# Computer "tricks"



## Schrody (Nov 13, 2014)

Whether you're Internet/Computer savvy or not, it's always good to know a few "tricks" which can save you time, are simpler and more efficient. So, write here any shortcuts you know! 

First thing first, if you're a "bookmarker" and I believe you are, you don't want to risk losing everything - your browser crashed, you need to re install it, or you're just not on your computer at the moment, but you need your bookmark. *Xmarks* is a great site where you can bookmark anything you want, and get this - access it from any computer! That app saved me.

Moving on, these are a few tricks you can do, and they're more fun than the "traditional route". 

- *Ctrl + S* will save any document (it's recommendable to hit it few times during your work - if the computer crashes, you might be in a trouble. So save regularly.)
- *Ctrl + C* will copy (instead going that boring route with the right click and everything)
- *Ctrl + V* will paste
- *Ctrl + X* will move (moving is like copying but it doesn't leave a copy, it moves the document completely from one place to another)
- *Ctrl + Z* will undo 
- *Ctrl + Y* will redo
- *Shift + Delete* will delete your document permanently without going into the Recycle Bin. Be careful! Even if you delete something by an accident, you can use a software called *Recuva* for recovering data. The faster you look for it, the greater will be the chances you will find it. 
- *Ctrl + H* opens a History on Google Chrome (don't know for other browsers)

When copying a text into the *Notepad*, it will lose all "shaping" - useful if you're copying from e.g. Wikipedia. 


If you know any useful trick, let us know


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## Deleted member 56686 (Nov 13, 2014)

When using Microsoft Word when you misspell something a red squiggly line will appear under the misspelled word. I'm sure most of you are aware of it, but for those that aren't, you can right click on the word and a list of suggestions of the correct spelling will appear on the menu that pops up. Even better you can click on Auto Correct. When you click on the word you meant to spell, it will automatically revert to that spelling every time you misspell that word the way you did initially. You never have to retype "the" ever again.

If it is a word you know is spelled correctly, or if it is a make-believe word you want to use, you can click on Add to Dictionary. This will put that word in the system. You won't see the red line under that word again. This will work on any document in Word. Once the word correction is in, it stays there. :smile:


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## dale (Nov 13, 2014)

i didn't know about this little trick until about a year ago. but if your computer's acting up or you're having an especially bad day at writing or
social networking? there is a separate piece of hardware you can buy for the computer called a "hammer". what it does is basically separate 
your keyboard into little pieces so that all your problems are solved until you go to walmart and buy a new one.


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## Bishop (Nov 13, 2014)

dale said:


> ....there is a separate piece of hardware you can buy for the computer called a "hammer".



Or do what I did. Tinker with your parent's computer long enough that they get fed up and buy you your own, so you keep on tinkering and then eventually get a job in tech despite having a degree in English. Then pretend you know what you're doing until you've tinkered enough at that job that you actually know what you're doing at that job. That's basically my autobiography in one paragraph...


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## dale (Nov 13, 2014)

Bishop said:


> Or do what I did. Tinker with your parent's computer long enough that they get fed up and buy you your own, so you keep on tinkering and then eventually get a job in tech despite having a degree in English. Then pretend you know what you're doing until you've tinkered enough at that job that you actually know what you're doing at that job. That's basically my autobiography in one paragraph...



 lol. that's actually the secret to getting a decent job. pretend like you know what you're doing during the interview process even though you don't have a clue and then just figure it out as you go.


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## Bishop (Nov 13, 2014)

dale said:


> lol. that's actually the secret to getting a decent job. pretend like you know what you're doing during the interview process even though you don't have a clue and then just figure it out as you go.



Can be tougher in tech. There was actually a test in my interview, asking about basic tech concepts and computer applications. But yeah. A lot of it is learning what the office already does and how they do it, so that you can do it their way.


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## TKent (Nov 13, 2014)

internet sleuthing. You can look up the IP address in an email and figure out what ISP/City it originates from. had to research this for my romance story. she does a bit of internet sleuthing.


