Fast fixes for three Windows irritations

I got a kick out of the recent headlines stating that Microsoft wants to make the next version of Windows less annoying than Vista. Talk about setting the bar low!

Most of the things that bug me about Windows are easy to fix--the lack of a Run option on Vista's Start menu is an example. To put Run back on the menu, right click the Start button, choose Properties, click Customize under the Start Menu tab, scroll to and check "Run command," and click OK twice.

Here are three other Windows irritations that I finally got around to addressing, though a cure for the first one has eluded me.

Shift to unlock the Caps Lock key
There are plenty of keyboard-remapping utilities that can disable the Caps Lock key and make other changes to your keyboard layout. You can also find downloadable Registry files (.reg) that disable Caps Lock, the Windows key, Insert, and other keys people find useless.

I tried a half-dozen of each, and none of them worked with my HP laptop, the machine whose Caps Lock key I'm forever hitting by accident. It's a shame that there's no easy way to disable this key, which does me absolutely no good.

Yet Vista and XP let you turn off Caps Lock not by pressing the key a second time, but by pressing the Shift key, which is the way the keys work on typewriters. I'm sure there was an army of former Royal and IBM Selectric users clamoring for this option!

In case you're curious, you change this setting in Vista by opening the Regional and Language Settings applet in Control Panel (not the Keyboard applet, of course). Click the Keyboards and Languages tab, choose "Change keyboards," and click the Advanced Key Settings tab. (The options are slightly different in XP, and you may need to add a second keyboard via the settings under the General tab.)

Under "To turn off Caps Lock," select "Press the SHIFT key" and click OK twice.

Use the Shift key to turn off Caps Lock by changing this setting in Vista's Regional and Language Settings applet.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Put an Address bar in your taskbar
I'd be lost without my Address bar, which I rely on more than shortcuts and bookmarks to return to sites, files, and folders. I can get to a lot of these resources in Vista simply by pressing the Windows key, typing their name, and pressing Enter once Windows retrieves them.

But I'm much more accustomed to clicking the little arrow to the right of the Address bar text box to select the file or URL from the list that pops up. Or I can just start typing the URL or file name and choose it from those that appear.

To place an Address bar next to your system tray, right-click anywhere in the taskbar and choose Toolbars > Address. (Make sure Lock the Taskbar is unchecked.)

You can resize and move the Address bar--or any other taskbar item--or the entire taskbar, for that matter. I stick with the smallest possible taskbar at the bottom of the screen, but some people like having their taskbar run vertically along the left or right side of their monitor.

Reset your default image editor
I'm a fan of Paint, the simple, no-nonsense image editor built into Windows. Unfortunately, Windows keeps wanting to make Windows Photo Gallery or some other app the default program for opening JPEGs and other image files on my PC.

To change the program that opens by default when you double-click a file of a certain type, right-click the file and choose Open With > Choose Default Program. Select one of the options in the resulting dialog box, or click the Browse button, navigate to the executable file of the program you want to make the default for that file type, and click Open. Make sure "Always use the selected program to open this type of file" is checked (it's selected by default).

[g-wing]

With regards to the address bar tip, I know your tip is for Vista, but I thought I'd mention that XP SP3 doesn't have the address bar any more.

[plbyrd]

I don't understand how these things really count as irritations, they simply seem like user preferences to me. I've heard very few people complain about any of the things you've listed. I am a power user and I do indeed add the address bar to the toolbar as the first thing I do whenever I get a new computer or install a version of Windows. However, I've been doing this since first using Windows 2000. I don't see what the big deal is with the run command considering the text box in the start menu of Vista IS the run command on steroids. If you want the run command, simply hit Windows-R and it pops up. Finally, have you tried your caps lock disabling on a different system with Vista? I've got an HP Pavillion that shipped with Vista 64-bit and the keyboard and touchbar at the top are simply annoying as hell, but it's not Vista's fault.

[sniperdoc]

I am not a fan of Vista, by far, because there are still many issues with it. But, you're kidding me with your article right? How long have you used Vista? From your comment of Vista not having a run bar, which is a pretty assanine statement, I'd say you've got about ZERO Vista experience. I can type any command into the Search box when pressing the Windows button, and it works just like the run bar... matter of fact, I can say that this particular feature is actually pretty dang cool. It didn't take me long to see that you have no real world experience with Vista and have absolutely no reason to be writing for CNET.

[wolivere]

You misread his comment its not about the lack of run its about run being on the bar. And yes to some an annoyance to others not.

Some users may not have know your trick, and prefer to see the run command in the bar. Does this mean that he does not know what he is talking about? No it means for the people who prefer this method this is how to change it.

SO what issues do you still have with Vista? My personal issues still have to do with Nvidia, and not vista. The latest Driver 180.xx which yes is in beta, was the first in a while that blue screened me. The fact that getting S.M.A.R.T to work properly with the 680i chipset drivers is also a pain for me. Not saying the work around is not use able but its a pain that the drivers from Nvdia after all this time are still so poor. Yes I know they are trying to work around hardware design flaws with the drivers. But again that is a major pain, not from MS but from Nvidia.

I don't personally fault the content of this article, I more fault the title which is a little misleading. But then again, now that every Tom Dick and Harry can post responses to articles like this. We have all become our own great experts in our own little worlds.

[sythara]

Last time I used Vista, run bar can be brought up by pressing "windows key"+R

Feel free to flame me if I'm wrong on that one, been some time since I used vista.

[Bryan Price]

Why is the Run box such a necessary item? You're going to be typing something in, not using the keyboard, so it's best just to use the Window-R combination from the keyboard and get going? And now I read sythara's comment...

[disenchantres]

Disabling the CAP lock key is the best tip ever! Thank you.

[MikeG8r]

Two annoyances I'd love to see resovled: telling me a file is locked by another process without telling me which process, and cancelling out copying multiple files because one file failed to copy.

[alexferri001]

I am the developer of a software called SuperLauncher. The reason why I published SuperLauncher so that other people could use it is that I can not live without it. It allows me to access applications, websites, folders, and files, with a keyboard combination or two clicks of the mouse. I never open the Start Menu, and I never hunt down through Explorer folders. It may sound like marketing but I assure you it is very much true.

For most launchers you have to add new shortcuts in ackward ways that just go against the idea of speeding up things. With SuperLauncher I just have to drag and drop whatever I want and from then on, I can open it really fast.

Like I said, I can not live without it. I sure hope you give it a try. It sure makes me a lot more productive in a really easy way.

Regards,
Alex Ferri
PCWinSoft Systems Ltd
http://www.pcwinsoft.com/superlauncher/