How increase delay between linked keystrokes in Win Exp?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Andy
  • Start date Start date
A

Andy

When I want to find a file in Windows Explorer I can key in its first
letter to take the focus to the first file whose name starts with that
letter.

In a big folder like C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 I might want to key in the
first two letters of the filename.

If I am fast I can key in three letters.

How can I increase the time interval between these linked keystrokes so
they are all seen as part of the same filename request?
 
From Windows Explorer tool bar select Search. Or, go to the Start button
and select Search
 
OR, if you just leave it on in the background you will get the desired
slowdown you asked for. <VBG>
 
As far as I know type real quick.

If you can type fast, you can get two or even three letters to work.

If I plan on trying to use three characters, I pay real close attention and
type like a house on fire.

If in Open/Save As dialogs, Focus needs to be in View pane, not in the File
Name box.

I discovered this by accident. Open Windows Explorer, Click the Folders
button to display the Folders pane; make sure that Focus is in the left hand
pane, press the D key. The first folder that starts with D will be
highlighted. Press P, the first folder that starts with P will be
highlighted, etc.

Click somewhere in the right hand pane to give it Focus, press a letter key.
You can work your way up and down through all the files or folders of any
folder this way. Number keys also work if the first character of the
file or folder name is a number.

On the Start Menu pressing a letter key will also move the focus to folders
or shortcuts that have been added, not just to the items with underlined
characters. Pressing a key in some folders on the Start Menu doesn't
highlight the shortcut; it actually is the same as clicking the link. If
there is only one item that begins with a particular letter, pressing that
letter starts the program that the shortcut links to. Otherwise you have to
press Enter after highlighting a shortcut to start that program. If it's a
folder, once it's highlighted, pressing Enter will open the folder.

Also works in Favorites.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
Hello Bob.

I wonder if you are replying to the right thread?

I asked about shortening the delay between keystrokes. WinExp is
only one example of an aplication where this is useful.

You mention using search but that is a different thing.

Andy
 
Hi Wes. Seems as if you work like me by using starting letters.

Be nice to vary that speed. I ownder if it is related to the
typematic delay. Must check that out some day.

Andy


As far as I know type real quick.

If you can type fast, you can get two or even three letters to
work.

If I plan on trying to use three characters, I pay real close
attention and type like a house on fire.

If in Open/Save As dialogs, Focus needs to be in View pane, not in
the File Name box.

I discovered this by accident. Open Windows Explorer, Click the
Folders button to display the Folders pane; make sure that Focus is
in the left hand pane, press the D key. The first folder that
starts with D will be highlighted. Press P, the first folder that
starts with P will be highlighted, etc.

Click somewhere in the right hand pane to give it Focus, press a
letter key. You can work your way up and down through all the files
or folders of any folder this way. Number keys also work if the
first character of the file or folder name is a number.

[snip]

Also works in Favorites.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User


Andy said:
When I want to find a file in Windows Explorer I can key in its
first letter to take the focus to the first file whose name starts
with that letter.

In a big folder like C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 I might want to key in
the first two letters of the filename.

If I am fast I can key in three letters.

How can I increase the time interval between these linked
keystrokes so they are all seen as part of the same filename
request?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Hi Andy,

I have nothing that will help except, type real quick to get three
characters.

I looked at Keyboard Properties...

Start | Run | Type: control keyboard | Click OK

You can adjust the rate at which a character is repeated when you hold down
a key, and the time delay before it starts repeating. You can also adjust
the blink rate of the insertion point.

Repeat delay
[[Adjusts the amount of time that elapses before a character begins to
repeat when you hold down a key. To change the repeat delay, drag the
slider.]]

Repeat rate
[[Adjusts the speed at which a character repeats when you hold down a key.
To change the repeat rate, drag the slider.]]

Cursor blink rate
[[Adjusts the speed at which the cursor (or insertion point) blinks. To
change the cursor blink rate, drag the slider. To prevent the cursor from
blinking, drag the slider to the left end of the bar.]]

These are the only other keyboard options that I know of.

