To get to the icons on the desktop, you first have to minimize all the windows, and there can be a lot of them open. Clicking on a special icon on each window is inconvenient and long. If a lot of resource-intensive processes are loaded in RAM, everything happens slowly. We must wait until one window is minimized, then the next, etc. But in Windows there are several ways to minimize all windows very quickly. If you use them, the problem with freezing windows will not be scary.
Hotkeys
For any version of Windows, from the oldest to the latest 7 and 8, the keys work the same way. To minimize all windows, there are two whole combinations:
where Win is the function key with the image of the company flag, and M and D are letters in the Latin layout. (Just like other keyboard shortcuts, keyboard shortcuts work regardless of the active layout).
As you can see, the M key is closer to the right edge of the keyboard, and D to the left. Therefore, everyone can use the combination that is more convenient at the moment.
For those who know English, mnemonically this method can be remembered as follows: M = minimize - "reduce", D = down - "down".
Let's talk about a couple of interesting combinations, which, unfortunately, do not work in all systems. Win + Home and Win + PgDown allow you to minimize all windows except the active one. This option is also needed, so check if the reception will work on your computer.
Windows XP
XP shows the special button "Minimize all windows" in the quick launch panel (to the right of the "Start" button on the taskbar). To quickly use the minimize function, do not place many programs in this panel - a maximum of three icons counting the button itself.
If the panel does not appear, turn it on as follows:
- Right-click on top of the Start button.
- Dwell on the item "Properties".
- In the proposed window, select the "Taskbar" tab.
- Activate the item about displaying the quick launch bar.
- To exit, click OK or Apply.
When all the windows are minimized, you can restore them by pressing the button again (this will not work with the hot keys).
Windows 7
Instead of minimizing all the windows, Windows 7 will show the desktop. The difference is small, but so far only the * nix family systems have done so.
The function button is located on the very edge of the taskbar, to the right of the clock. Just as in the previous case, the button can be pressed again in order to bring the location and appearance of the windows to their original appearance.
You can also show the desktop if you right-click to open the context menu of the taskbar and select the desired item in the menu.
In both versions of the OS, you can also create a desktop toolbar. It contains links to all the desktop icons, it can be used instead of minimizing windows.
Do not forget that a quick start exists just in order to not have to switch to the desktop to open a specific program. Some applications during installation themselves offer to "register" in a quick start, others you can insert there using the tools for configuring Windows - tweaker programs.