Fresh Windows Tips

Windows Cascading:
If you have multiple windows open and want to quickly click between them and do not want to have to pull up the task
bar every time, what should you do? There is a nice option in Windows that lets you have the windows all close together
on the desktop, but still remain as separate entities so you can choose which one to go into.
Right click on the task bar and select 'Cascade Windows.' This will put all of the open windows in a nice neat format for
you to play around with.

Minimize All Windows:
At those times when you need to get to your desktop quickly, minimizing program after program can get really cumbersome. To get around this dilemma, Windows offers a little trick that can help speed up this process. If you rightclick
on the task bar at the bottom of the screen on a blank spot (a place where there is no program's name) then you will see an option called 'Minimize All Windows.' Select this, and watch all the windows in Windows shrink down in succession. Now, you will be at your desktop and ready to move forward quickly.

Clearing The Way For A Drag-And-Drop:
by Mark Richardson
Have you ever grabbed something and started dragging it only to find that your destination is obscured by an open window? Here's a little trick that will help in these situations. Continue to hold the item you're dragging, and move it over your system tray. Keep it still for a second or two, and every open window automatically minimizes

Finding Files
Most of the time when looking for a file, you have an idea of which folder it's in. If you're searching for a specific file and you know which folder it resides in. In Explorer remember to right-click the folder and choose Find. This launches the Find application with the Look In field already filled in, which saves you a step.
You can use the same technique to search for strings of text in a document. This is a feature that I use all the time, when looking for a phrase or heading I might have used before. Just right-click on the folder where you want to start your text search and choose Find. Then enter the word or phrase in the Containing Text field and click Find Now. Searching in a specific folder like this is necessary when it comes to searching for text, as it takes your computer quite a while to scan the
text of each document.

Shortcuts:
If you're tired of clicking hundreds of places to get to a favorite program or folder, then you're in luck. Windows has a
feature that will allow you to create something called a shortcut. A shortcut is an icon (picture) on which you can click
and go directly to the program or folder that you use most often.
Here's how you do it. First, find the program or folder in Windows Explorer. Now, right-click the folder or program and
hold down the right mouse button. Next, move the mouse off of Explorer and onto your desktop (the main Windows screen that appears when Windows first starts) and let go of the mouse button. At this point, a small menu will appear asking if you want to create a shortcut. Click the shortcut option, and a small picture will appear with a tiny arrow within it that denotes it's a shortcut.
Now, to get to your program, just click on this new shortcut and go right to it!

Storing Shortcuts In The Favorites Folder:
by Susan Sales Harkins
If you frequently use the same file (or files) but you don't want to make that file's folder your default folder (perhaps it's on a network), create a shortcut to the file(s) and store the shortcut in your default folder or the Favorites folder. Here's
how: First, right-click the file in its original folder and choose Create Shortcut from the shortcut menu. Next, select the newly created shortcut and then choose Add To Favorites from the Tools menu in the current dialog box (Open or Save).
Doing so moves the shortcut to the specified folder.
Once you've created the shortcut and saved it in your Favorites folder, you can open the file by simply clicking the Favorites folder on the Places toolbar. Then, locate the shortcut in the list of folders and files and click it!
If you prefer to store the shortcut in your default folder, simply cut and paste it from one folder to another.