Windows Experience Blog : Tips & Tricks

Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows Media Player in Windows 7

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:43:10 GMT

In Windows 7, we’ve improved how people can play and manage their digital media content (like music and videos) through Windows Media Player. Not only did we give Windows Media Player a face lift, it also takes advantage of key Windows 7 features such as the new Windows Taskbar, HomeGroup and Jump Lists. With all the new stuff packed into Windows Media Player, I thought it might be a good idea to highlight some tips for using Windows Media Player.

Starting today, I plan to do a series of 6 blog posts over the course of the next 3 weeks, each dedicated to a single tip for Windows Media Player.

Today’s Tip: Keyboard Shortcuts!

Below is a list of keyboard shortcuts you can use for a variety of activities in Windows Media Player ranging from switching to Player Mode to turning on or off shuffle to shifting between play speeds. If you’re a keyboard fiend – this list is a must-have.

Shortcut	Action	State
Ctrl + 1	Switches to library mode	From any mode
Ctrl + 2	Switches to skin mode	From any mode
Ctrl + 3	Switches to player mode	From any mode except full screen
Ctrl + 7	Add to Play	In library mode
Ctrl + 8	Add to Burn	In library mode
Ctrl + 9	Add to Sync	In library mode
Ctrl + A	Selects everything in a list	In the library or list
Ctrl + B	Previous (Item or Chapter)	With content playing
Ctrl + E	Focus on Search text box and switch to library mode if not there
Ctrl + F	Next (Item or Chapter)	With content playing
Ctrl + H	Turn on/off shuffle mode
Ctrl + J	Eject	In any mode
Ctrl + M	Toggle menu bar in library	In any mode
Ctrl + N	Create playlist	In library mode
Ctrl + O	Shows Open Dialog	In any mode
Ctrl + P	Play/Pause Toggle	With content queued up
Ctrl + Q	Adds selected track to open list	Default is Play list
Ctrl + S	Stops Playback	With content playing
Ctrl + T	Turn on/off repeat mode	In any mode
Ctrl + U	Shows Open URL Dialog	In any mode
Ctrl + W	Stops playback	With content playing or paused
Ctrl + Shift + B	Rewinds playing content	With DVD playing
Ctrl + Shift + C	Caption On/Off Toggle	Playing content which has captions
Ctrl + Shift + F	Fast forwards playing content	With content playing
Ctrl + Shift + G	Play Speed Fast	With content playing
Ctrl + Shift + N	Play Speed Normal	With content playing
Ctrl + Shift + S	Play Speed Slow	With content playing
Ctrl + Right Arrow	Next playlist in playlist history	Focus not on Seek bar
Ctrl + Left Arrow	Previous playlist in playlist history	Focus not on Seek bar
Ctrl + Right Arrow	Skip forward (large increment)	Focus on Seek bar
Ctrl + Left Arrow	Skip backward (large increment)	Focus on Seek bar
Shift + Right Arrow	Skip forward (small increment)	Focus on Seek bar
Shift + Left Arrow	Skip backward (small increment)	Focus on Seek bar
Right Arrow	Skip forward	Focus on Seek bar
Left Arrow	Skip backward	Focus on Seek bar
Ctrl + Click	Resize player to image	In Now Playing mode
Escape	Return to Now Playing	Full Screen Mode
F1	Opens Help file	In any mode
F2	Edit meta data column	In library mode with an item selected
F4	Switch view mode	In library mode, focus in list view
F5	Refresh screen	Focus on library or in online services
F6	Increases album art	Focus in list view
Shift + F6	Decreases album art	Focus in list view
F7	Mutes sound	In any mode
F8	Decrease sound volume	In any mode
F9	Increases sound volume	In any mode
F10	Show menu bar in library	From any mode
Shift + F10	Context menu shortcut	In any mode
Alt + 1	Video Size 50%	In Now Playing or skin mode, with a video playing
Alt + 2	Video Size 100%	In Now Playing or skin mode, with a video playing
Alt + 3	Video Size 200%	In Now Playing or skin mode, with a video playing
Alt + Enter	Full Screen Toggle	In Now Playing, skin, or full screen mode

Stay tuned – I’ll have another tip for Windows Media Player coming up soon!

NOTE: These tips are for Windows Media Player in Windows 7 only.

Windows Home Server Power Pack 2 Announced

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 08:06:04 GMT

The Windows Home Server Team announced today Power Pack 2. The English version of Power Pack 2 will be made available via Windows Update starting March 24th to Windows Home Servers with Power Pack 1 installed. You must have Power Pack 1 installed in order to install Power Pack 2. Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish versions of Power Pack 2 will be made toward the end of April.

