Appendixes
APPENDIX A Windows Vista Keyboard Shortcuts 701 APPENDIX B Using the Windows Vista
Command Prompt 709
APPENDIX C Automating Windows Vista with
Batch Files 745
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APPENDIX A Windows Vista Keyboard Shortcuts
Windows Vista was made with the mouse in mind, so most day-to-day tasks are designed to be performed using the standard mouse moves. However, this doesn’t mean you should ignore your keyboard when you’re not typing.
Windows Vista is loaded with keyboard shortcuts and tech- niques that you can use as replacements or enhancements for mouse clicks and drags. These shortcuts (as shown in Tables A.1–A.13) are often a faster way to work because you don’t have to move your hand from the keyboard to the mouse and back. Also, the Windows Vista keyboard tech- niques are useful to know just in case you have problems with your mouse and must rely on the keyboard to get your work done.
TABLE A.1 General Windows Vista Shortcut Keys
Press To Do This
Ctrl+Esc Open the Start menu.
Windows Logo Open the Start menu.
Ctrl+Alt+Delete Display the Windows Security window.
Print Screen Copy the entire screen image to the Windows Clipboard.
Alt+Print Screen Copy the active window’s image to the Windows Clipboard.
Alt+Double-click Display the property sheet for the selected object.
Alt+Enter Display the property sheet for the selected object.
Shift Prevent an inserted disc from running its AutoPlay application. (Hold down Shift while inserting the disc.)
Shift+F10 Display the shortcut menu for the selected object. (This is the same as right-clicking the object.)
Shift+Right-click Display the shortcut menu with alternative commands for the selected object.
TABLE A.2 Shortcut Keys for Working with Program Windows
Press To Do This
Alt Activate or deactivate the program’s menu bar.
Alt+Esc Cycle through the open program windows.
Alt+F4 Close the active program window.
Alt+Spacebar Display the system menu for the active program window.
Alt+Tab Cycle through icons for each of the running programs.
Windows Logo+Tab Launch Flip 3D to cycle through a 3D stack of running program windows.
F1 Display context-sensitive help.
F10 Activate the application’s menu bar.
TABLE A.3 Shortcut Keys for Working with Documents
Press To Do This
Alt+-(hyphen) Display the system menu for the active document window.
Alt+Print Screen Copy the active window’s image to the Clipboard.
Ctrl+F4 Close the active document window.
Ctrl+F6 Cycle through the open documents within an application.
Ctrl+N Create a new document.
Ctrl+O Display the Open dialog box.
Ctrl+P Display the Print dialog box.
Ctrl+S Save the current file. If the file is new, display the Save As dialog box.
APPENDIX A Windows Vista Keyboard Shortcuts 702
TABLE A.4 Shortcut Keys for Working with Data
Press To Do This
Backspace Delete the character to the left of the insertion point.
Ctrl+C Copy the selected data to memory.
Ctrl+F Display the Find dialog box.
Ctrl+H Display the Replace dialog box.
Ctrl+X Cut the selected data to memory.
Ctrl+V Paste the most recently cut or copied data from memory.
Ctrl+Z Undo the most recent action.
Delete Delete the selected data.
F3 Repeat the most recent Find operation.
TABLE A.5 Shortcut Keys for Moving the Insertion Point
Press To Do This
Ctrl+End Move the insertion point to the end of the document.
Ctrl+Home Move the insertion point to the beginning of the document.
Ctrl+Left Arrow Move the insertion point to the next word to the left.
Ctrl+Right Arrow Move the insertion point to the next word to the right.
Ctrl+Down Arrow Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph.
Ctrl+Up Arrow Move the insertion point to the beginning of the paragraph.
TABLE A.6 Shortcut Keys for Selecting Text
Press To Do This
Ctrl+A Select all the text in the current document.
Ctrl+Shift+End Select from the insertion point to the end of the document.
Ctrl+Shift+Home Select from the insertion point to the beginning of the document.
Ctrl+Shift+Left Arrow Select the next word to the left.
Ctrl+Shift+Right Arrow Select the next word to the right.
Ctrl+Shift+Down Arrow Select from the insertion point to the end of the paragraph.
Ctrl+Shift+Up Arrow Select from the insertion point to the beginning of the paragraph.
Shift+End Select from the insertion point to the end of the line.
Shift+Home Select from the insertion point to the beginning of the line.
Shift+Left Arrow Select the next character to the left.
Shift+Right Arrow Select the next character to the right.
Shift+Down Arrow Select the next line down.
Shift+Up Arrow Select the next line up.
Windows Vista Keyboard Shortcuts 703
A
TABLE A.7 Shortcut Keys for Working with Dialog Boxes
Press To Do This
Alt+Down Arrow Display the list in a drop-down list box.
