Getting  Along With Your Computer Column Archive

Mouse Keys
By Cate Eales
Appeared December 6, 2007 on castanet.net

Use your keyboard instead of a mouse, minimize Firefox to your system tray, and get a Firefox Christmas theme, too.


Mouse Keys
Did you know you can use your keyboard instead of a mouse to move your cursor? "Why would I want to do that?" I hear you asking. Well, if you have a laptop and hate that stupid touch pad, if your mouse is on the fritz, or if you do a lot of work with graphics that requires tiny cursor movements, you might want to know about this.

Enabling "Mouse Keys" in either Windows XP or Vista will let you use the arrow keys on your keyboard numeric key pad to move the mouse up, down, left, and right. If you have a laptop and you don't have the extra number keys, you probably do have arrow keys, and they are probably in the lower right-hand corner of your laptop keyboard.

To enable Mouse Keys in Windows XP:

You can use Mouse Keys in Vista, too:

Minimize Firefox to your System Tray
In the old days (Windows 95) the lower right hand part of your computer screen, by the clock, was called the System Tray. The makers of Windows XP renamed it the "Notification Area." But most of us still call it "over by where the clock is" anyway. Whatever you call it, I found a really useful Firefox Extension called "Minimize to Tray" which sends Firefox to the Notification Area instead of to the task bar when you minimize it.

"Who cares?" I hear you asking. Well, maybe it's not a big deal to all you folks with the big screens, but if you're using a laptop, screen real estate is a valuable commodity, and it's good to have things take up as little space as possible while still being close by and ready.

Check out the extension here. It works for Thunderbird, too

It's not a bad idea to make sure the Firefox and Thunderbird icons are set to "Always Show" in the tray, so you don't forget you have the programs running.

To do that in Windows XP:

In Vista:

Regular readers will know I recommend Firefox over Internet Explorer. If you're not using Firefox and want to give it a try, you can download it here. Thunderbird is an excellent replacement for Outlook Express email. You can get it here.

By the way, if you want a Christmas theme for your Firefox browser, Tinseltown is a fun one. Download it here.


Thank you everyone who emailed with comments, suggestions, and questions. If you have something to ask or tell, please email cate@rlis.com. You can also browse the column archives here.  If you'd like to subscribe to this column by email, please visit this link.  It's easy, and free. If you'd prefer the RSS Feed, click here.

Links
Minimize Firefox or Thunderbird to Tray https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2110?application=thunderbird&id=2110
Download Firefox http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
Download Thunderbird http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/
Tinseltown theme for Firefox https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addons/previews/3918
Getting Along With Your Computer Column Archives http://rlis.com/column.htm
Get Cate's column by email http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=20618
RSS Feed http://rlis.com/rlis.xml

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Cate Eales has been helping people make online computing safe, accessible and fun for over 20 years. She lives in Kelowna with her husband, Eric, and her dog, Sandy. Cate is a partner in Real Life Internet Solutions, helping individuals and small businesses with virus, spyware and malware eradication; personal computer training and management; digital image management; music transfer; and website design, hosting and management. Email Cate at cate@rlis.com with your comments, suggestions, or questions. To browse the column archives, visit the Real Life Internet Solutions website at www.rlis.com.