i am having trouble selecting linked vertices. i have an imported object, with several connected meshes. however, i can’t select all the vertices that link to each mesh.
…then i removed doubles and noticed the mesh was in bad shape - after that everything was super smooth. my mistake…you can even remove this post if you want.
‘L’ while over a vertex in the group you want to select will select all connected vertices / etc of a mesh.
'Ctrl+NumpadPlus" will expand selection by 1 level of connections (select a vertex, press hotkey, and all connected vertexes are selected)
http://www.blenderguru.com/ has a link on the right to his keyboard shortcuts guide. I’ve found it quite handy.