Power Pack 2 offers Windows Home Server users the following awesomeness:

Improvements to Remote Access
Enhanced Functionality for PCs running Windows Media Center (via Windows Media Center Connector)
Content Streaming Support for Windows Media Center Extenders

For me, I am particularly interested in the Windows Media Center Connector. With the Windows Media Center Connector installed, Windows Media Center will have access to content stored in shared folders on a Windows Home Server. Just this last weekend, I went through about 1,500 CDs and DVDs I’ve accumulated over the years of sporadic backups of photos and documents. I had CDs going back to 2000. I went through each CD and DVD and pulled off all the important data (mostly photos) and transferred the data onto my Windows Home Server. I now have no data remaining on any physical media anywhere. Everything is now on my Windows Home Server (which I affectionately call JARVIS). And now with Power Pack 2, I’ll be able to browse through those old photos I rediscovered from years ago directly within Windows Media Center downstairs in my living room.

For more information on Power Pack 2, read this post from the Windows Home Server Team.

Psst, here is a little tip for Windows 7 Beta users who have Windows Home Servers. You can add Windows Home Server shared folders to Windows 7 Libraries. Just right-click on a Library and choose “Properties”. There you can pick which folders you want in that Library. Choose “Include a folder…” and type \\ServerName\ShareName\FolderName etc. See below screenshot for a example:

You can see that in my Documents Library, I was able to add my “Brandon LeBlanc” user folder (located at \\JARVIS\Users\Brandon LeBlanc). I have actually created a standalone Library on my Windows 7 Beta PCs called JARVIS consisting of all the important shared folders on my Windows Home Server.

TechNet Magazine Features Windows Vista Tips This Month for IT Pros

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:55:56 GMT

TechNet Magazine is showcasing Windows Vista Tips this month in a new tip-of-the-day feature. You can stay up on all the latest Windows Vista tips here – which will be updated Monday – Friday all this month with new Windows Vista tips. You can also find the latest tips at the top of the TechNet Magazine homepage. These tips are mainly focused toward the IT Pro.

Here is the list of Windows Vista tips so far:

Know the Tools You'll Need to Deploy Windows Vista
Do you know what tools you'll need to use to prepare and deploy Windows Vista to systems throughout your environment? This is an overview of the tools you'll need, and the ones you can forget about.

Use Msconfig to Disable and Enable UAC
To determine whether UAC is causing an application compatibility problem, you can temporarily disable UAC. This explains how to do it quickly.

Delete Files Permanently with SDelete
When you delete a file, Windows removes the index for the file, but the file’s contents are still on the disk until the data has been overwritten by another file. Learn how to delete files permanently so attackers can't recover this data.

New Command-Line Switches for Sc.exe
On Windows Vista, the sc.exe command has been enhanced with new command-line switches. This looks at those new command-line switches.

Create an Ad Hoc Wireless Network
If you want to share information stored on your computer with other nearby computers, you can set up an ad hoc wireless network.

Troubleshoot Slow Start Ups with Windows Boot Performance Diagnostics
Find out how you can use Windows Boot Performance Diagnostics to identify the source of startup performance problems and automatically fix issues.

High Availability Printing with the Print Management Console
When a server goes down, you can use the Windows Vista Print Management console to quickly move print queues and keep print jobs moving smoothly.

Best Practices for File Sharing in a Workgroup Environment
Want to implement file sharing for Windows Vista clients in a workgroup environment? Be sure to keep these best practices in mind.

Best Practices for File Sharing in a Domain Environment
If you plan on implementing file sharing for Windows Vista clients in a domain environment, keep these best practices in mind.

Track and Analyze System Stability and Reliability with RACAgent
Curious about system reliability? Windows Vista is already gathering this data by default. This explains how to view that data.

Troubleshoot Group Policy with GPLogView
Learn how you can use this command-line tool to perform Group Policy–related troubleshooting.

Manage Volume Shadow Copy Service from the Vssadmin Command-Line
Check out the commands you can use to manage Volume Shadow Copy service from a command-line tool.

Remove Unwanted Toolbars and Fix Settings in Internet Explorer
Problematic add-ons. Changed browser settings. A new homepage. Find out how you can troubleshoot and fix persistent, unwanted changes.

If you’ve got your own Windows Vista tips – please share them below!