After 15+ years of computer usage, I just now - not 10 minutes ago - discovered that you can highlight text, then click-drag and drop it elsewhere on the page without right-clicking to cut & paste. I can only imagine what else I’m missing out on. I searched around for “windows tips” online, but most of what I found is hacker-level information. I’m looking for basic functionality & short-cut type stuff, like how to take a screen shot.
Hit me with some Windows Tips for Dummies, please.
Hint - If using Internet Explorer, click Help in the menubar at the top of the Browser Window, click Index, and then type shortcut keys to view help about IE shortcuts/keys.
For Windows 2000, XP, 2003, click Start → Help & Support and then type Windows keyboard shortcuts in the search field
CTRL+C Copy currently selected item (text)
CTRL+X Cut currently selected item (text)
CTRL+V Paste currently selected item (text)
CTRL+Z Undo last operation
DELETE Delete currently selected item (text)
SHIFT+DELETE Delete selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin.
CTRL while dragging an item Copy selected item.
CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item Create shortcut to selected item.
F2 Rename selected item.
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word.
CTRL+LEFT ARROW Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word.
CTRL+DOWN ARROW Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph.
CTRL+UP ARROW Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph.
CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys Highlight a block of text.
SHIFT with any of the arrow keys Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document.
CTRL+A Select all.
F3 Search for a file or folder.
ALT+ENTER View properties for the selected item.
ALT+F4 Close the active item, or quit the active program.
ALT+Enter Displays the properties of the selected object.
ALT+SPACEBAR Opens the shortcut menu for the active window.
CTRL+F4 Close the active document in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously.
ALT+TAB Switch between open items.
ALT+ESC Cycle through items in the order they were opened.
F6 Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop.
F4 Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer.
SHIFT+F10 Display the shortcut menu for the selected item.
ALT+SPACEBAR Display the System menu for the active window.
CTRL+ESC Display the Start menu.
ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name Display the corresponding menu.
Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu Carry out the corresponding command.
F10 Activate the menu bar in the active program.
RIGHT ARROW Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu.
LEFT ARROW Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu.
F5 Refresh the active window.
BACKSPACE View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer.
ESC Cancel the current task.
SHIFT when you insert a CD into the CD-ROM drive Prevent the CD from automatically playing.
Hit me with some Windows Tips for Dummies, please.
Buy a Mac.
Try Alt + Print Scrn to copy a screen shot.
Congratulations and welcome to the 90’s! The good news is that most functions in Windows (version whatever) have multiple ways to accomplish the same tasks. I don’t know if any one way is always better than another.
I was thinking that by the time I got around to posting that somebody would have said that the best “Windows Tip” is to buy a Mac. The Apple Zealots did not disappoint as I can see!
Bernie
Yeah, yeah…Mac. I know. Actually, that’s what got me into this mess in the first place. In my former life I was a graphic designer & worked exclusively on macs, so I eventually learned Windows just well enough to send email & look at por…er…internet forums. 
The last Apple computer I had was my old friend, the Apple IIe. Probably the best games I have ever played were on that thing. Anyways, I have no expereince whatsoever with the modern Mac (although I have an iPod and as cool as it is, I find it frightfully maddening at times). I have a friend who used to be a DOS and Windows guru who switched to Mac about 8 years ago. He now complains anytime he has to work on our computers at the station that he can’t do it anymore. I think the exact quote of a month ago was, “I have been too dumbed down by my Macintosh to do this anymore.” I suppose you can take that in a number of different ways.
Bernie
Hey, just the other day my Windows Centric IT guy came by, excited to show this time saving shortcut: You can type, for example, "slowtwitch’ into IE’s address bar then press Control-Enter and IE will automatically add the http://www. and .com to it then jump you to the site. (If you just press Enter, you’ll get a search engine.) WOW, I thought, how exciting.
Practically any other browser will just take you to SlowTwitch with hitting just the Enter key.