1. The Run Dialog Box
The Run dialog box has been around since
Windows 95. Think of it as a graphical representation of the Run
command, which is a single-line command processor.
The Run dialog box is not the same thing as the Command Prompt, although it shares similar functionality.
This dialog box takes all manner of commands, and offers users an incredibly powerful tool.
To open the Run dialog box
• Press 
+R.
• Right-click or tap the lower-left corner of the Desktop, and select Run from the Desktop menu .
The Run dialog box is a single-line command processor.
To run commands in the Run dialog box
Enter a command, and press the OK button or the Enter key to execute the command.
Use the Run dialog box to
• Open control panels by name. Type timedate.cpl to open the Date and Time control panel.
• Open a program by name. Type iexplore.exe to open Internet Explorer, type tskmgr.exe to open the Task Manager, or browse to find the program you want to open.
• Open the Command Prompt. Type cmd.
• Open a folder by entering a path. Type C:/Users/<User Name>/Desktop to view your Desktop.
• Open a network share. Type \\<Computer Name>\<Shared Folder Name>.
• View or change your IP address. Type ipconfig /all.
Tip
The Run command stores a history of previous commands in the Open drop-down menu.
Tip
If you need to have administrator privileges
to perform a command, you will need to open the Command Prompt as an
administrator; Run does not support this function. Right-click the
lower-left corner of the Desktop, and select Command Prompt (Admin) from
the menu.
2. Closing a Program
In the tile-based interface, you don’t need to
close programs when you move to another program unless Windows informs
you that you are running short of memory.
Desktop programs consume more memory, so it’s
more likely that you will want to close a program on the Desktop when
you are finished using it.
To close a tile-based app
Tap and hold, or right-click, any tile-based (or Desktop) app thumbnail, then select the Close command from the context menu.
To close an application on the Desktop
1. Right-click the application icon on the taskbar to view the context menu .
A taskbar application icon’s Close All Windows command
2. Select the Close All Windows command.
or
Click the Close box in the title bar of all application windows.
or
Use the Close command on the Window menu (press Alt+spacebar to see it).
When the last window is closed, the application is released from memory.
To close any app from the keyboard
Make the application your current application, and then press Alt+F4.
Tip
Most legacy programs contain an Exit command
on their File menu; you can use the Exit command to close a program. If
there is any open window with unsaved work, the program will ask if you
wish to save it.
