|
Previous Page Windweaver
Index Manual Contents Bookstore Next
Page
LESSON FOUR: SHORTCUTS Customizing Your Desktop Icons continued
B. Shortcut Icon Hints
CREATING FOLDERS FOR SHORTCUTS AND ICONS
If you want to create a number of shortcuts and you don't want your
desktop
to be cluttered, create several folders in which to place shortcuts related
in
meaning or function. Simply right click your desktop, choose new,
then
folder. Drag shortcuts to the folder and drop them on it.
NOTE: If you store the original folder of frequently use programs and files
elsewhere on our computer rather than on your Desktop, you can create
a shortcut icon to it, and as a result choose any icon you want for your
desktop folder rather than use the standard folder icon.
SHORTCUT RECOMMENDATIONS
You can save yourself considerable time and effort by creating shortcuts
on your desktop for your most frequently used programs, folders, and
files. Those shortcuts which you wish to access immediately when your
desktop is not visible can be placed at the very top of your START MENU
(lesson 4e, f) if you wish to keep your desktop
from becoming cluttered.
However, you may want to create the following desktop icons:
Drive C........................type c:\
Other Hard Drive.......type d:\ or e:\ (use letter of drive)
Cd-Rom drive.............type d:\ or e:\ (use letter of drive)
Floppy Disk Drive......type a:\ (or b:\ for a b floppy drive)
Explorer......................type c:\windows (or win95) \explorer.exe
Your Printer................Open My Computer, click Printers,
select your printer's
......................................icon, and right click to create shortcut.
Your Word processor..........right click icon or file; choose create
shortcut
Your Schedule Manager......right click icon or file; choose
create shortcut
Your Email program...right click icon or file; choose create shortcut
Your Web browser....right click icon or file; choose create shortcut
A Utilities folder for storing shortcuts to frequently used
utilities, e.g. backup,
antivirus...create folder of shortcuts; right click to create shortcut
to it
A Priority or Current folder (for storing frequently used
shortcuts, files,
and programs)....create folder of shortcuts; right click to create shortcut
to it
RENAMING SHORTCUT ICONS
When you create a shortcut icon, Windows prefaces its name with
Shortcut To. (After you have created five or six in a row and changed
them all, Windows learns from your actions and stop creating this
unnecessary preface). Since the arrow on the icon indicates that it's
a shortcut, you don't need these additional words; you may want to
delete them.
REPAIRING BROKEN SHORTCUT LINKS
If you click a shortcut icon after moving the location of the original
file
or program, Windows may not know where to locate it. Usually, if
its search is unsuccessful, you will be promoted to click the browse
button and select the file in its new location.
PRACTICE EXERCISE
1. Rename each of your new shortcut icons, ridding of shortcut to.
2. Create a folder named Priority on your desktop.
3. Drag the Computer Maintenance shortcut icon
and Windows Notes
original icon
into the Priority folder. Leave the WindowsNotes
shortcut icon on the desktop.
4. Move your Priority folder to your floppy drive a.
5. On your desktop, create the folder Games. Drag the MsHearts
shortcut
into it.
6. Click to open WindowsNotes using its shortcut icon. When Windows does
not find
the file, choose browse and locate it.
OPTIONAL EXERCISE
1. Create another shortcut to Drive a.
2. Move it into the Send to folder in the Windows directory. Drive
a will not be
listed in Send to.
3. Send your Winfows shortcut file on your desktop to your floppy disk, using
Send to. (NOTE: Send to COPIES rather
than MOVES when you send to
a different drive.)
NEXT: Lesson Four - Creating Shortcut
Key, Changing Icons continue
|
|