Welcome to my February 2009 newsletter. The first part of this newsletter you will find some helpful tips. Following the tips you will find my major updates and specials.

There are many undocumented features of Windows XP in addition to the documented ones. Below you will find a number of helpful ones..

Google has some outstanding tools at http://desktop.google.com/plugins/. My favorites are the Google Search. Simply hit your Control Key twice and a quick search box appears. Literally hundreds of these helpful gadgets are available and they are free.

When speed counts, the keyboard is still king. Almost all the actions and commands you can perform with a mouse you can perform faster using combinations of keys on your keyboard. These simple keyboard shortcuts can get you where you want to go faster than several clicks of a mouse. You'll work faster on spreadsheets and similar documents, too, because you won't lose your place switching back and forth between mouse and keys.

Here are some of the most useful keyboard shortcuts:

Copy. CTRL+C

Cut. CTRL+X

Paste. CTRL+V

Undo. CTRL+Z

Delete. DELETE

Delete selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin. SHIFT+DELETE

Copy selected item. CTRL while dragging an item

Create shortcut to selected item. CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item

Rename selected item. F2

Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word. CTRL+RIGHT ARROW

Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word. CTRL+LEFT ARROW

Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph. CTRL+DOWN ARROW

Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph. CTRL+UP ARROW

Highlight a block of text. CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys

Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document. SHIFT with any of the arrow keys

Select all. CTRL+A

Search for a file or folder. F3

View properties for the selected item. ALT+ENTER

Close the active item, or quit the active program. ALT+F4

Opens the shortcut menu for the active window. ALT+SPACEBAR

Close the active document in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously. CTRL+F4

Switch between open items. ALT+TAB

Cycle through items in the order they were opened. ALT+ESC

Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop. F6

Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer. F4

Display the shortcut menu for the selected item. SHIFT+F10

Display the System menu for the active window. ALT+SPACEBAR

Display the Start menu. CTRL+ESC

Display the corresponding menu. ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name

Carry out the corresponding command. Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu

Activate the menu bar in the active program. F10

Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu. RIGHT ARROW

Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu. LEFT ARROW

Refresh the active window. F5

View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer. BACKSPACE

Cancel the current task. ESC

SHIFT when you insert a CD into the CD-ROM drive Prevent the CD from automatically playing.

Use these keyboard shortcuts for dialog boxes:

Move forward through tabs. CTRL+TAB

Move backward through tabs. CTRL+SHIFT+TAB

Move forward through options. TAB

Move backward through options. SHIFT+TAB

Carry out the corresponding command or select the corresponding option. ALT+Underlined letter

Carry out the command for the active option or button. ENTER

Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box. SPACEBAR

Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons. Arrow keys

Display Help. F1

Display the items in the active list. F4

Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box. BACKSPACE

If you have a Microsoft Natural Keyboard, or any other compatible keyboard that includes the Windows logo key and the Application key , you can use these keyboard shortcuts:

Display or hide the Start menu.

Display the System Properties dialog box. +BREAK

Show the desktop. +D

Minimize all windows. +M

Restores minimized windows. +Shift+M

Open My Computer. +E

Search for a file or folder. +F

Search for computers. CTRL+ +F

Display Windows Help. +F1

Lock your computer if you are connected to a network domain, or switch users if you are not connected to a network domain. + L

Open the Run dialog box. +R

Display the shortcut menu for the selected item.

Open Utility Manager. +U

Helpful accessibility keyboard shortcuts:

Switch FilterKeys on and off. Right SHIFT for eight seconds

Switch High Contrast on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +PRINT SCREEN

Switch MouseKeys on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK

Switch StickyKeys on and off. SHIFT five times

Switch ToggleKeys on and off. NUM LOCK for five seconds

Open Utility Manager. +U

Keyboard shortcuts you can use with Windows Explorer:

Display the bottom of the active window. END

Display the top of the active window. HOME

Display all subfolders under the selected folder. NUM LOCK+ASTERISK on numeric keypad (*)

Display the contents of the selected folder. NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN on numeric keypad (+)

Collapse the selected folder. NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN on numeric keypad (-)

Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder. LEFT ARROW

Display current selection if it's collapsed, or select first subfolder. RIGHT ARROW

Go to ontrol Panel > System, > Advanced > Performance area > Settings button Visual Effects tab "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the Desktop"

Go to start/run type 'cmd'

then type 'ipconfig'

Add the '/all' switch for more info.

To copy files and folders to a CD

•Insert a blank, writable CD into the CD recorder.

•Open My Computer.

•Click the files or folders you want to copy to the CD. To select more than one file, hold down the CTRL key while you click the files you want. Then, under File and Folder Tasks, click Copy this file, Copy this folder, or Copy the selected items.

