Sean Walther’s Blog

Windows 7 Tips and Tweaks

Now that I have a new operating system, Windows 7 64-bit, I must tweak.

My first few ventures out on the net looking for information returned the following 2 helpful articles:

1. 20 Windows 7 Tweaks & Tips – Every Secret Uncovered to Date
   This covers a good number of the tweaks and tricks I had seen out there, including some very helpful and cool keyboard shortcuts.
2. Start Explorer in Drive View
   I hate having explorer open up to “My Music”, “My Videos” etc.  Who uses that really?  This tells you how to get it back to how it should be.
3. The Bumper List of Windows 7 Secrets
   A bit dated (January 2009), but still includes many hints about how to use Windows 7 to its fullest.

Some Keyboard Shortcuts That are Awesome

• Windows + Up
  Maximizes the window
• Windows +Down
  Lowers the window height, Max -> Restore, Restore -> Minimized (be careful, you can’t go from Minimized to Restore with Windows + Up, only Restore to maximized)
• Windows + Left
  Great for Side by Siding, this makes the window take up the left 50% of the screen it is on
• Windows + Right
  Exact opposite of Windows + Left, duh
• Windows + Shift + Left
  Great multiple monitor support — moves windows to the next monitor on the left
• Windows + Shift + Right
  Take a guess?  It moves windows to the monitor to the right
• Windows + Home
  Hides all “other” windows (hmm, just like on OS X) so you can focus.
• Windows + [Number]
  Just like in Vista, Windows + 1 corresponds to the first icon in the taskbar, Windows + 2 the 2nd, and so forth
• Windows + Shift + [Number]
  Haven’t seen this one listed yet, but it launches another instance of the application, instead of focusing on it.  Much like the old Vista quick launch functionality
• Windows + Space
  Lets you take a quick peak at your desktop through all the windows, it looks cool — not sure if there are many useful applications of this

I love how Microsoft is addressing the needs of the multiple monitor community.  Back in 1999 I thought I was among a very select crowd.  Nowadays almost everyone I know (especially in tech roles) has multiple monitors in at least 1 of their computing locations (usually work).

More to come!

Tags: Keyboard Shortcuts, Microsoft Windows 7, tip, trick, tweak, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 7 RC, Windows Key

Synergy: Multiple Computers and One Keyboard/Mouse

 About a week ago I posted about useful tools for web development.  Today I wanted to make sure everyone knew about a great application for almost every web developer.

If you’re like me, you have multiple systems set up.  My workspace includes a Windows XP (laptop), Windows Vista, and a Mac running OS X.  When doing web development, we all have to test our web pages with every platform out there.  This is why I have this many computers.  

The annoying part is that to use the Mac, I have to either hook up my extra keyboard to it, or move my USB key for my Logitech diNovo keyboard (I love it by the way).

Synergy, is a great app for that.  Synergy allows you to install a client or server on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista (I have tested this myself, even though it isn’t listed on the site), Mac OS X 10.2 or higher, and Unix (X Windows version 11 rev 4 or higher — or XTEST extension).

Basically Synergy sets up your mouse and keyboard on the “server” machine, and lets clients connect.  The server requires you to configure it, telling the server where each clients resides in relation to your server monitor.  

I found the setup very easy.  It isn’t as intuitive as you would like, requiring you to say things like “Computer X is to the left of Computer Y”.  I like the multiple monitor configuration in windows, where I can drag windows to where I want them.

To use it, you just run the client / server — and move your mouse.  Move it off the screen to another machine.  

It works.

Tags: 2000, keyboard, mac, ME, mouse, multiple, sharing, synergy, testing, Vista, Web Development, windows, XP