Shortcuts to Success

Shortcuts to Success

By: Scott Hendison � Published: December 1999

Many people are not aware of how to use desktop shortcuts, or how to get rid of them when they don't want them anymore. This month, I will try to clear up some of the mystery behind that puzzle, and help you increase your overall efficiency.
First of all, a shortcut is just an icon that you click on that takes you to a particular computer program. Most of you are familiar with the icons (shortcuts) on your Windows desktop that save you the time it takes to open a particular software application. What a lot of people don't realize though, is that all of the listings under the Start - Programs menu are just shortcuts too.

To see them all listed in your file system, in W95 or W98, go to your Windows Explorer program. Start - Programs - Windows Explorer. (Not Internet Explorer) This is where you can see all of your drives and the files they contain.

On the left side of the screen, you should see all of your drives. Double click the C drive. Then, still on the left side of the screen, keep double clicking right into the Windows directory, then into the Start Menu folder. Now, on the right side, you will see the Programs icon, as well as several other shortcuts. Notice that these match exactly what you see when you hit the "Start" button.

If you double click on the "Programs" folder, on the right side, then you'll see all the same shortcuts that are listed in your Start - Programs menu. From here, you can delete any duplicate (indicated by a number 2 or higher in parentheses) or unwanted items on your menu just by highlighting it, and pressing the "delete" key. If you want to know where the shortcuts point to, just right click on them, and look at the properties.

You can also create duplicate shortcuts from Windows Explorer, and then drag the duplicate to your desktop. That way, you can avoid having to go to the "Start" button at all. To do this, just locate the shortcut you wish to duplicate, right click once, and select "create shortcut". Then just highlight the newly created duplicate, and drag (left click and hold) it outside the window you're working in, right to your desktop, and let go.

Finding your desktop can be tricky if your Windows Explorer window is maximized in size, so be sure you can see your desktop before you drag it over. To resize a window, go to the upper right hand corner of the window, and be sure that of your three buttons, (minimize, maximize/restore, close program) your middle button is not showing the double squares.

If it is showing the double squares, left click on it once and then you'll be able to resize the window by putting your mouse cursor at the edge of the window. When you do that you'll see the cursor change to a double arrow. Then left click and hold your mouse button, and you'll see that you can then resize your window as you see fit.

In Windows 98, you can create, edit, and delete shortcuts right from the Start menu with a right click. I think that is one of the best new features of Windows 98. The purpose of a shortcut is to make your computing faster, easier and more efficient. Experiment with a few well placed shortcuts, and see if it speeds things up for you. If you're not happy with the result, all you have to do is delete it.