Computer Tips & Tricks: Working With Function Keys

Every now and then, someone will ask me about Function Keys. I know every one of us has seen these 12 function keys on the keyboard. But how many of us use these keys? I bet some of us never even touch these keys. Actually, using Function keys will help get our work done easily. They perform different functions in different applications and programs. They can also be used in combination with other keys such as the CTRL, ALT, and Shift keys.
Here is the brief rundown of the function keys and what they can do for you.

F1
This will bring up a help menu. If you press F1 while in a program, the help menu for that program will usually appear.

F2
You can use this to rename an item when working in Windows. To do this, highlight any folder or file, and press F2. You can then type a new name for the object. This works just like when you right-click on a file or folder and selecting Rename.

F3
When you are working in Windows, this key will open the Find Files window.

F4
Press this to open the Address bar when working in Internet Explorer. It will allow you to type the address of a Web page for quick access. You can also press ALT and this key at the same time to close the open Window that you are currently working on.

F5
This key means refresh. When viewing a Web page, you press F5 to refresh the screen. When you are in MS Word, you will have the Find and Replace window if you press this key.

F6
F6 is often used to move the cursor around the structure of the program. For example, if you're in MS Word, press this key and you will go to the next pane or frame.

F7
Users have no use of this key in Windows. But in other programs such as MS Word if you press this key, you will get the spelling command.

F8

This can be used to access the Safe Mode if pressed while booting the computer.

F9
Users have no use of this key in Windows. But in individual programs such as MS Word, pressing this key will update the selected fields.

F10
This key is used to activate the menu bar in many programs. Pressing the Shift key and F10 will bring up the shortcut menu. This is similar to right-clicking on an object.

F11
Pressing this key will open your window in full screen mode or what we call the KIOSK mode. All the toolbars will disappear and can be useful to see more information on the screen. Press F11 to toggle you back to normal view.

F12
Users have no use of this key in Windows. In other programs like MS Word, this will give you the Save as command.

A Prettier Volume Control

Few people know that the Volume Control has a hidden, compact-looking profile. You can create a shortcut with the command as “sndvol32 /s” or by pressing [Ctrl] + [S] with the Windows Volume Control running. Press [Ctrl] + [S] again to revert to the original size. To open a minimal volume control with only the single slider, you can create a shortcut by first right-clicking at the location you want to add the shortcut, then click New > Shortcut, and type in “sndvol32 /t”.

Recycle The Recycle Bin

Some people are paranoid about how clean their desktops look, and would rather not have icons like My Computer, My Documents, etc. on it. Now removing these is easy—
just rightclick on the Desktop, select Properties > Desktop > Customize Desktop, and then uncheck all the boxes corresponding to the icons you don’t want.


But what about the Recycle Bin? This one’s a tougher nut to crack.


Go to the Registry Editor, navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\
Look for the key {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08- 00AA002F954E} and delete it. Of course, you may want to just rename the Recycle Bin instead of deleting it altogether.
In this case, you should navigate to HKEY_CURRENT _USER\Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ ShellNoRoam\ MUICache and change the value of @C:\WINDOWS\ system32\ SHELL32.dll,-8964 to whatever you want.