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Rikkitic

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#173618 29-May-2015 16:24
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I have Windows 8.1 (‘with Bing’) on a minicomputer used only for streaming. I control the computer from the couch with a wireless keyboard/mouse pad. Obviously I don’t have a touch screen with this configuration. To avoid excessive mouse movements, I use keyboard shortcuts where practicable. I would like to keep this set-up but it is causing some problems I can’t work around and I am wondering if anyone else might have some creative solutions:

1. Scrolling is a big hassle. I can scroll up and down with the arrow key, but I can’t go past the end of the visible screen area. To do that I have to steer the mouse cursor to the miniscule scroll bar at the far right of the screen and shift the viewable area that way. The mouse pad only has left and right keys and Control Panel offers no possibilities for emulating the scroll button. How can I solve this?

2. Mouse keys. Is there a way to jump the mouse cursor around the screen, from far left to far right, top/bottom, middle of screen?

3. The computer and keyboard provide no function for toggling wi-fi/airplane mode. Instead, I have to right-click the shortcut I made to Network properties, then click connect/disconnect to bring up the settings panel on the right side of the screen, then mouse to Airplane mode and click that, then mouse back to whatever I was doing. Is there a better way to do this?




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Brumfondl
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  #1314239 29-May-2015 16:33
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Sounds like a track ball or trackpad might fix some of your issues. You will just have to move a finger instead of the entire mouse.







roobarb
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  #1314255 29-May-2015 17:33
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Rikkitic: I have Windows 8.1 (‘with Bing’) on a minicomputer...


Like a PDP-11?


Rikkitic

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  #1314288 29-May-2015 19:03
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roobarb:
Rikkitic: I have Windows 8.1 (‘with Bing’) on a minicomputer...


Like a PDP-11?



I wouldn't have minded one of those in the day, but 64 bits beats 16. As far as I know, mini is the usual designation for today's little boxes. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

 




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Sideface
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DR
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  #1314294 29-May-2015 19:09
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Rikkitic: ... As far as I know, mini is the usual designation for today's little boxes. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. 


Small Form Factor (SFF)




Sideface


Rikkitic

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  #1314324 29-May-2015 19:57
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Sideface:
Rikkitic: ... As far as I know, mini is the usual designation for today's little boxes. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. 


Small Form Factor (SFF)


I picture something else with that, but am happy to stand corrected. Still looking for answers to my questions.





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roobarb
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  #1314333 29-May-2015 20:34
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Rikkitic: Still looking for answers to my questions.


What application are you using on your computer that you need to control? Is it a media program, or a web browser?

What specific wireless keyboard model are you using? Does it have pageUp/pageDown keys?

I assume it's not an ASR-33.

Rikkitic

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  #1314344 29-May-2015 21:25
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roobarb:
Rikkitic: Still looking for answers to my questions.


What application are you using on your computer that you need to control? Is it a media program, or a web browser?.

What specific wireless keyboard model are you using? Does it have pageUp/pageDown keys?

I assume it's not an ASR-33.


The main application would be the browser. It is a Chrome variant called Slimjet. I also need to move around Windows Explorer and Hauppauge Capture software and the Windows desktop itself sometimes.

The keyboard is a cheap generic thing. Not sure if it even has a name but it works quite well and I like it. It does have PgUp and PgDn but along with the arrow keys they don't always work for scrolling and then I have to use the scroll bar.
 




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markl
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  #1314362 29-May-2015 22:03
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Rikkitic: 
The keyboard is a cheap generic thing. Not sure if it even has a name but it works quite well and I like it. It does have PgUp and PgDn but along with the arrow keys they don't always work for scrolling and then I have to use the scroll bar.
 


So from your description, I'm not clear, but are you saying that your keyboard has a trackpad with left and right buttons? If so, have you tried using the standard Windows 8.1 trackpad gestures? 2 fingers side by side to scroll up and down, for example?



Rikkitic

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  #1314516 30-May-2015 10:35
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You are right. It has a trackpad with just the left and right buttons. The swipe suggestion is a good one and it does work, it just doesn't work very well. The pad is only really big enough for one finger. Two will barely fit and it is difficult to get the swipe to register. Maybe I just need a bigger pad but I would still like to find another solution for this one if one exists.






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roobarb
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  #1314531 30-May-2015 11:00
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From Windows 1.0 it has been possible to drive it without a mouse at all, and there are patterns amongst the key combinations. That said, it does not mean all 3rd party application vendors/developers see things that way.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-nz/windows/keyboard-shortcuts

Just playing around I came up with:

Alt+tab to switch between top-level application windows

Within IE

Ctl+tab to switch between browser tabs
Tab & shift+tab to move forwards and backwards amongst web elements that can accept focus
Within browser arrow keys and pageUp/pageDown affect the scroll bar
Alt+space to get the window system menu
Alt to get to the window menubar

Desktop

Atl-tab to eventually select the desktop
Arrow keys select different icons on desktop
Shift+tab to swap between taskbar, desktop, start menu and hidden icons on task bar
Once the icons on the right of the task bar are selected you can use arrow keys to move amongst them.


Rikkitic

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  #1314812 30-May-2015 19:36
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Thanks for the tips. I do use some of these already but still can't find keyboard commands for the other things I want. Some of the commands also do not do what they are supposed to, or do surprising things. For example, if I type Ctrl-Alt-arrow the display flips according to the arrow. 


 




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