The accessibility tools available in Accessibility Options in Control Panel
perform various functions.

* StickyKeys enables simultaneous keystrokes while pressing one key at a
time.

StickyKeys is designed for people who have difficulty holding down two or
more keys simultaneously. When a shortcut requires a key combination, such
as CTRL+P, StickyKeys will enable you to press a modifier key (CTRL, ALT, or
SHIFT), or the Windows logo key and have it remain active until another key
is pressed.

* FilterKeys adjusts the response of your keyboard.

FilterKeys is a keyboard feature that instructs the keyboard to ignore brief
or repeated keystrokes. Using FilterKeys, you can also slow the rate at
which a key repeats when you hold it down.

* ToggleKeys emits sounds when certain locking keys are pressed.

Accessibility Options...

Start | Run | Type: access.cpl | Click OK

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
Andy said:
Hi Wes. Seems as if you work like me by using starting letters.

Be nice to vary that speed. I ownder if it is related to the
typematic delay. Must check that out some day.

Andy


As far as I know type real quick.

If you can type fast, you can get two or even three letters to
work.

If I plan on trying to use three characters, I pay real close
attention and type like a house on fire.

If in Open/Save As dialogs, Focus needs to be in View pane, not in
the File Name box.

I discovered this by accident. Open Windows Explorer, Click the
Folders button to display the Folders pane; make sure that Focus is
in the left hand pane, press the D key. The first folder that
starts with D will be highlighted. Press P, the first folder that
starts with P will be highlighted, etc.

Click somewhere in the right hand pane to give it Focus, press a
letter key. You can work your way up and down through all the files
or folders of any folder this way. Number keys also work if the
first character of the file or folder name is a number.

[snip]

Also works in Favorites.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User


Andy said:
When I want to find a file in Windows Explorer I can key in its
first letter to take the focus to the first file whose name starts
with that letter.

In a big folder like C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 I might want to key in
the first two letters of the filename.

If I am fast I can key in three letters.

How can I increase the time interval between these linked
keystrokes so they are all seen as part of the same filename
request?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
If you are referring to, in WinExp just typing a letter, I consider this a
jump key. In a long list of file and/or directories I want to get to the
"W's" I would type the letter W. If I want to search for a file or directory
I would go to the Search Button. Here I can type the full name of the file
or directory or just part of the name.
 
Typing two or even three "jump keys" is quicker than scrolling or Searching.

Of course, it's all a matter of what one is used to doing. Doing something
that you do all of the time is always quicker than learning something new.

With Windows there is almost always more than one way of doing almost
anything.

Take Display Properties, for example.

Classic Control Panel
Start Menu | Settings | Control Panel | Display

XP Control Panel
Start Menu | Settings | Control Panel | Appearance and Themes |
Change the computer's theme

Right click Desktop | Properties

Start | Run | Type: desk.cpl | Click OK

Windows key + R | Type: desk.cpl | Enter key

Windows key + R | Type: control desktop | Enter key

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
Andy said:
When I want to find a file in Windows Explorer I can key in its first
letter to take the focus to the first file whose name starts with that
letter.

In a big folder like C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 I might want to key in the
first two letters of the filename.

If I am fast I can key in three letters.

How can I increase the time interval between these linked keystrokes so
they are all seen as part of the same filename request?
Click to expand...



Hold on, what is the problem? It sounds like you are experiencing something that bugs me all the time. What happens? Something
like this?:

You want to get to the mshtmled.dll file,
You open system32,
You type m-s-h-t… to jump to the file,
You expect to be at or near mshtml*.* but instead, Windows jumps to m*.*, then s*.*, then h*.* and so on.

Is this the sort of thing that you're talking about? If so, there's really nothing you can do about it. It's not because you are
typing too slow, but because Windows is populating the file-list too slow. When you open a folder like system32 which has thousands
of files, it takes a while for it to read all the files and display the appropriate icon (especially for things like EXE files which
contain their icon and so have to be read). The best way around this is to just wait until the folder is loaded (the drive light
will stop flashing). Then you can jump to any file as normal.
 