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## dale (Nov 13, 2014)

TKent said:


> internet sleuthing. You can look up the IP address in an email and figure out what ISP/City it originates from. had to research this for my romance story. she does a bit of internet sleuthing.



 yeah. that can be interesting. give me about an hour, and i can track down about anyone even without an IP. understand that i've never done that for no reason. i wouldn't do it unless someone was threatening me online or something, which has happened. but yeah. people don't understand that their personalities develop patterns that can be utilized easily for "key word" searches. and sooner or later, you'll come across their real name. once you have the real name? it's a done deal. this dude was making really perverted and threatening comments about my kid once on a forum. about a 1/2 hour later, i put his real name, address, phone number up. it scared the hell out of him. he fled and never came back there. ha ha


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## Deleted member 56686 (Nov 13, 2014)

I'd be careful with that Dale. It can come back to haunt you. No sympathy for the "dude" though


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## dale (Nov 13, 2014)

mrmustard615 said:


> I'd be careful with that Dale. It can come back to haunt you. No sympathy for the "dude" though



it has. really, i learned it from someone doing it to me. i didn't like it too well, which is why i would never do it to anyone who doesn't have it coming.


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## Schrody (Nov 13, 2014)

dale said:


> i didn't know about this little trick until about a year ago. but if your computer's acting up or you're having an especially bad day at writing or
> social networking? there is a separate piece of hardware you can buy for the computer called a "hammer". what it does is basically separate
> your keyboard into little pieces so that all your problems are solved until you go to walmart and buy a new one.



This is a game for you, dale - click


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## Deleted member 56686 (Nov 13, 2014)

I clicked on the link and all I got was this stupid advertisement... oh wait a minute... It's some game in Spanish. Does Dale know Spanish? :?::cyclops:


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## dale (Nov 13, 2014)

Schrody said:


> This is a game for you, dale - click



ha ha. that was kind of fun for a couple minutes.


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## Schrody (Nov 13, 2014)

mrmustard615 said:


> I clicked on the link and all I got was this stupid advertisement... oh wait a minute... It's some game in Spanish. Does Dale know Spanish? :?::cyclops:



You don't have to know Spanish, just hit "play"


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## belthagor (Nov 13, 2014)

press and then hold these buttons at the same time: Ctrl (control) alt (don't think that stands for anything)

Afterwards, press an arrow key, up, down, left, or right. This is confirmed to work on windows 8, which came with my computer, I have no idea if it will work for you. What it does, (_*and don't be shocked if you are reading this with your head tilted because you pressed the buttons before I finished explaining, because you can easily press the up button while holding the other two*_) is flip your screen. "How could this be useful?" -you may wonder, well if you have a widescreen monitor, and youd like to write on microsoft the long way, you can easily flip the way your monitor shows the words, and then flip your monitor sideways, so you can read and write down a long line.... might be useful for some video games too. It will turn your widescreen into a "tall" screen


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## Bishop (Nov 13, 2014)

"ALT" stands for "alternate". As in, alternate function of the key.

Other key shortcuts: 
ALT + Tab cycles through active applications and programs (On PCs windows 7 and up, ALT + WINDOWS KEY does the same thing, but prettier)
ALT + F4 closes the active program/window
CTRL + Escape opens the start menu
SHIFT + DELETE deletes an item permanently (does not go to recycle bin)
WINDOWS KEY + L locks the computer
CTRL + SHIFT + ESCAPE opens the task manager

And many more, as they say...


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## belthagor (Nov 13, 2014)

Bishop said:


> "ALT" stands for "alternate". As in, alternate function of the key.



oh right... sorry about that.

Anyway, I forgot to mention the reason I do it, for short periods of time -Tetris anyone?


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## Schrody (Nov 13, 2014)

Oh God, Tetris. That brings the memories... Any of you had Commodore 64? And those little cassettes with games on it? I'm so old :-s


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## belthagor (Nov 13, 2014)

Schrody, do you remember chips challenge?


