It seems weekly I get constant requests from all kinds of people to provide them free technical support, whether in my face or even calling me at home.
The funniest ones are the ones who I find out don’t have a Windows key on their keyboard. There’s still tons of PCs out there without one, as well as older keyboards handed down to unsuspecting kinfolk.
“I’m sorry, but without a Windows key you won’t be able to go any further, Ma’am”
“Ma’am, can you look under your desk and see if it fell off and is somewhere under your chair?”
“You’ll need to call Microsoft, sir. It’s one thing when Windows breaks, it’s another when the key to open them isn’t even there. There’s nothing that can be done without Microsoft’s consent.”
…or just tell the person to do a (Cntrl)+(ESC) salute, and the Start dialog will immediately pop up.
NOTE: Windows shortcuts (such as Windows+”D” for the desktop) CANNOT use this as a workaround. It’s useful for getting to the Start menu when a mouse is absent. Anything more and you’ll need to buy your own thinking cap.
