Software Report
September 22nd, 2004
proudly presented by
PC World
Technology Advice You Can Trust
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Help with pesky software annoyances, tips on taming and improving
Windows performance, and an expert look at the most useful (and
sometimes crucial) shareware. Plus, an enthusiast's look at Linux.
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September 22nd, 2004
Windows Tips: Toggle Your Screen Saver
Contributing Editor Scott Dunn
Q: When I edit and burn my own DVDs, it's bothersome to navigate to my
Display Properties dialog box repeatedly to switch my screen saver off
so I don't end up with just a nice coaster. Deactivating my screen
saver takes no fewer than four clicks. That may not seem like a lot,
but it's a hassle to deactivate and restore all the time. Is there a
way to create a desktop icon to toggle the screen saver on and off?
--Jeffrey McCullough, Baltimore
A: It's helpful to turn off a screen saver before burning CDs or DVDs,
running backup software, defragmenting a drive, or performing other PC
activities. Unfortunately, Windows makes doing so unduly difficult.
But you can create shortcuts for this purpose that you can access with
a single click or keystroke combination.
First, create a Registry file that turns off your screen saver. Choose
Start, Programs (or All Programs), Accessories, Notepad. On the first
line, type "Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00" (without the quote
marks) and press Enter twice to add a line break. Then type
"[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]" (no quote marks) and press
Enter. Finally, type "ScreenSaveActive"="0" (including the quote
marks) and press Enter. Choose File, Save As and navigate to a
convenient location (write down the path to the file; you'll need to
know it later). Type a name like SaverOff.reg (be sure to include the
three-letter file extension) and click Save. Now change the "0" to "1"
and select File, Save As again. This time, type a name like
SaverOn.reg and click Save.
The next step is to create two shortcuts that each merge one of these
Registry files into the Windows Registry. Right-click the desktop and
choose New, Shortcut. In the box, type "regedit /s" (without the quote
marks) followed by a space. After the space, type SaverOff.reg
preceded by the path to the file. Note that the next tip describes a
quick and easy way to add the file path without typing. Click Next and
type a name for your shortcut--something like "Turn Off Screen Saver."
Click Finish. Finally, repeat these steps, but use the path to
SaverOn.reg and give it a name such as Turn On Screen Saver.
At this point you have two desktop shortcuts--one for deactivating
your screen saver and the other for activating it. To disable the
screen saver, just launch your Turn Off Screen Saver icon. To enable
it again, run the other shortcut.
Finding the desktop shortcuts could slow you down as you minimize
windows (press Win-D to minimize everything, or click the Show Desktop
icon in the Quick Launch toolbar). To activate the shortcuts via your
keyboard, right-click the Turn Off Screen Saver shortcut and choose
Properties. With the Shortcut tab in front, click in the Shortcut Key
box and press the key combination you want to use to turn off your
screen saver. You can press a single function key (like F2), but it's
better to use a key or key combination that you will not need in
another application. You can select almost any key on your keyboard
for this purpose, but if you choose something other than function
keys, your shortcut must begin with Ctrl-Alt, Ctrl-Shift, Shift-Alt,
or Ctrl-Shift-Alt.
While you're in the shortcut's Properties dialog box, you may want to
use the Change Icon button to give the shortcut a distinctive
appearance. Type "%windir%\system32\shell32.dll" (no quote marks) in
the box at the top to see a large number of icons to choose from. Once
you've made your selection, click OK to close the Properties box for
the shortcut icon. Repeat these steps for the other screen-saver
shortcut, giving it a different key combination. You'll press one
combination to turn the screen saver off, and the other to turn it
back on. After you're done, you can place these shortcuts in any
subfolder of the Start Menu folder.
You can disable or enable your screen saver with a single click of
your mouse if you add the shortcuts to your Quick Launch toolbar. If
you don't see this toolbar on your taskbar, right-click the taskbar
and choose Toolbars, Quick Launch. Select both of the shortcut icons
you created, click and hold down the right mouse button as you drag
them to the Quick Launch area, release the button, and choose Move
Here. If you don't see the shortcuts, you may need to drag the border
of the Quick Launch toolbar to make it larger. If the toolbar border
does not budge (in Windows XP only), right-click the taskbar and
choose Lock the Taskbar to unlock it. Resize your toolbars, and then
repeat the command to relock it.