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## dale (Nov 13, 2014)

Schrody said:


> Oh God, Tetris. That brings the memories... Any of you had Commodore 64? And those little cassettes with games on it? I'm so old :-s



i had an atari. pitfall and missile command were the only games really worth a damn on that thing.


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## Deleted member 56686 (Nov 13, 2014)

Schrody said:


> Oh God, Tetris. That brings the memories... Any of you had Commodore 64? And those little cassettes with games on it? I'm so old :-s




Yeah wasn't that before your time? :lol:

I remember the Vic 20, now that is old. 

I liked Tetris.

- - - Updated - - -



dale said:


> i had an atari. pitfall and missile command were the only games really worth a damn on that thing.




The only thing I could play on Atari was their pinball machine. It was way to easy to control the ball without ever tilting. My scores were astronomical :highly_amused:


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## belthagor (Nov 13, 2014)

There have been so many games like tetris made. I remember one of them....when you move the pieces they swing around, even spin, so when they land they may be like... (you know the long thin line piece) falls diagonally, it's really difficult to play, challenging.

Btw you guys have to play chips challenge, you'l thank me later


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## dale (Nov 13, 2014)

i was a crash bandicoot champion in the 90s. i gave up video games after that.


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## Bishop (Nov 13, 2014)

I just got an Xbox One. Call of Duty Advanced Warfare and the Halo Master Chief Collection sure kick Tetris' blocky butt, I tell you.


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## Pluralized (Nov 13, 2014)

I like to dangle things in front of my cats.


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## Bishop (Nov 13, 2014)

Pluralized said:


> I like to dangle things in front of my cats.



There's an Xbox game that does that:

(STRONG language warning for this video):


[video=youtube;7Z0wV2xsx1o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z0wV2xsx1o[/video]


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## Schrody (Nov 13, 2014)

belthagor said:


> Schrody, do you remember chips challenge?



I remember screwdriver and a Commodore had a nice relationship 



dale said:


> i had an atari. pitfall and missile command were the only games really worth a damn on that thing.



Atari wasn't that popular here.



Pluralized said:


> I like to dangle things in front of my cats.



:lol:




mrmustard615 said:


> Yeah wasn't that before your time? :lol:
> 
> I remember the Vic 20, now that is old.
> 
> I liked Tetris.



Yes, it was, but I played it during the early '90's  Then came Super Mario. Memories...


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## Deleted member 56686 (Nov 13, 2014)

Schrody said:


> Atari wasn't that popular here.




Atari was way before your time, Schrods, that dates back to the 1970s, I played it as a teenager.:smile:


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## dale (Nov 13, 2014)

mrmustard615 said:


> Atari was way before your time, Schrods, that dates back to the 1970s, I played it as a teenager.:smile:



she may have had 1 as a teen. you know how them croatians are always behind the times. she just bought her commadore a couple years ago. ha ha


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## Deleted member 56686 (Nov 13, 2014)

dale said:


> she may have had 1 as a teen. you know how them croatians are always behind the times. she just bought her commadore a couple years ago. ha ha




Be nice Dale, she might sic her cats on you :lol:


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## Schrody (Nov 13, 2014)

mrmustard615 said:


> Atari was way before your time, Schrods, that dates back to the 1970s, I played it as a teenager.:smile:



I know musty, I know, but I didn't know anyone who had Atari, even the older generations. We were too poor I guess :lol:



dale said:


> she may have had 1 as a teen. you know how them croatians are always behind the times. she just bought her commadore a couple years ago. ha ha



You're right! Actually, I'm on Commodore this whole time. Damn, you revealed my secret! :shock:


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## Morkonan (Nov 13, 2014)

YAY ALT-CODES!

http://www.tedmontgomery.com/tutorial/altchrc.html

I sometimes use alt-codes, since I'm a Stoopid American ™.



```
☻/  This is Bob. 
/▌   You may have seen him fighting a war on youtube, from time to time.
/ \  He's mostly harmless...
```


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## Kevin (Nov 13, 2014)

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...&mid=E591929FC52008733878E591929FC52008733878   the evolution from 'Asteroids'


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## J Anfinson (Nov 14, 2014)

Hit Ctrl + Shift + W to see something amazing.


