but want to see the folder where it’s currently living.

Q: Every time my children download and install a program, that program’s icon appears on

A: Your kids are probably installing programs that automatically install themselves for all account holders of the PC to use.

Many programs do this for a natural reason: The programmers want every account holder to be able to use their programs. Otherwise, every account holder would have to install their own copy of the program.

However, the more polite programs offer an installation option that asks, “Install a copy for every user of this computer?” Tell your children they should choose No when they see that option. That keeps the icons on their own desktops and Start menus, and leaves them off of yours. But if a program doesn’t offer that option, you’re stuck with seeing all those unwanted program icons proliferating on your desktop.

That said, seeing those icons provides you with a handy way to keep track of the programs your children are installing onto the family computer. The downside is you’ll have to keep deleting their icon clutter manually.

How do I get rid of this message?

A: You’re seeing yet another annoying Windows Vista feature. When you try to run some programs, Vista’s User Account Control (UAC) normally steps in, asking if you’re sure you want to run the program. (UAC is a safety mechanism that I cover in Windows Vista For Dummies.)

The message you’re now seeing means that one of your recently installed programs needs your click of approval. However, that particular program is trying to run as soon as you log onto your account. Since UAC doesn’t have time to step in, Windows simply stops the program from running, and sends you the message.

To stop the message, follow these steps:

1. Click the “Blocked startup programs” icon on the taskbar, and point to the “Run blocked program menu” list. There, in the figure below, you’ll see the programs Vista has blocked from starting.

2. If you want to run the blocked program, click its name. Type your password, if prompted, or click Continue, and the program will begin running. (Unfortunately, you must repeat these steps every time you log onto your account.)

3. If you don’t want to run the blocked program, or you’re not sure what to do, choose “Show or remove blocked startup programs.” Windows Defender appears, listing every program that starts automatically.

4. Click the name of the program you don’t want to run, and click the Disable button. (If you change your mind, repeat these steps, and click the Enable button.)

This message often appears in Vista after you install antivirus or other security programs. Those types of programs both require your approval to run, and they want to run as soon as you log onto your account. If you’re tired of seeing the message, check with the program’s manufacturer to see if they have an updated version that doesn’t trigger the message.

Microsoft’s support site offers more technical information about the error message.