Alt+Underlined letter Select a control.
Ctrl+Shift+Tab Move backward through the dialog box tabs.
Ctrl+Tab Move forward through the dialog box tabs.
Enter Select the default command button or the active command button.
Spacebar Toggle a check box on and off; select the active option button or command button.
Esc Close the dialog box without making any changes.
F1 Display help text for the control that has the focus.
F4 Display the list in a drop-down list box.
Backspace In the Open and Save As dialog boxes, move up to the parent folder when the folder list has the focus.
Shift+Tab Move backward through the dialog box controls.
Tab Move forward through the dialog box controls.
TABLE A.8 Shortcut Keys for Drag-and-Drop Operations
Press To Do This
Ctrl Copy the dragged object.
Ctrl+Shift Display a shortcut menu after dropping a left-dragged object.
Esc Cancel the current drag.
Shift Move the dragged object.
TABLE A.9 Shortcut Keys for Working in a Folder Window
Press To Do This
Alt Display Classic menus.
Alt+D Display the pathname of the current folder in the Address bar.
Alt+Left Arrow Navigate backward to a previously displayed folder.
Alt+Right Arrow Navigate forward to a previously displayed folder.
Backspace Navigate to the parent folder of the current folder.
Ctrl+A Select all the objects in the current folder.
Ctrl+C Copy the selected objects.
Ctrl+V Paste the most recently cut or copied objects.
Ctrl+X Cut the selected objects.
Ctrl+Z Undo the most recent action.
Ctrl+E Activate the Instant Search box.
Delete Delete the selected objects.
F2 Rename the selected object.
F3 Display a Search window.
F5 Refresh the folder contents.
APPENDIX A Windows Vista Keyboard Shortcuts 704
Press To Do This
Shift+Delete Delete the currently selected objects without sending them to the Recycle Bin.
TABLE A.10 Shortcut Keys for Working with Internet Explorer
Press To Do This
Alt Display Classic menus.
Alt+Home Go to the home page.
Alt+Left Arrow Navigate backward to a previously displayed web page.
Alt+Right Arrow Navigate forward to a previously displayed web page.
Ctrl+A Select the entire web page.
Alt+C Display the Favorites Center.
Ctrl+B Display the Organize Favorites dialog box.
Ctrl+D Add the current page to the Favorites list.
Ctrl+E Activate the Instant Search box.
Ctrl+F Display the Find dialog box.
Ctrl+H Display the History list.
Ctrl+Shift+H Pin the History list.
Ctrl+I Display the Favorites list.
Ctrl+Shift+I Pin the Favorites list.
Ctrl+J Display the Feeds list.
Ctrl+Shift+J Pin the Feeds list.
Ctrl+N Open a new window.
Ctrl+T Open a new tab.
Ctrl+W Close the current tab.
Ctrl+Q Display the Quick Tabs.
Ctrl+O Display the Open dialog box.
Ctrl+P Display the Print dialog box.
Ctrl+Tab Cycle forward through the open tabs.
Ctrl+Shift+Tab Cycle backward through the open tabs.
Ctrl++ Zoom in on the current web page.
Ctrl+– Zoom out of the current web page.
Esc Stop downloading the web page.
F4 Open the Address toolbar’s drop-down list.
F5 Refresh the web page.
F11 Toggle between Full Screen mode and the regular window.
Spacebar Scroll down one screen.
Shift+Spacebar Scroll up one screen.
Shift+Tab Cycle backward through the Address toolbar and the web page links.
Tab Cycle forward through the web page links and the Address toolbar.
Windows Vista Keyboard Shortcuts 705
A
TABLE A.9 Continued
TABLE A.11 Shortcut Keys for Working with Windows Media Player
Press To Do This
Ctrl+O Open a media file.
Ctrl+U Open a media URL.
Ctrl+P Play or pause the current media.
Ctrl+S Stop the current media.
Ctrl+B Go to the previous track.
Ctrl+Shift+B Rewind to the beginning of the media.
Ctrl+F Go to the next track.
Ctrl+Shift+F Fast-forward to the end of the media.
Ctrl+H Toggle Shuffle playback.
Ctrl+T Toggle Repeat playback.
Ctrl+M Show the menu bar.
Ctrl+Shift+M Auto-hide the menu bar.
Ctrl+N Create a new playlist.
Ctrl+1 Switch to Full mode.
Ctrl+2 Switch to Skin mode.
Alt+1 Display video size at 50%.
Alt+2 Display video size at 100%.
Alt+3 Display video size at 200%.
Alt+Enter Toggle Full Screen mode.
F3 Display the Add to Library dialog box.
F7 Mute sound.
F8 Decrease volume.
F9 Increase volume.
