20th October 2000

Coming from the "Optional Stop" department, Lockergnomie Benjamin Holmen has unearthed another quick slick click trick. The SHIFT key is quite useful in Windows. Hold it down during the OS boot process and your startup apps will be skipped. When loading a CD-ROM, use it to bypass the impending Autorun sequence. What else can this 'shifty' key do? Slide through your Start Menu for a second. Pick a program you want to launch, but keep your SHIFT key depressed during the process. What's this?! The menu stays up instead of disappearing -- allowing you to launch other utilities without having to start back at the Start button? Yeppers! Think of the seconds you'll shave with this shortcut, especially when you need to launch several utilities in succession to one another. A batch file could produce the same results, but -- what if your needs are unpredictable? Shift gears for a second...