CBT Bazar

If you have recently started using Ubuntu and you were using Windows for a long time, this tip will help you to make the transition smoother. You are probably used to pressing the Ctrl + Alt + Delete key combination to access the Task Manager, shut down the computer, etc.

The Gnome System Monitor, or just System Monitor, is similar to Task Manager. It is a process viewer and system monitor with an easy-to-use interface. Use it to view the running processes, hide, stop, and kill processes, and to perform other useful system maintenance tasks.

The System Monitor is accessed by selecting Administration | System Monitor from the System menu.

NOTE: You can also press Alt + F2 to access the Run Application dialog box and enter the command “gnome-system-monitor” (without the quotes).

We will show you three ways to assign the Ctrl + Alt + Delete keyboard shortcut to the System Monitor.

NOTE: Each of these methods performs the same task, so we suggest you read through each method before doing anything, and then choose one method.

First you must make sure that key combination is not assigned to any other command. To do this, select Preferences | Keyboard Shortcuts from the System menu.

On the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box, scroll through the list to see if any other actions have the Ctrl + Alt + Delete shortcut assigned to them. You will probably find that the Log out action does. Decide on a different shortcut for the Log out action, and look through your list of shortcuts on the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box to see if the shortcut you want to use for Log out is being used or not.

Click on the keyboard combination in the Shortcut column for the Log out action. It should now read New shortcut.

Press the keys you want to use as a new shortcut for the Log out action. We discovered that Shift + Ctrl + Delete will work well, as it’s not used as a shortcut for any other action in our list.

You can also use the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box to assign a shortcut to the System Monitor. However, this shortcut will only be valid in the current user account. If you want to use this method, don’t close the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box yet and continue to the next section. Otherwise, click the Close button on the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box and skip ahead to one of the other two methods.

Method 1: Use Keyboard Shortcuts Dialog Box

To add a shortcut for the System Monitor using this method, open the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box as described above, if it is not already open. Click the Add button at the bottom of the dialog box.

The Custom Shortcut dialog box displays. Enter a name, such as System Monitor, in the Name dialog box. Enter the following text in the Command edit box as the command to run when the shortcut keys are pressed.

The new keyboard shortcut is added to the bottom of the list under Custom Shortcuts. Notice that the Shortcut is Disabled. You need to specify the shortcut keys. To assign Ctrl + Alt + Delete as the shortcut, click on Disabled in the Shortcut column.

The Shortcut column for System Monitor will say New shortcut. Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete to assign this shortcut to the System Monitor action.

To close the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box, click the Close button.

Method 2: Use the CompizConfig Settings Manager

If you have the CompizConfig Settings Manager installed, you can use that to assign Ctrl + Alt + Delete to the System Monitor. If not, or you prefer not to use it, skip to the next method.

To open the CompizConfig Settings Manager, select Preferences | CompizConfig Settings Manager from the System menu.

Under the General category, select the check box next to Commands so there is a check mark in the box, and then click on Commands.

Make sure the Commands tab is active and enter the following line in an available Command line edit box. We used Command line 0.

gnome-system-monitor

Click the Key Bindings tab, and click the Disabled button for the Run command that corresponds to the number of the Command line you used on the Commands tab. We clicked the Disabled button for Run command 0.

The Edit Run command dialog box displays for the selected Run command. Select the Enabled check box.

The Edit Run command dialog box expands to display more buttons. Click the Grab key combination button.

A dialog box displays telling you to press the new key combination. Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete.

The Ctrl + Alt + Delete (or Delete) key combination displays below the Grab key combination button. Click OK.

The selected key combination replaces the text on the Disabled button.

Click the Back button in the lower, left corner of the CompizConfig Settings Manager dialog box.

Click Close in the lower, left corner of the CompizConfig Settings Manager dialog box to save your settings and close the dialog box.

Method 3: Use the Configuration Editor

If you don’t use the CompizConfig Settings Manager or you don’t have it installed, you can use the Configuration Editor to assign the Ctrl + Alt + Delete keyboard shortcut to the System Monitor. To do this, press Alt + F2 to open the Run Application dialog box. Enter the following line into the edit box and click Run.

gconf-editor

The Configuration Editor dialog box displays. Navigate to the following key.

apps | metacity | keybinding_commands

Right-click on an unused numbered command name in the right pane and select Edit Key from the popup menu. We selected command_1.

On the Edit Key dialog box, enter the following line in the Value edit box and click OK.

gnome-system-monitor

The command you entered displays in the Value column for the selected numbered command.

Select the global_keybindings key in the tree on the left, under metacity. Right-click on the corresponding numbered run_command key in the list on the right and select Edit Key from the popup menu. In our case, we right-clicked on run_command_1.

