For computers running Windows, using the tips below will help you operate your system at peak performance:
Browsing Your Computer via the Address Toolbar 
You may not have noticed that you can put an Address Bar on your Taskbar by right-clicking on the Taskbar and selecting Toolbars, Address. With an Address Bar on your Taskbar, you can open any Web page at any time merely by typing the URL and hitting Enter. Windows will automatically launch your browser and open the page. You can also browse files on your computer using the Address Bar. For example, type:
C:\
and you'll see a list of all the files and folders on your C: drive. If you like, you can scroll through these files using the scroll bar on the right edge of the Address Bar, and open the file and folder of your choice by clicking on it.
Creating a Shutdown Icon
How do you create a desktop icon that would allow you to shutdown your computer with a single click? .Right-click on your desktop and choose New, Shortcut. In the command line, enter:
rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows
and then click Next. Choose a name for the shortcut in the next box (probably something like Shut Down) and then click Finish. You can now double-click this icon to shut down your computer, without going to the Start menu.
Dragging Items to Taskbar Windows
If you're navigating through folders and you realize that you want to move a file, you can always drag and drop it to an open folder. However, if your desktop is particularly cluttered with open windows, there's a little trick to dragging a file to a desired window. Drag it to the Taskbar window and hold the file in place. After a second, the corresponding window on your desktop moves to the top of the pile, and you can just drop the file in place.
Enabling Quick View for Specific File Types
With many types of files, you're given an option called Quick View when you right-click the item. Quick View allows you to get a quick look at something without having to open the potentially cumbersome application associated with it. If you wish to be given the Quick View option for a specific kind of file, you need to designate it as such in the File Types box. In any folder, go to View, Folder Options and click the File Types tab. Select the kind of file you want to use Quick View for, and click Edit. Check the Enable Quick View For box, and then click OK twice.
Increasing the Font Size for Windows Icons
By default, the font for the text in all of your Windows icons is 8-point MS Sans Serif. If you find this font to be a little too small or hard to read on your computer, increasing it is simple. Right-click on the desktop and choose Properties. Click the Appearance tab and choose Icon from the Item drop-down menu. Under Font at the bottom of the box, try bumping the size up from 8 to 10. Click Apply to preview it, and see if the change helps.
Keyboard Shortcut for Minimizing Windows
Want to minimize an open window without reaching for the mouse? A keyboard shortcut should do the trick. Just press Alt-Spacebar, then N, in just about any program, and the currently selected open window closes.
Moving through folders quickly
Ever open the Windows folder? The number of files in there is absolutely staggering, and can be hard to sort through. If you have an idea what you're looking for in any folder, you can jump to a file just by typing in the name. Type "P" to jump directly to the P's, without having to use the scroll bar. And if you type a sequence of letters, Windows will move to the file that matches, if any.
Putting a Web Page on Your Taskbar
If you have a Web page that you access constantly, such as a ticker with stock information, you can put a link to that page directly on your Taskbar so that it's visible whenever you connect to the Internet. Right-click your Taskbar and select Toolbars, New Toolbar. Type the complete Internet address into the box that appears, and click OK. A tiny version of the Web page appears on your Taskbar.
Searching for Files by Date
If you really need to find a file on your computer, but can't for the life of you remember what you named it, you can always try searching for it by date. As long as you have a rough idea of when you were working on the file, you probably won't have any trouble. To search for files by date, press Windows Key-F to open the Find box. Then click the Date tab. Click the Find All Files button and select Modified, if you want to search for the file based on when you last remember modifying it. Click Between and fill in the date range you want to look for, and then click Find Now.
Sorting Programs by Name
How do you get the items in your Start menu's Programs Folder to appear in alphabetical order? Every time you add a new program, after all, it's added way down at the bottom of the list. It's a good trick to know, and one you can also use to alphabetize your Favorites menu. Just click Start, Programs and then, with your cursor in the Programs area, right-click and select Sort By Name. All your programs and program folders will be arranged alphabetically.
Take out the Trash
Your Windows operating system is a packrat. As you work, it collects a prodigious number of temporary files, and it does so for good reason: The \WINDOWS\TEMP, \WINDOWS\TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES and Recycle Bin files all exist to give you fast access to items you might need again. But there's a point of diminishing returns. And you can end up with hundreds of megabytes of these files, wasting space and decreasing performance as the operating system tries to wade through the rubbish. To keep the trash to a manageable minimum, periodically run Disk Cleanup from Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools.