Some of the shortcuts are shown when you press the <HELP> key, while others are more or less undocumented, which is why I'll try to list and explain them here...
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In the examples below i.e. <Control><X> means:
"press and keep holding down the Control key while pressing "X".
<Alternate> and double-click a folder means "press and keep holding
down the the Alternate key while double-clicking a folder ".
While booting (starting up
This will boot the machine without any ACCessories, AUTO programs, the "NEWDESK.INF", the
"DESKICON.RSC" file or anything else. It will however read the hard disk driver, making the
hard disk available.
(Useful if one of your AUTO programs or ACCessories keeps crashing the machine while you
start up, making it impossible to disable them).
You will most likely not see all your hard drive partitions, so go to the "Options"
menu and select "Install Devices"
as this will mount all available drives/partitions to your desktop.
This will boot the machine without any ACCessories, AUTO programs, the "NEWDESK.INF", the
"DESKICON.RSC" file or anything else.
It will NOT read the hard disk driver file either so you won't be able to access your hard disk.
(Useful in situations where your hard disk is missing its driver software or it's been
messed up somehow. You will need to (manually) run the hard disk driver software from a
floppy disk to be able to access the hard disk, then install the driver on the hard disk itself).
This will boot the AUTO programs, ACCessories etc. from your floppy disk and leave the hard disk alone.
(Useful in situations where your hard disk is missing its driver software or it's been
messed up somehow. If you have a boot floppy disk containing
a working hard disk driver in the AUTO folder, the driver will load from the floppy, then
mount the hard disk making it available from the desktop. From then on you can continue
installing the hard disk driver on the hard disk itself).
Notes about booting from a floppy disk on a hard disk drive system
Depending on the presence of a hard disk driver or not on the floppy disk, several things can
happen (a hard disk driver in the form of "AHDI.PRG", "HDDRIVER.PRG etc. can
be placed in the AUTO folder or elsewhere on the floppy disk -you should not try to install
the hard disk driver on the floppy disk the same way as you would do on a hard disk.
Simply placing the hard disk driver programs on the floppy disk will do)...
If you save the desktop, the "NEWDESK.INF" file
will be saved on to the hard disk and not the floppy disk!
A good rule to keep in mind is that this file will be saved to whichever drive it was read
from when booting (starting up).
If you save the desktop, the "NEWDESK.INF" file
will be saved on to the floppy disk.
A good rule to keep in mind is that this file will be saved to whichever drive it was read
from when booting (starting up).
At this stage you can't access the hard disk, but if you run a hard disk driver from your floppy disk (present anywhere on the floppy disk except the AUTO folder, meaning you have to double-click that program) ...the hard disk will "mount" and be accessible from the desktop as soon as you add its icon/icons by installing devices.
No hard disk drive icons on the desktop?
Whenever you boot from a floppy disk which has a hard disk driver in its AUTO folder, the
hard disk will mount, and the "NEWDESK.INF" file (if present) will be read from the
hard disk. It's then quite likely that your desktop already has icons for all your drives.
But if you've mounted the hard disk by running the hard disk driver manually from the floppy disk (by double clicking i.e. "AHDI.PRG" or "HDDRIVER.PRG"), or there's no "NEWDESK.INF" file present on your hard disk which you could otherwise manually read, you won't have any hard disk drive icons available on your desktop.
An exception to this rule is that a drive "C" icon is automatically added to the desktop
if a "NEWDESK.INF" file is unavailable from the hard disk and the hard disk driver has
been run from the AUTO folder of the floppy disk.
...still, this only accounts for drive C (which is usually the boot drive on a hard disk system).
So what if your hard disk has several partitions (C, D, E, F etc.) or you even have several
physical hard drives (or other storage devices such as ZIP drives, CD-ROM drives etc.)?
This will skip booting from the floppy disk drive and (after a few seconds) present you
with the TOS 2.06 desktop.
(Useful if you have a disk inserted in the drive, but don't want to load its AUTO programs,
ACCessories, "NEWDESK.INF" or "DESKICON.RSC" files.
Booting on a floppy-only system without a disk inserted in the drive takes a lot longer
than with a disk inserted in the drive).
File and window related shortcuts
You can also use the mouse to scroll up/down the window if necessary, without loosing the selected files
as long as you keep holding the <Shift> key.
Single-click once again on a file while still holding <Shift> to de-select only that file.
Mouse replacement shortcuts
Shortcuts for rebooting (restarting) the computer
Shortcuts for printing or viewing files
(check out my printing tips for more detailed information about the subject).
Other shortcuts
If you press <RETURN> (or <ENTER> in most cases) this option will be selected.
The default option is usually also the "safe" choice, which is good to know if
you're in doubt and afraid of messing things up).