Have you ever had to use a computer without a mouse? Have you ever tried to use a computer without a mouse and a keyboard without the windows key?
A couple of years ago, I purchased a fairly old IBM laptop for $100. The person who sold it to me said that it didn’t work so they just wanted to get rid of it. I got it home and installed Windows XP on it and it worked beautifully! Until, one night, as I was crawling into bed with my bowl of cereal, the bowl slipped and the milk spilled onto the keyboard. I heard a sizzling sound and then it powered off. A day or so after unplugging it from the power source and pulling all of the components out to dry, it began to work again–except for the trackpoint mouse.
I continued to have trouble with the trackpoint mouse and the control buttons, so I decided it was time to learn how to navigate without it.
One of the difficulties I had was that there was not a Windows key on the keyboard. This key is used to activate the start menu, and also many other keyboard shortcuts which I will discuss later.
In order to access the Start menu from the desktop you can use the tab key until a gray dashed box is on the Start button. Then, to access the menus within, hit the spacebar to select the button. Next, use the arrow keys to navigate within the Start menu and Program Files. Last, you can hit enter to make you selection.
So, let’s imagine that you must get into the control panel to change your mouse settings.
- From the desktop, use the tab key until a gray dashed box appears on the Start button. (Hint: If you have gone too far, you can use Shift+Tab to bring you back to the previous selection.)
- Press the spacebar to expand the menu.
- Press the Up arrow to highlight Control Panel.
- Press Enter to select Control Panel.
- Press Tab until the Mouse Properties are highlighted.
- Press Enter to open the properties.
Congratulations! You have completed your first mouse-less operation!
Now, you have to open up a website to check your email.
- From the desktop, press Tab until Internet Explorer (or any other browser you may be using) is highlighted.
- Press Enter to open your web browser.
- Press Tab until the address bar is highlighted.
- Then type the address in the address bar and hit Enter.
- The webpage appears.
- Press Tab until the cursor is in the logon box.
- Enter your login information.
- Press Tab to advance to the password field.
- Enter your password.
- Press Tab until the “Sign On” or “Logon” button is highlighted.
- Press Enter to logon.
That was easy, right? Let’s try something else. You are editing a school paper for your 6th grader in a word processor program.
- Press the start button to access the start menu.
- Use the arrow keys to browse through your programs to find the application.
- Press Enter to select the application.
Now that the application is open, you need to open the file.
- Press Cntrl+O to browse for the file.
- You can then type the file name or hit Shift+Tab to highlight the file name.
- Hit Enter to open the file.
The file is open and ready to be edited.
- To move through the document, you can use the arrow keys or the Home or End keys.
- To select text, hold down the shift key while using the left or right arrows to highlight the text.
- To remove text, press Ctrl+X (this is the cut command).
- To copy text, press Ctrl+C (this is the copy command).
- To paste text, press Ctrl+V (this is the paste command).
- To save the document, press Ctrl+S.
In addition to these keyboard shortcuts here are some separate shortcuts that you can use with the Windows key that I mentioned earlier. These are an excerpt from Microsoft Support Article 126449.
- Windows Logo: Start menu
- Windows Logo+R: Run dialog box
- Windows Logo+M: Minimize all
- SHIFT+Windows Logo+M: Undo minimize all
- Windows Logo+F1: Help
- Windows Logo+E: Windows Explorer
- Windows Logo+F: Find files or folders
- Windows Logo+D: Minimizes all open windows and displays the desktop
- CTRL+Windows Logo+F: Find computer
- CTRL+Windows Logo+TAB: Moves focus from Start, to the Quick Launch toolbar, to the system tray (use RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW to move focus to items on the Quick Launch toolbar and the system tray)
- Windows Logo+TAB: Cycle through taskbar buttons
- Windows Logo+Break: System Properties dialog box
- Application key: Displays a shortcut menu for the selected item
It is annoying at times to not have a mouse to rely on, but if you know how to navigate though Windows and other applications, it is actually very easy. In my career as a computer technician, I have found many situations where the keyboard was my only source of input. The shortcuts and tips I have shared with you have saved me a lot of time and headaches and I hope they will help you as well.
Like what you read?
If so, please join over 28,000 people who receive our exclusive weekly newsletter and computer tips, and get FREE COPIES of 5 eBooks we created, as our gift to you for subscribing. Just enter your name and email below:
