Author Archives: John West

This blog post explains how to install and use the Rust programming language under Windows and Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Take your first steps with Rust – Learn | Microsoft Docs Microsoft Previews ‘Rust for Windows’ – Slashdot Rust for Windows, and the *windows* crate | Microsoft Docs You can get the Windows RustContinue reading “Rust for Windows (Subsystem for Linux)”

You can invoke Microsoft Outlook with command line switches to perform specific operations such as to compose an email and attach a file. In Windows Subsystem for Linux, you can define a variable to store the location of the outlook executable and aliases or functions to call it. Functions seem to make it easier forContinue reading “Windows Subsystem for Linux: Use Functions to Operate Outlook”

This short blog post explains how you can use SysInternals Live to run its utilities from Windows and Windows Subsystem for Linux shells without explicitly downloading or installing them. In a Windows shell , you can invoke SysInternals Live utilities such as: \\live.sysinternals.com\tools\handle You can use cmd.exe /c to invoke SysInternals Live utilities from aContinue reading “WSL: Run SysInternals Utilities without Installing Them”

This short blog post explains how you can use keyboard shortcuts and the Games Bar of Windows 10 to capture video of your screen in Windows 10 without any additional software. You can press Windows+Alt+R to start or stop Recording video of your screen. While recording, you can press Windows+Alt+M to enable or disable yourContinue reading “Windows 10 Keyboard Shortcuts to Capture Screen Video”

This blog post describes a technique that you can use to open a new window to run a Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) command and close that window automatically afterwards. You can use a similar technique for Windows command lines. If you do not already have a WSL shell window open, you can open aContinue reading “WSL: Execute a Command in a New Window and Close When Complete”

This blog post describes a simple technique that you can use to clean your Bash shell command history every time that you start a Bash shell. I use this with Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). To simplify repeating complex commands between sessions, the Bash shell records the commands that you invoke. Technically, it appears thatContinue reading “Clean Up Bash History at Shell Startup”

I accidentally discovered a new type of keyboard shortcut that you can use in Microsoft Office. I have not noticed any, but apparently, some new keyboards come with an “Office” key. Luckily, the Office key is equivalent to the handy (pun intended) Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Win, which I think we can call mash. I am not sure ifContinue reading “A Whole New Class of “Office” Keyboard Shortcuts”

This blog post explains how you can open Windows files from the command line by specifying only the name of the file. You can open the file by name from a Windows command shell or PowerShell or you can invoke cmd.exe to open the file from a Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) shell. In aContinue reading “Opening Windows Files from Command, Power, and WSL Shells”

This blog post presents suggestions using the Windows clipboard and keyboard shortcuts for working with URLs in the Microsoft Edge browser on Windows, specifically to copy the address of the current page to the clipboard and to load the URL in the clipboard into the browser. Implementation details may differ for other browsers and operatingContinue reading “Clipping URLs in Microsoft Edge”

This blog post provides suggestions for reducing reliance on the taskbar in Microsoft Windows. The Microsoft Windows user interface seems to encourage use of the mouse, but I prefer the keyboard. While there are specific functions for which the mouse is optimal, in addition to causing physical discomfort and even the potential for injury, movingContinue reading “Using Windows without the Taskbar”