Shortcut tips for Windows XP

Shortcuts are one of the most useful features in Windows XP that sometimes users don't notice.A shortcut is a file that acts as a link to a program, document, website, or other object.Clicking on the shortcut will open the original file, or the file or program it points to.You can create, move, copy, delete, rename and personalize a shortcut without affecting the original file it points to.

You can also replace shortcuts on the desktop, in the Start menu, or in any Windows folder. Shortcuts often provide convenience, flexibility when starting programs or opening files. Here are 9 useful tips to help you create and personalize shortcuts in Windows.

1. Create a shortcut on the desktop

One of the commonly used locations to create short in Windows is the Desktop background. To create a shortcut on the Desktop, right-click on the original file, select the Send To command, then select Desktop (Create Shortcut). Then a new shortcut to this file will appear on the Desktop.

You can also easily create Desktop-based shortcuts for any program in the Programs section. To create a shortcut for Microsoft Word, go to Start -> All Programs -> Microsoft Office -> right-click Microsoft Office Word and select Send To and select Desktop (Create Shortcut) .

2. Create a shortcut to a file

Creating shortcuts for programs in the Programs menu will make it easy to find and access these programs. So how to create a shortcut for a program not listed in the Programs menu. To do that, you'll need to provide the original file for the shortcut to point to. Move to the location where you want to place a new shortcut and right-click on an empty area, then select New -> Shortcut . You need to determine the location of the file to place the shortcut from the Browse command (these files are usually boot files, or ".exe" tails). Click Next -> Finish to complete the process.

For example, you want to create a Desktop shortcut for the Windows Registry Editor file (Regedit.exe). Right-click on the Desktop background and select New -> Shortcut . In the Command Line field, type or lead to the file that downloads the Registry Editor: C: WINDOWSRegedit.exe . Click Next and name the short and click Finish to finish.

3. Find the original file for the shortcut

You want to create a shortcut for a program, such as Registry Editor, but don't know where to find the original file. In this case, try using the Windows Search utility to see how. From Start -> Search -> For Files Or Folders , type " regedit.exe " and click the Search button. Windows will find the Regedit file in the Windows folder. Select the Regedit.exe file in the Windows folder. Hold down the ALT key and drag this file to the location where you want to create the shortcut, such as on the Desktop.

This method only works when you know the name of the speed file. But what if you don't know the original file location? In this case, you can still use the Windows Search tool to find the file by entering the search keyword (such as the first character of the file name, or the exact name of the file). For example, if you don't know the boot file of the Registry Editor is Regedit.exe, but only know it starts with the word "reg", you can still find this file by opening Windows Search, type "reg *. *" or "reg * .exe" in the search box. You will probably get some suggestions for Windows to get the results you want.

4. Put shortcuts to other locations

There are several shortcut locations that you will have to manually do, such as in the Start menu and in the Quick Launch Toolbar. To put a short into the Start menu, select the original file, then drag the file to the Start button. This file's shortcut icon will appear at the top of the menu.

The Quick Launch bar will appear on the right hand side of the Start button. If you don't see them, right-click any free space in the Taskbar and select " Toolbars Option " and then choose Quick Launch . There are a few shortcuts located in the Start menu, if you want to add additional shortcuts, just drag the original file into the Quick Launch bar until the mouse pointer shows a straight line. Then release the mouse to create a new shortcut.

5. Create shortcuts for document files and folders

The shortcut function is not only used to open programs, it can open both Documents, Folders and even hard drives. To create a short for a document or folder, click them, then hold down the ALT key and drag them to the location you want to create the shortcut. Release the mouse and ALT key to create a new shortcut. To create a shortcut to your hard drive, open My Computer, then hold down the ALT key and drag the icon of the drive you want to create a shortcut into the desired location.

6. Create a shortcut for the website

To create a shortcut for a website, open the browser and open the website. Click and drag the icon in front of the address bar to the desired shortcut location.

7. Create a shortcut in the "Send to" section

One of the most useful shortcuts is to create a shortcut in the "Send To" section. To do this, open the "Send to" folder by typing " sendto " in Run. In the Send to folder, you can add the necessary folders, simply by placing their shortcuts here. Often you will add shortcuts that point to a program often used to open various files, such as Windows Media Player. When you want to open an audio file, simply right-click on the file, then use the "Send to Windows Media Player" command to open the file.

8. Create shortcuts for a shortcut

You usually open a shortcut by double clicking on it. You can also expand the shortcut using the shortcut key combination. To do this, right-click any shortcut and select the Prope rties tab, then click the Shortcut tab. This tab displays the specified information, including the field for the shortcut (by default, Windows will use CTRL-ALT key at the top of this key combination). You just need to enter the character or number to specify for the shortcut key and click OK to finish.

For example, you can use CTRL-ALT-E (type "E") specified for Microsoft Excel, or CTRL-ALT-W specified for Microsoft Word. Whenever you press these keystrokes, Windows will automatically activate the desired program.

9. Personalize the shortcut appearance

To change the look of the shortcut to be boring, use the Tweak UI tool, bundled with the Microsoft Power Toys software package (Microsoft does not support this software although it rarely makes mistakes). Download the Power Toys package at: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx. With this package, you can create interesting looks for shortcuts.