June 25 2007

For those of you who remember DOS, you probably became accustomed to using keyboard shortcuts - Just press the ALT key, then the underlined letter on the Menu bar, then your the underlined letter in the drop-down menu and your done!

Well, those keyboard short-cuts still exist but Windows XP or Vista may be hiding the underline telling you which are the shortcut keys you need to to know. 

You can reveal these keyboard shortcuts by pressing the ALT key on your keyboard when you are working in any software program (The underlines appear both in the Menu Toolbar and in the drop-down menus).  If you want to have them displayed permanently, here's what you need to do:

In Windows XP:
1. Start > Control Panel
2. Double click on the 'Display' icon
-The Display Properties window opens
3. Click the 'Appearance' tab
4. Click the 'Effects' window
5. Uncheck 'Hide underlined letters for keyboard navitation until I press the Alt key
6. Click 'OK'
7. Click 'Apply'
8. Click 'OK'

In Windows Vista:
1. Start > Control Panel
2. Double Click the 'Ease of Access Center' icon
3. Double Click 'Make the keyboard easier to use'
4. Check 'Underline keyboard shorcuts and access keys'
5. Click 'Apply'
6. Click 'Save'

That's it!