General Hints & Tips

Restore Show Desktop Icon How to restore the Show Desktop icon in QuickLaunch

A reader recently wrote that he had accidentally deleted the "Show Desktop" icon in the QuickLaunch toolbar, and couldn't figure out how to get it back. The procedure for getting the "Show Desktop" icon back if you delete it isn't exactly intuitive. Here's what you do:

  1. Click Start | Programs | Accessories and click on Notepad to open it.
  2. Type the following, exactly as shown:
    [Shell]
    Command=2
    IconFile=explorer.exe,3
    [Taskbar]
    Command=ToggleDesktop
  3. Save the file with the name ShowDesktop.scf
  4. Drag the file's icon onto the Quick Launch toolbar (or the desktop if you prefer).

Courtesy WXPNews

Posted by Ralph A. Dahlgren on Tuesday, 25-Aug-2009 08:50 AM

XP SP3 computers using ICS lose network connectivity

Here's the scenario: you have one or more computers running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 on a home or small office network and they use Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) so they can all access the Internet through a modem connected to one of the computers. You change the settings on the network adapter of the ICS host computer, or you just remove and reconnect the network cable, and suddenly the rest of the XP SP3 computers lose their network connectivity. What's up with that? You can find out all about this problem, including the solution, in KB article 951446 at
http://www.wxpnews.com/CNY9NR/081209-Connectivity-Error

Posted by Ralph A. Dahlgren on Tuesday, 09-Dec-2008 09:30 AM

How can I open links in a new tab?
How can I open links in a new tab?

QUESTION:
When I click a hyperlink on a page in my browser (Firefox), it opens up in the same tab (thus losing the original page). How do I make links open in a new tab so I don't have to use the Back button to get back to my original page? - Pete M.

ANSWER:
There are a few different ways to do that. The simplest is to right click the link and select Open in a New Tab. Using this method, you can also open the link in a whole new window (browser instance) if you want. Another is to click the link with the scroll wheel button instead of the right or left mouse button (if your mouse or trackball has a scroll wheel). That will open the link in a new tab. Or pressing the CTRL key while you click the link will do the same thing. All three of these tricks work in the latest versions of Firefox, IE, and the beta version of Chrome.

Posted by Ralph A. Dahlgren on Tuesday, 07-Oct-2008 13:52 PM

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