This feature is designed to find the first character you type. It's not
designed to find a complete file name. Alex S. points this out in his
example.
 
Alec S. said:
Is this the sort of thing that you're talking about? If so, there's really nothing you can do about it. It's not because you are
typing too slow, but because Windows is populating the file-list too slow.
Click to expand...


(Actually if you type too slowly, say two or three seconds between key presses, then it will do this as well. There is a threshold
where if you press keys before the interval of time has elapsed, it will be considered as part of the sequence and will continue the
previous action—in this case, the letter will continue to be part of the filename. If the time interval has elapsed without a
keypress, the sequence will be voided, and the next keypress will be the beginning of a new sequence which in this case would cause
Windows to jump to a file STARTING with that letter. Of course like I said, that threshold is on the order of a few seconds, so any
normal typing would not cause it to happen (unless the user is handicapped, in which case there are accessibility functions to allow
for that) but could still happen if Windows is bogged down, loading and reading thousands of files since it takes a while for it to
read your keypresses because it's so busy.)
 
I do not care how it was designed.

If you can type fast, you can get three characters. I use two or three all
of the time. Even in System32, which loads immediately, by the way.

The OP, Andy, can also get three characters quite often.

You can use it however you like.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
Wesley Vogel said:
Even in System32, which loads immediately, by the way.
Click to expand...

Do you have an (active) virus scanner or are you running a high-end system (which most people don't have)?
 
Yes. AVG 7.1.405, free version.

Loaded Modules:
avgabout.dll, avgamsvr.exe, avgcc.exe, avgcckrn.dll, avgcfg.dll,
avgctrl.dll, avgf.dll, avgklib.dll,avglng.dll, avglog.dll, avgrep.dll,
avgres.dll, avgscan.dll, avgse.dll, avgset.dll, avgtest.dll,
avgtmgr.dll, avgtres.dll, avgunarc.dll and avgvault.dll

High-end system? ROTFL It was when I bought it in October of 1998.

Gateway G6-450.

Processor
x86 Family 6 Model 5 Stepping 2 GenuineIntel ~447 Mhz

BIOS Version/Date
Intel Corp. 4W4SB0X0.15A.0019.P14, 09-May-00

Total Physical Memory
384.00 MB

Microsoft Windows XP Professional. Version: 5.1.2600 Service Pack 1 Build
2600

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
Forgot this.

System32 Properties.

Size: 920 MB (965,040,685 bytes)
Size on disk: 931 MB (977,227,776 bytes)
Contains: 6,406 Files, 180 Folders

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
Wesley Vogel said:
Forgot this.

System32 Properties.

Size: 920 MB (965,040,685 bytes)
Size on disk: 931 MB (977,227,776 bytes)
Contains: 6,406 Files, 180 Folders
Click to expand...


Uh, uh, that includes subfolders and their files which aren't loaded when you view it. :p System32 should have around 2,300 files
and a few dozen folders.
 
My System32 folder actually has 1,992 files not including any subfolders.

My System32 folder actually has 35 folders in it not including any of their
subfolders.

And this POS is empty
C:\WINDOWS\system32\SoftwareDistribution

I empty it after every Update Tuesday.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
Wesley Vogel said:
My System32 folder actually has 1,992 files not including any subfolders.
My System32 folder actually has 35 folders in it not including any of their subfolders.
Click to expand...

Are you running SP1? SP2? Gold? I'm running SP1, Office 2003, VS.NET 2003, several other large apps, and ATI drivers. I haven't
checked but I'm guessing that the System32 from a fresh install is significantly smaller—although it SHOULDN'T be, apps should not
be putting stuff in the _SYSTEM_ folders. :|

And this POS is empty
C:\WINDOWS\system32\SoftwareDistribution

I empty it after every Update Tuesday.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I've got just one little thing in there, but my C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution has 30 files taking up 20.8MB (99.99% of that
is DataStore.edb). I delete the files in C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download, but the rest look important.
 
Back
Top