Windows-Key + Pause/Break…brings up System Properties!
(I know there’s been threads mentioning Windows Key shortcuts before, but I haven’t found this one in a search, and thought I’d share it for the geeks around here 
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Well, neato! That cuts down on the 15 steps it takes to get there now
thx for the tip.
I did not know that. What sucks is I’m just going to forget it.
That’s cool, but I don’t know if it can technically be considered a “shortcut:” two keystrokes vs. two mouseclicks. It’s always good to know how to do things without the mouse, though!
Two mouse clicks? How?
I can get there in 3 mouse clicks with Start|Control Panel|System (XP Pro). I suppose if you had a shortcut to Control Panel on your desktop you could do it in 2.
Here is a fairly comprehensive list of all Microsoft Windows and Applications Shortcuts including a chart showing the operating systems on which they work. (The Windows Key + options are listed as “WINKEY +” about halfway down the page.)
Right-click “My Computer” and click “Properties.”
Voila.
I have XP Pro, too … I didn’t even know you could get to System Properties through the Control Panel like that!
My favorite shortcut, which works in IE or Firefox (and possibly others) is the CTRL-ENTER one. When typing out a URL such as “http://www.straightdope.com” you can type just “straightdope” in the address bar, then hit control enter. It will automatically fill in the rest. There is also CTRL-SHIFT-ENTER, which makes it a .org address, and SHIFT-ENTER which makes it a .net address.
Sorry - minor correction, I think the SHIFT-Enter and CTRL-SHIFT-Enter only work in Firefox.
Of course, if ‘My Computer’ isn’t visible, it’s no longer two clicks!
In Firefox you can just hit enter, and it completes the address.
Didn’t know this! (Is there a way to change which addresses are used, e.g. to make shift-enter create a .co.uk address?)
True that just hitting enter will just about accomplish the same thing, however just hitting enter means it will perform a search first. Hitting control-enter bypasses the search step. Usually just a miniscule difference time wise, but… well, I’m not patient.
I’ve looked before for ways to change the autocomplete but have yet to find anything that will let you adjust it, which kind of sucks.
Oh, and one that I just came across while looking again: alt-enter will do the same as just hitting enter - except that it will open it in a new tab. Nifty.
My copy of Firefox doesn’t perform any search…no idea if I tweaked settings somewhere along the way, though
Well when I say search… If you look at the status bar at the bottom after you hit Enter, you should see it say “Looking up [Whatever]”. Of course the one advantage to this is, if you’re not sure what the extension is, it will provide you with the most likely correct one. For example, I just typed “BCIS” because I knew it wasn’t a .com address, and it correctly brought up the .org one - but in the status bar I could see that it was consulting Google first.
I’m still trying to get into the habit of hitting ctrl + L in firefox to automatically go to the address bar. I keep using the mouse to click up there! Old habits die hard.
And that’s one I didn’t know about… I’ll have to remember this one.
It does that with ctrl-enter too - it’s the DNS lookup, finding the location of the site requested
Well, you have to choose to make “My Computer” not visible. No one said we were talking about nonstandard setups… 
Ah, but if you’re not currently viewing your desktop, it wouldn’t be visible
That’s exactly what I meant