Right-click on the taskbar and add the Address bar to it. At first glance, it appears you have a simple Web address entry for Internet Explorer. However, as Internet Explorer is highly integrated with Windows 2000, you can access pretty much anything with it. This means that you can type in a command or a file and it will execute or open it. Hence, the Address bar can be used quite effectively as a command line.

The Address bar, obviously, accepts Web addresses and search queries as well.

This tip works with Windows 2000 Professional and Server.

Calling Card Dial-Up Setup

I was having a difficult time configuring a calling-card dial-up setup. It would try dialing the account number too soon or not enter the card number within the correct timing. An old modem dial trick is to enter commas directly in the phone number; each additional comma adds one second of a pause. However, built into Windows 2000, I discovered that you can control the type of steps taken and how each step is handled during the calling-card PIN and account-dialing process.

Here are the steps to modify an existing calling card:

• Open "Phone and Modem Options"
• On the "Dialing Rules" tab, click the location to modify, then click "Edit".
• On the "Calling Card" tab, click the card type you want to modify, then click "Edit".
• Click the "General" tab to change the calling card name or number, or your personal identification number (PIN).
• Click the "Long Distance", "International", or "Local Calls" tab to change the access number or dialing steps for the corresponding type of call.

Using cut-and-paste in the Command Prompt is easy. In a text-editing application like Notepad, select and copy the phrase as you would normally. Next, move your mouse to the Command Prompt screen. Right-click on the desired location in this screen and the copied text will appear.

Naturally, you can also cut and paste in the Command Prompt screen itself. Select a phrase by moving the mouse over it while you hold down the left mouse button. Then right-click twice to paste the selection at the cursor's position.

This tip works with Windows 2000 Server and Professional.

If you work with the command prompt frequently, you can speed your navigation through the directory structure and file lists by enabling File and Directory Name Completion. Completion is invoked when you type either of the two control characters (CTRL+D for directory names, CTRL+F for file names) at the command prompt. Some examples of using completion include:

• Type the first few characters of a command executable, then type CTRL+F to cycle through the files that begin with those characters.
• Type CD, then type CTRL+D to cycle through all of the directory names in the current path.
  

Other tidbits:

• To move backward through the list, press the Shift key with the control character.
• If file completion is used on any of the built-in directory commands (CD, MD, or RD), directory completion is assumed.
  

To enable File and Directory Name Completion for a single command-prompt session:

• Click Start, click Run, in the Open box type cmd /f:on, then click OK

• Start a command-prompt window and type cmd /f:on, then press Enter.

To enable File and Directory Name Completion for all command prompt sessions:

• Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, then right-click Command Prompt and choose Properties.
• Under the Shortcut tab in the Target box, type %SystemRoot%\system32\cmd.exe /f:on.
• Click OK.
  

The Command Prompt shortcut on the Start menu will now start Cmd.exe with File and Directory Name Completion enabled.

List of F1-F9 Key Commands for the Command Prompt

F1: Repeats the letters of the last command line, one by one
F2: Displays a dialog asking user to "enter the char to copy up to" of the last command line
F3: Repeats the last command line
F4: Displays a dialog asking user to "enter the char to delete up to" of the last command
line
F5: Goes back one command line
F6: Enters the traditional CTRL+Z (^z)
F7: Displays a menu with the command line history
F8: Cycles back through previous command lines (beginning with most recent)
F9: Displays a dialog asking user to enter a command number, where 0 is for first command line entered.

Note: The buffer allows a maximum of 50 command lines. After this number is reached, the first line will be replaced in sequence.

Works on Windows 2000 Professional and Server.

Show More Details in My Documents and Windows Explorer

When using the Windows Explorer with the view mode set to Details, Windows 2000 users have the option to display much more than Name, Size, Date, or Type. Right-click on one of the column titles in Explorer and you'll see what I mean.

By doing so, you can add columns that display such fields as Attributes, Created, Accessed, and Comment. If you select the More option at the bottom, a dialog box comes up, with even more fields.

The Comment column is a great addition. By opening the file properties of certain file types such as Word documents or Excel spreadsheets, you can add an explanatory comment on the Summary tab. If you have selected that column to be displayed in Detail view, the comment will now be displayed in the Comment column.

Moreover, you can enable a folder to display info in the Comment column by doing the following:

• Open the folder you wish to have a comment associated with. Create a text file called desktop.ini. In the text file add the following lines of text:

• Save the text file and close.
• Replace "This is where I keep all my secret data" with whatever comment you wish to be displayed by Explorer in the Comment column of Detail view.

This tip will also work with disk drives.

Works with Windows 2000 Professional and Server.

Organize Your Pictures into Separate Folders

For those who, like me, have a lot of pictures, one fancy feature of Windows 2000 is the My Pictures folder, with commands like Print, Zoom In and Out, and Best Fit Size.

If you have pictures of many different subjects and you would like to store them in corresponding folders, yet still have access to those commands found in My Pictures, do this:

• Open My Documents.
• Make a copy of the My Pictures folder. You can right-click on it, click Copy, then click Paste.
• A new folder will appear, named Copy of My Pictures. Rename it (right-click on the folder's icon, choose Rename) whatever way you want, for example Office Pics, Boat Pics,My Kat Pics.
• Place all the pictures of that subject in the folder you have just created.

Send a Quick E-Mail

If you want to send a quick e-mail, just type mailto: in the Run box (found in the Start menu), or create a shortcut. You'll avoid having to go to Outlook Express and click New Mail Message.

Hello. I am using Windows 2000 Professional Beta 3 and I love it. I've been using Windows since the very first version, and have also beta-tested Windows 95.

One of the tips that I would like to share is using the Scheduled Tasks wizard.

With it, you can schedule disk maintenance, such as cleanup, to be done at specific intervals -- to keep your machine running optimally. You can also use it to run numerous other programs at scheduled times that you select.

To use Scheduled Tasks, click Start, and point to Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Scheduled Tasks. Click Add Scheduled Task, and follow the instructions in the wizard.

Spool Output of a Command to a File

This is tip is applicable to Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, and Windows 2000 Advanced Server.

Use redirection operators like > and >> to spool the output of a command to a file.

Use "dir >>" file.txt to append the output of dir to file.txt, if it exists; or else a new file is created.

If you want to give input to the program from a file use "<" redirection.

"<" is helpful if the program frequently prompts for Y/N/A. Keep some Y's or N's in a file called "file.txt" and redirect it to the program using "progname < file.txt".

Use Cascading "My Computer" in the Start Menu

I found this little trick when using Active Desktop™ with the option to Show Desktop Icons disabled. I still needed to get to the My Computer icon on a regular basis.

Drag the My Computer icon to the Start button, and it will automatically create a cascading shortcut to My Computer that will expand to reveal your drives, folders, and files. This is similar to the Expand Control Panel option new to Windows 2000. With the emphasis on tooltips that Windows 2000 now incorporates, you can also hold your cursor over a partition in the Start Menu for a moment to view its free space and capacity. You can execute a file just by single clicking on it in the Start Menu, and open a folder by double clicking.

This tip works on Windows 2000 Professional and Server.