* No-Fuss File Paths *
Whether you're creating a batch file or sending an e-mail message
telling someone on your network how to find a certain file, typing a
file path can be a pain. And if you mistype, you might not discover
the mistake until something goes wrong.
To make Windows do the typing for you, start by locating the icon for
the file whose path you need to know. Next, select Start, Run or press
Win-R. Press Delete or Backspace to remove the text in the Run dialog
box. Drag the file icon to the text box in the Run dialog box. Voila!
The entire path appears in the text box. Windows even adds quotation
marks for paths that need them. Right-click the path, choose Select
All, right-click again, and choose Copy--and you're ready to paste the
path wherever you need it.
* A Snappier Start Menu *
If your Start menus appear tardily, you might be able to speed them up
by editing the Windows Registry. Choose Start, Run, type regedit, and
press Enter. Navigate in the left pane to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control
Panel\Desktop. With the Desktop icon selected on the left, right-click
and choose Export. Pick a spot for your Registry key backup, give the
file a name like "Registry Desktop Backup," and click Save.
Now choose MenuShowDelay in the right pane. If you don't see it,
right-click in the right pane, choose New, String Value, type
MenuShowDelay, and press Enter. Double-click the icon, change its
"Value data" setting (the default is 400) to something smaller, even
0, and click OK.
There's yet another way for you to goose your menus in Windows XP:
Right-click the desktop, choose Properties, Appearance, Effects,
uncheck Show shadows under menus, and then click OK twice.
* Let the Good Times Scroll *
You can drag the scroll box (the little elevator car in the shaft of
the scroll bar on the right side of many application windows) to move
through a document. You can also click above or below the box to
advance or back up one screen at a time, or move through the file
incrementally by clicking the arrows at the top or bottom of the bar.
New versions of Internet Explorer, Notepad, Windows Explorer, and
other apps add more scroll-bar tricks. To get to the middle of a long
document, Web page, or file list, position your pointer in the middle
of the scroll bar, right-click, and choose Scroll Here. The
right-click menu has commands for jumping to the top or bottom of a
file as well. The Page Up, Page Down, Scroll Up, Scroll Down commands
are less helpful since they require two clicks for actions you can
already accomplish with one. Note that Wordpad doesn't use this
Windows feature, nor do Microsoft Word and Excel prior to version
2003.
* Close or Minimize Windows With a Single Keystroke *
If you spend way too much time positioning your pointer over the
little Close or Minimize buttons in your open windows, or futzing with
keyboard shortcuts like Alt-F4, try EscapeClose. This dandy piece of
freeware can turn your keyboard's Esc key into an instant shutdown
button that works with most applications. It can also turn the ~
(tilde) key into a minimize button for moving the currently open
window to the taskbar.
If using these keys for windows management makes you nervous,
EscapeClose has a safer mode in which the Esc key just moves the
pointer to the window's close or minimize button, creating a two-step
escape (Esc, click). EscapeClose is free, but for more
windows-management options, spend $15 and get EscapeClose Pro. You can
get both versions from the PC World Downloads library:
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/227961/21421683/755302/0/
For more great Windows tips, read "Annoyance Busters":
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/227961/21421683/755303/0/
Send Windows-related questions and tips to Scott Dunn at:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Read Scott Dunn's regularly published "Windows Tips" columns:
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/227961/21421683/364576/0/
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Top News From PC World
* Sony Shows Slim, Trim PlayStation 2
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* Reviews *
* Top 10 DVD Drives
A new crop of 12X drives joins the chart this month.
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The pocket-watch-size Joybee and the lipstick-size Yepp offer
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Check the latest prices on MP3 Players:
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* Top 15 Notebook PCs
New this month: a wide-screen multimedia model with booming sound from
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Check the latest prices on Notebooks:
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