Move quickly between windows

Windows allows users to run multiple applications and open multiple folder windows at the same time. To switch between them, you need to use the key combination - or click on the corresponding buttons on the taskbar.

Figure 1 : The buttons of the same application will be grouped

However, this operation is only convenient when the number of windows is open less, and in case there are too many windows of the same application, everything will be more complicated. Windows automatically gathers buttons on their taskbar: you will have to click, read a pop-up menu and then select the window to use (Figure 1).

Or if there are multiple documents opened in an application, you must first switch to the application (via mouse or keyboard), then select the document to be processed. Here are some tips to help you customize the behavior of the taskbar and Windows to suit your need to work multiple windows simultaneously.

Figure 2: Keep the buttons appear independently Remove group display : To ask Windows to not replace the taskbar buttons with a representative button, right-click the taskbar and select Properties . Uncheck the option Group taskbar buttons on the Taskbar tab , and click OK (Figure 2).

Create groups at your own discretion : You may find it useful to team up when the Windows XP taskbar is really "crowded". Please select the option Group similar taskbar buttons (how to do the above), but then use the Tweak UI for Windows XP utility from Microsoft. When the installation is complete, launch the utility, click the + next to the Taskbar and Start menu in the left pane (or double-click it) and select Grouping. In the right pane, choose the behavior that suits your needs and click OK (Figure 3).

Figure 3 : Customize the behavior of the buttons on the taskbar Change the display : Some applications do not display open documents in separate windows, not allowing you to switch directly to another document by pressing -. To move quickly in Word, Excel and PowerPoint, select Tools -> Options , click the View tab, make sure that the Windows in Taskbar option is checked, then click OK . In Adobe Acrobat or Reader, click Edit -> Preferences and select General . Then, mark the Show documents option in the taskbar and click OK . The change will take effect after you start the program. Note in Office applications, this will change the use of shortcut keys -: only close the open document (not all). Conversely, in Acrobat, - still close all programs and all open documents.

Taskbar arrangement: By default, Windows will arrange the taskbar buttons in order to open the application. With the TaskArrange free utility, you can easily arrange them in a separate order.

Preview application windows

The buttons on the Windows XP taskbar have icons and names corresponding to the open application, but this can't help you identify the content inside that window. To fix this situation, use the free utility Visual Task Tips. Just point your mouse at the button on the taskbar, a thumbnail of the corresponding window will appear.

Bui Xuan Toai