•If the files are located in My Pictures, under Picture Tasks, click Copy to CD or Copy all items to CD, and then skip to step 5.

•In the Copy Items dialog box, click the CD recording drive, and then click Copy.

•In My Computer, double–click the CD recording drive. Windows displays a temporary area where the files are held before they are copied to the CD. Verify that the files and folders that you intend to copy to the CD appear under Files Ready to be Written to the CD.

•Under CD Writing Tasks, click Write these files to CD. Windows displays the CD Writing Wizard. Follow the instructions in the wizard.

Notes:

•Do not copy more files to the CD than it will hold. Standard CDs hold up to 650 megabytes (MB). High–capacity CDs hold up to 850 MB.

•Be sure that you have enough disk space on your hard disk to store the temporary files that are created during the CD writing process. For a standard CD, Windows reserves up to 700 MB of the available free space. For a high–capacity CD, Windows reserves up to 1 gigabyte (GB) of the available free space.

•After you copy files or folders to the CD, it is useful to view the CD to confirm that the files are copied. For more information, click Related Topics.

To stop the CD recorder from automatically ejecting the CD

•Open My Computer.

•Right–click the CD recording drive, and then click Properties.

•On the Recording tab, clear the Automatically eject the CD after writing check box.

=====

Get rid of Windows Messenger

Start->Run->"gpedit.msc""

-Computer Configuration

-Administrative Templates

-Windows Components

-Windows Messenger

Here you can enable

"Do not allow Windows Messenger to be run"

and

"Do not automatically start Windows Messenger initially"

Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop. F6

Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer. F4

Display the shortcut menu for the selected item. SHIFT+F10

Display the System menu for the active window. ALT+SPACEBAR

Display the Start menu. CTRL+ESC

Display the corresponding menu. ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name

Carry out the corresponding command. Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu

Activate the menu bar in the active program. F10

Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu. RIGHT ARROW

Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu. LEFT ARROW

Refresh the active window. F5

View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer. BACKSPACE

Cancel the current task. ESC

SHIFT when you insert a CD into the CD-ROM drive Prevent the CD from automatically playing.

Welcome to my February 2009 newsletter.

My special this month is free domestic shipping on all orders over $20.00 and free foreign shipping on orders of over $100.00

Below you will find links to this month's featured areas. If an item is listed and there is no price or other details, please email me at cy@hotlinecy.com and I will send you the info. I'm working on the site every day and all postings are not yet complete.

I have some great new excavated Civil War Relic displays by clicking here.

If you are into fossils and minerals, you will appreciate this updated area. I have added special collections for teachers as well as some new fossil and mineral displays. Click here to go to that area.

Check out the updates in my U.S. Medal of Honor area. There are some nice new items in that area - Click here.

After years of accumulating autographs I have finally gotten around to listing a number of non-military related autographs that I acquired with collections I bought. There are some great vintage ones like Mark Twain, Will Rogers, Enrico Caruso, Clark Gable, W.C. Fields, Saddam Hussein, Robert Baden-Powell, Roy Rogers, and a lot of other notables. Click here.

I am not a stamp dealer, but rather collected stamps for a number of years. I thought my collection had found new homes but when working in my storeroom I found a couple of boxes of stamps. There are not a huge number of items in this area, but there are some really nice items at great prices. I've got a lot more to list, so if you are interested in philately, bookmark this page - Click here -

I have two outstanding collection of WWII German Knights Cross signed photos. The SM Collection is here and has over 600 signed photos and the KCA Collection is here and has over 150.

I have updated the warsigned Hitler Youth Cards. Through February 28 we are offering a 15% discount on any of these signed items. Click here.

I have started updating the area for my signed and multi-signed books. There are some incredible finds in this area - both multi-signed militaria books and first edition best sellers signed by the authors. Visit that area by clicking here.
There is a wealth of information on my free research page located here.

To see other areas that have been updated, click on the updates link at the top left of any page. I make updates every day and you can tell by the noted date when an area has been updated or if there is a new area.

If you are interested in WWII warsigned German Knights Cross signed photos, a visit to my German partner's site is a must. His name is Bernd Poser and the site is http://www.heroautographs.com.

If you have any printing requirements, you will want to check out my wholesale printing prices. An example is 1,000 full color one side and black ink on the back business cards for $50.60 plus shipping. I was a print shop owner for over 40 years before my retirement in 1995. I still do a little locally and decided to offer the service on my website. Check it out here.. www.hotlinecy.com/printing.htm.


I will have another newsletter in 4-6 weeks or whenever I get enough updates and whenever I put together enough tips and interesting info to make it worth a read.

My full contact info is below.

Cy
=====