TABLE A.12 Shortcut Keys for DOSKEY
Press To Do This
Command Recall Keys
Alt+F7 Delete all the commands from the recall list.
Arrow keys Cycle through the commands in the recall list.
F7 Display the entire recall list.
F8 Recall a command that begins with the letter or letters you’ve typed on the command line.
F9 Display the Line number: prompt. You then enter the number of the command (as displayed by F7) that you want.
Page Down Recall the newest command in the list.
Page Up Recall the oldest command in the list.
APPENDIX A Windows Vista Keyboard Shortcuts 706
Press To Do This Command-Line Editing Keys
Backspace Delete the character to the left of the cursor.
Ctrl+End Delete from the cursor to the end of the line.
Ctrl+Home Delete from the cursor to the beginning of the line.
Ctrl+Left arrow Move the cursor one word to the left.
Ctrl+Right arrow Move the cursor one word to the right.
Delete Delete the character over the cursor.
End Move the cursor to the end of the line.
Home Move the cursor to the beginning of the line.
Insert Toggle DOSKEYbetween Insert mode (your typing is inserted between existing letters on the command line) and Overstrike mode (your typing replaces existing letters on the command line).
Left arrow Move the cursor one character to the left.
Right arrow Move the cursor one character to the right.
TABLE A.13 Windows Logo Key Shortcut Keys
Press To Do This
Windows Logo Open the Start menu.
Windows Logo+D Minimize all open windows. Press Windows Logo+D again to restore the windows.
Windows Logo+E Open Windows Explorer (Computer folder).
Windows Logo+F Display a Search window.
Windows Logo+Ctrl+F Find a computer.
Windows Logo+L Lock the computer.
Windows Logo+M Minimize all open windows, except those with open modal windows.
Windows Logo+Shift+M Undo minimize all.
Windows Logo+R Display the Run dialog box.
Windows Logo+U Display the Ease of Access Center.
Windows Logo+F1 Display Windows Help.
Windows Logo+Break Display the System window.
Windows Logo+Spacebar Scroll down one page (supported only in certain applica- tions, such as Internet Explorer).
Windows Logo+Shift+Spacebar Scroll up one page (supported only in certain applications, such as Internet Explorer).
Windows Logo+Tab Cycle through a 3D stack of running program windows.
Windows Vista Keyboard Shortcuts 707
A
TABLE A.12 Continued
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If your keyboard doesn’t have a Windows Logo key, you can remap an existing key to act as a Windows Logo key. The trick here is to tell Vista to take the built-in scancode of an existing key and convert it to the scancode associated with the Windows Logo key. For example, when you press the right Alt key, the hexadecimal scancode E038 is generated. The scancode associated with the right Windows Logo key is E05C.
Therefore, you need to tell Vista that whenever it detects the scancode E038 after a right Alt keypress, that it should send to the system the code E05C, instead. This means that pressing the right Alt key will be the same thing as pressing the Windows Logo key.
To do this, open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout
Select Edit, New, Binary Value, type Scancode Map, and press Enter. Open the Scancode Map setting and set its value to the following:
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 5C E0 38 E0 Reboot your computer to put the new key mapping into effect.
APPENDIX A Windows Vista Keyboard Shortcuts 708
IN THIS APPENDIX
.Getting to Command Prompt .Working with Command Prompt .Customizing the Command-
Line Window
APPENDIX B Using the Windows Vista Command Prompt
In Internet circles, a holy waris a never-ending debate on the merits of one thing versus another, in which people use the same arguments over and over, and nobody’s opinion budges even the slightest bit one way or the other.
Common holy war topics include liberalism versus conser- vatism, pro-choice versus pro-life, and neatness versus slop- piness.
Operating systems cause frequent holy war skirmishes, with most battles pitting either Macintosh against Windows or Linux against Windows. Years ago (I realize I’m dating myself here), the mother of all operating system holy wars was DOS versus Windows, with correspondents devoting obscene amounts of time and energy extolling the virtues of one system and detailing the shortcomings of the other.
Of course, nobodysings the praises of DOS any more, and few mourned its demise.
So, yes, DOS is dead, but Command Promptis alive and well and adjusting nicely to its current role as just another Windows Vista accessory. Yes, it’s entirely possible that you might go your entire Windows career without having to fire up a Command Prompt session. But if you do need Command Prompt, you must know a few things in order to get the most out of your command-line sessions. This appendix shows you how to squeeze the best and most reli- able performance out of them under Windows Vista.
Getting to Command Prompt
To take advantage of Command Prompt and all of its many useful commands, you need to start a Command Prompt
session. Windows Vista (as usual) offers a number of different ways to get to Command Prompt:
. Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt.
