I.O.I.K.H.T.D.T.W.

"If Only I'd Known How To Do That When..."

A page for hints, tricks, timesavers and "this is how I got out of this sticky situation" stories. The main focus is for computer hints and help, but anything that's handy will be appreciated. And here's the first one I could think of to get you started....

Windows OS (General)

How to get at windows which you've accidentally moved off the side/top of the screen.

• Problem: This happened to me soon after I got Netscape 6. I was using the browser window in non-fullscreen mode, and accidentally got into "move window mode" by pressing a combination of keys on the keyboard (I still have no idea what key combination does this). Not realising what had happened, I clicked on the right side of my screen, and the Netscape window moved so that only a thin portion of the left side of the Netscape window was visible on the right side of my screen (the rest was "off-screen"). I could maximise the Netscape window by right-clicking on the Netscape portion of the taskbar, or by clicking the (half-visible) Netscape button on the top-left corner of the Netscape window, however whenever I tried the "move" option from these positions, nothing happened. It was possible to go full-screen to avoid obvious problems, of course, but the kick in the tail was that dialogue boxes all appeared over on the edge of the screen. The dialogue boxes were not able to go full-screen, and as I'd just installed Netscape, a dialogue box would appear whenever I came across a form, a secure site, or even a site using cookies.
• Solution: I have a vague memory of reading a shortcut for centring all windows, but have not been able to find out how to do that (maybe someone kind will tell me). In the end, the solution I found was this: you need to find a blank area on the taskbar (the bar at the bottom of your screen with the Start button on it) and right-click. you wil be presented with a menu which will allow you to choose to "Cascade Windows". If you don't know what that means, then try it and youll see - suffice to say that the upside for me was that all open windows were able to be seen on the screen, and I was thus able to do what I wished with the Netscape window which had been troubling me.

Got a tip? Know an easier way to do something that's already here? Send it to inbox@labdude.com