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## dale (Nov 14, 2014)

J Anfinson said:


> Hit Ctrl + Shift + W to see something amazing.



ha ha. very funny. you got me.


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## J Anfinson (Nov 14, 2014)

dale said:


> ha ha. very funny. you got me.



It's an old chat room trick. Used to be hilarious to watch a bunch of people exit the room at once.

I should probably mention I learned it by falling for it.


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## Morkonan (Nov 14, 2014)

J Anfinson said:


> It's an old chat room trick. Used to be hilarious to watch a bunch of people exit the room at once.
> 
> I should probably mention I learned it by falling for it.



_"How do I open my inventory/attack the monster/open a chat window/solve the puzzle/ in this game?" _begged the player.

_"Alt-F4"_, the anonymous in-game chat respondent replied.


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## Seedy M. (Nov 15, 2014)

A little aside to the subject. Windows key and left or right arrow splits the screen so you can put a page on the left and write one o0n the right or whatever. It's good for correlation files or comparing lists or placing photos side by side or whatever. It's great when you want to parody a long quote and great for alphabetizing or numbering lists. I am right now checking some material on the left of the screen and the net is on the right.


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## Morkonan (Nov 15, 2014)

Seedy M. said:


> A little aside to the subject. Windows key and left or right arrow splits the screen so you can put a page on the left and write one o0n the right or whatever. It's good for correlation files or comparing lists or placing photos side by side or whatever. It's great when you want to parody a long quote and great for alphabetizing or numbering lists. I am right now checking some material on the left of the screen and the net is on the right.



Whoa... That's pretty awesome. Thanks for the protip!


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## patskywriter (Nov 15, 2014)

For those who use Mac computers, you can inverse the colors by pressing Control/Option/Command/8. This comes in handy when I'm working outside and the sunlight's bothering me—this feature allows me to see white text on black (or green) background.


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## escorial (Nov 15, 2014)

chromebook uses....if any out there..don't shut down..just fold it away because if you go somewhere that's offline you can't use anything.


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## patskywriter (Nov 15, 2014)

This is really old-school: When choosing a state from a pulldown menu,   those of us living in a state that's way down the line (like North   Carolina, Virginia, or Washington) can save time by typing the first   letter of their state. That causes the scroll to jump to your state or   one closer to it.


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## hvysmker (Nov 15, 2014)

My first real computer was a "Sinclair".  It came with 1k memory, though I bought an extra 3k module.  It used a television for a monitor and saved to a cassette recorder.  No printer was available at the time.

It also came with a built-in Basic language in ROM.  I tried coding a checkbook balancing program, until I  realized that entering a transaction and saving it already required changing five cassettes.  Much easier to use a pencil.

It was fun to play with, though.

Charlie


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## patskywriter (Nov 15, 2014)

I do remember all the companies that leaped into the computer market in the early days back in the 1980s. Timex Sinclair was a joint venture between the USA company Timex and Sinclair Research from England—and if I remember clearly, they were one of the first. I had an Atari 800XL. Loved it, and I wish I still had it.

I used to work at an engineering firm in Chicago that was a test site for the new, GUI-based Xerox computer. I was not allowed to touch it, but I did admire it from afar.


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## Schrody (Nov 15, 2014)

f5 key will refresh your page (on Windows).


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## Seedy M. (Nov 16, 2014)

Another little trick I just posted in another thread.
When you want to copy something from a protected website and the highlight/copy won't work from edit in the toolbar, highlight it and copy with the right-click on your mouse. It works a good part of the time.
This is not for use when you want to paste and post someone elses work or such. It is solely for use in research or with your own work. That is copyright infringement and can get you, deservedly, sued.


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