. Press Windows Logo+R (or select Start, All Programs, Accessories, Run), type cmdin the Run dialog box, and click OK.
. Create a shortcut for %SystemRoot%\system32\cmd.exeon your desktop (or some other convenient location, such as the taskbar’s Quick Launch toolbar) and then launch the shortcut.
. Reboot your computer, press F8 to display Windows Vista’s Advanced Options Menu, and select the Safe Mode with Command Prompt item.
NOTE
To learn more about the Advanced Options Menu, refer to the “Custom Startups with the Advanced Options Menu” section in Chapter 2, “Customizing and Troubleshooting the Windows Vista Startup.”
It’s also possible to configure Windows Vista’s Folder file type to open Command Prompt in Windows Explorer’s current folder. To see how, refer to the “Example:
Opening Command Prompt in the Current Folder” section in Chapter 4, “Mastering File Types.”
Preventing Command Prompt Access
To prevent a user from accessing Command Prompt, log on as that user, press Windows Logo+R (or select Start, All Programs, Accessories, Run), type gpedit.msc, click OK, and then enter your UAC credentials to launch the Group Policy editor. Open the User Configuration, Administrative Templates, System branch and then enable the Prevent Access to the Command Prompt policy.
Using CMD.EXE Switches
For the methods that use the CMD.EXEexecutable, you can specify extra switches after the CMD.EXEfilename. Most of these switches aren’t particularly useful, so let’s start with the simplest syntax that you’ll use most often:
CMD [[/S] [/C | /K] command]
/S Strips out the first and last quotation marks from the command, provided that the first quotation mark is the first character in command
/C Executes the commandand then terminates /K Executes the commandand remains running command The command to run
APPENDIX B Using the Windows Vista Command Prompt 710
For example, if your ISP provides you with a dynamic IP address, you can often solve some connection problems by asking the IP for a fresh address. You do that by running the command ipconfig /renewin Command Prompt. In this case, you don’t need the Command Prompt window to remain open, so you can specify the /Cswitch to shut down the Command Prompt session automatically after the IPCONFIGutility finishes:
cmd /c ipconfig /renew
On the other hand, you often either want to see the results of the command, or you want to leave the Command Prompt window open so that you can run other commands. In those cases, you use the /Kswitch. For example, the following command runs the SET utility (which displays the current values of the Windows Vista environment variables) and then leaves the Command Prompt session running:
cmd /k set
Here’s the full syntax of CMD.EXE:
CMD [/A | /U] [/Q] [/D] [/T:bf] [/E:ON | /E:OFF] [/F:ON | /F:OFF]
➥[/V:ON | /V:OFF] [[/S] [/C | /K] command]
/Q Turns echo off.
/D Disables the execution of AutoRuncommands from the Registry. These are
commands that run automatically when you start any Command Prompt session and you can find the settings here:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\AutoRun HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\AutoRun
TIP
If you do note see an AutoRunsetting in one or both keys, select the key, select File, New, String Value, type AutoRun, and press Enter.
TIP
TheAutoRunRegistry settings are handy if you always run a particular command at the beginning of each Command Prompt session. If you run multiple commands to launch a session, you can add those commands to either AutoRunsetting. In that case, you must separate each command with the command separator string: &&. For example, to run the IPCONFIGandSETutilities at the start of each Command Prompt session, change the value of an AutoRunsetting to the following:
ipconfig&&set
Getting to Command Prompt 711
B
/A Converts the output of internal commands to a pipe or file to the ANSI charac- ter set.
/U Converts the output of internal commands to a pipe or file to the Unicode character set.
/T:bf Sets the foreground and background colors of the Command Prompt window, wherefis the foreground color and bis the background color. Both fandb are hexadecimal digits that specify the color as follows:
0 Black 8 Gray
1 Blue 9 Light Blue
2 Green A Light Green
3 Aqua B Light Aqua
4 Red C Light Red
5 Purple D Light Purple 6 Yellow E Light Yellow 7 White F Bright White
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You can also set the foreground and background colors during a Command Prompt session by using the COLOR bfcommand, where bandfare hexadecimal digits speci- fying the colors you want. To revert to the default Command Prompt colors, run COLOR without the bfparameter. For more information, see the “Specifying the Command Prompt Colors” section later in this appendix.
/E:ON Enablescommand extensions, which are extra features added to the follow- ing commands (in Command Prompt, type the command name followed by a space and /?to see the extensions):
ASSOC IF
CALL MDorMKDIR
CDorCHDIR POPD
COLOR PROMPT
DELorERASE PUSHD ENDLOCAL SET
FOR SETLOCAL
FTYPE SHIFT
GOTO START
/E:OFF Disables command extensions.
APPENDIX B Using the Windows Vista Command Prompt 712