Old Tech Support Trivia
NWCCTV
Posts: 3,629
So, Can anyone guess what use to be the most asked question for Computer Tech support? Should be pretty easy if you had a computer in the 90's! I'll give you a hint, it's not where's the power button.
Comments
I got a couple of "cup holder not working" calls, but I think they were yanking my chain. I did get a few "what/where's the any key" questions and almost all of those were legitimate.
Back in the late 1970's my first interaction with a computer was via a teletype and punched tape. On the keyboard there was a key labeled "HERE IS".
WTF?. I never did find out what it was for.
Today I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with the ¤ key. Does anyone use that for anything ever?
Oh yeah, and what is that key on the bottom row with a wavy flag on it for? It never does anything for me.
From wikipedia:
"Here is" key
Some teleprinters had a "Here is" key, which transmitted a fixed sequence 20 or 22 characters, programmable by breaking tabs off a drum. This sequence could also be transmitted automatically upon receipt of an ENQ (control E) signal, if enabled. This was commonly used to identify a station; the operator could press the key to send the station identifier to the other end, or the remote station could trigger its transmission by sending the ENQ character, essentially asking "who are you?"
No wonder nobody could tell me what it was even at the time. I think I have to build myself a modern "HERE IS" key.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Telex_machine_ASR-32.jpg
You will see that the top right most key is the long lost "HERE IS" key.
Microsoft Key = Display start menu
Microsoft Key+D = Minimize window and show desktop
Microsoft Key+E = Open Explorer Window
Microsoft Key+M = Minimize all open windows
Microsoft Key+Shift+M = Restores all previously open windows to how they were before you Minimized them
Microsoft Key+F1 = Displays Windows Help Menu
http://www.nationalserviceresources.org/keyboard-shortcuts
None of the above works here.
Hey Humanoido, I was pulling legs. I know what the MS key does. However I have not used a Windows machine since 1997 or so and generally I have not found it to do anything in Linux.
Like the Cap Lock it seems to be a waste of space as far as I can tell.
I'm always afraid to press the windows key on any computer that has it on the keyboard but isn't running windows...I imagine some sort of nasty "Easter egg" hidden there!! :0)
Eventually, the windows key (when running windows) will make your machine stop and the screen go blue!! Press it, if you wait long enough, it WILL happen!!
It sends Ctrl-ESC, should you have a bloated half-functional piece of software that responds to that code.
At which point Microsoft will finally have replicated the functionality of the first generation Apple II RESET key.
Ctrl-ESC ? It that some sort of pun or metaphor or secret code for Microsoft's marketing department?
I think it was just one of the few keycode combinations they could be fairly sure nobody was using in an actual application. I've used Ctrl-ESC on keyboards lacking the Win key and it works fine if you need it.
Like this:
(Some key combination) + 6 + 5
would enter a capital A which is ASCII 65
Kind of useful if you had a bad key.
Maybe this was DOS only.
What is the (Some key combination) ?
I just can't remember how to do it. And it bugs me!!!
Supper extra credit points:
Back in the day, ya I am an old fogy, a friend of mine wrote a program that ran in the background at a low level watching the double byte keyboard codes coming in.
It made my keyboard work more like a calculator keyboard.
He called it "Sticky Key".
When the "shift" key is pressed, and released, it would remember it was pressed and the next key pressed would enter the shifted character.
This was very useful for one handed single finger "Hunt and Peck" typing I do.
Any ideas?
Duane J
Hold ALT+{ascii code} .. It still works.
http://www.alt-codes.net/
That was what I remembered it as.
However, this Vista computer won't do it.
Dang.
Duane J
I'd love to have an older, simpler keyboard with one ALT, one CNTL, and One ESC, not Windows key, no number key pad.
Duplication of key locations tend to make touch typing rather muddle minded. And locating all those 'feature keys' at the bottom of the keyboard makes them likely to be accidentally keyed.
I nice simple and clean keyboard would greatly enhance using the ALT, CNTL, and ESC in the ways they were intended. If you can't use those.... you have a mouse and icons.
I have a couple of these:
http://www.pfusystems.com/embedded-keyboard/hhkb/index.html
Mine are over 10 years old and have the PS/2 connector. They're nice for places where you don't have a lot of room for a full size keyboard. It looks like you can get them from Amazon.com. They're not cheap though.
1. Try using the [Alt Gr] key.
2. Upgrade to either XP, Win7, eCS or a friendly Linux version. Everything is better than Vista!
(Probably even WinME is better... )
Ask not for whom the <CONTROL-G> tolls.
No tolling here. In Chrome <CONTROL-G> brings up the page search dialog box:)
Or even ECHO the code in a batch-file...