The Edit Key dialog box displays with “disabled” in the Value edit box.

To enter the Ctrl + Alt + Delete key combination in the Value edit box, manually type the following line into the edit box.

Delete

NOTE: You cannot enter the key combination into the Value edit box by typing the three keyboard keys. You must type the line above manually.

Click OK.

The key combination displays in the Value column for the selected, numbered run_command.

To close the Configuration Editor, select Quit from the File menu.

You can use these methods to add other keyboard shortcuts to your favorite programs and commands.

If you take a lot of screenshots, you may want to keep the size of the windows the same for all your screenshots. You may also want to resize windows to specific sizes when designing web pages, to see how the pages will look when viewed at a smaller size. We found a free, portable tool, called Sizer, that easily allows you to resize any window to an exact, predefined size. Sizer should run on all 32-bit Windows operating systems, including Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Download Sizer from

http://www.brianapps.net/sizer/.

There are two versions of Sizer available for download. If you want shortcuts created automatically, download the .msi file. If you download the .zip file, you have to create shortcuts to Sizer manually.

To install Sizer, double-click on the .msi file you downloaded.

The Sizer Setup dialog box displays the Welcome screen. Click Next.

The Sizer Installation Options screen displays. If you want to install Sizer to a different location than the default location entered automatically in the edit box, use the Change button to select another location. We accepted the default location.

To automatically create shortcuts for Sizer, select the Create a desktop shortcut for Sizer check box and/or the Create start menu shortcuts for Sizer check box.

NOTE: We recommend selecting to create at least a desktop shortcut or a start menu shortcut so you have an easy method for starting Sizer.

If you want Sizer to be started when you log into Windows, select the Start Sizer every time Windows starts check box.

Click Next to continue.

On the Ready to install Sizer screen, click Install.

If the User Account Control dialog box displays, click Yes to continue.

NOTE: You may not see this dialog box, depending on your User Account Control settings. See our post, Windows 7 – How to configure UAC (User Account Control), for more information.

When the Completed the Sizer Setup Wizard screen displays, click Finish.

Click the Sizer shortcut in the Start menu to start Sizer.

NOTE: If you selected to create a desktop shortcut instead of a Start menu shortcut, use that shortcut to start Sizer.

The Sizer icon is added to the system tray.

To resize a window, right-click on the title bar of the window and select Resize/reposition from the popup menu. Sizer comes configured with three sizes available by default, available on a submenu under Resize/reposition.

You can also resize a window using the resizing arrows on a dialog box. Position the mouse cursor in a corner of the window until you see the two-way arrow display.

Right-click on the two-way arrow to display a popup menu of available sizes. Select a size from the menu.

The Resize/reposition option is also available on a window’s system menu, if that setting is turned on in Sizer. We will discuss this option later in this post.

To change the settings in Sizer, right-click on the Sizer icon in the system tray and select Configure Sizer from the popup menu.

The Sizer Configuration dialog box displays. To add a custom size to the menu, click the Add button.

A copy of the currently selected size displays at the bottom of the list of sizes. Change the Description to reflect the desired size. Enter the Width and Height for the desired size. If you want to change the position of the new size on the menu, use the Move Up and/or Move Down buttons.

If you want to reposition the window when resizing it, select an option from the Move to drop-down list. If you want to move the window to a custom location, select User Defined Position.

NOTE: If you want to reposition the window without resizing it, select the Don’t resize window check box.

The Top and Left edit boxes become available. Enter the position on the screen for the top, left corner of the window.

There are other options at the bottom of the dialog box. To add the Resize/reposition option to the system menu for all windows, select the Add Sizer items to system menu so there is a check mark in the box.

Click OK to close the Sizer Configuration dialog box and save your changes. If you don’t want to save your changes, click Cancel.

The new size is added to the Resize/reposition submenu.

You can also resize a window directly from the Sizer system tray popup menu. However, to use this feature on Windows 7, you need to configure the Sizer icon to always show in the system tray. To do this, click the Customize link on the system tray.

Find the Sizer Executable item in the list of system tray items, and select Show icon and notifications from the drop-down menu.

To save your settings and close the Control Panel, click OK.

Now, to change the size of the currently active window using the system tray Sizer menu, right-click on the Sizer icon on the system tray. The popup menu displays the list of defined sizes. The line above the list of sizes indicates which window Sizer will resize when a size is selected. In the image below, a Windows Explorer window with Libraries selected will be resized.

NOTE: If the active window is not resizable, Sizer won’t show the size options on the menu.

For more help in using Sizer, see their user guide at

http://www.brianapps.net/sizer/userguide.html.

The user guide talks about additional features that we did not discuss here, such as interactive resizing and snapping to a grid when resizing a window using the Ctrl key.