5 Ways To Quickly Launch

Programs On Windows

By: Chheng Chiv

Do you still launch programs on Windows

by hunting down a desktop shortcut and

double-clicking it? There are better ways –

Windows has several built-in tricks for

quickly launching applications.

Even if you know all the built-in tricks, you

may want to try out Launchy or another

third-party launcher – some people swear

by them. They offer more features than

the Start menu search built into Windows.

5 Ways To Quickly Launch Programs On

Windows

1. Taskbar Keyboard Shortcuts

2. Start Menu Search

3. Custom Shortcut Key

4. Run Dialog

5. Launchy and Other Third-Party Launchers

• On Windows 7, you can press the Windows key along with a

number to quickly launch the corresponding application on

your taskbar.

• For example, WinKey+1 launches the first application pinned

to your taskbar, while WinKey+2 launches the second one.

• If the program is already open, pressing this shortcut will

switch to it. If the program has multiple windows

open, pressing this shortcut will switch between them – it

behaves just like clicking the taskbar icon.

• You can use the Start menu’s search feature

to launch a program with just a few key

presses. First, press the Windows key on

your keyboard.

• Next, start typing part of a program’s name

– you can start typing immediately after

pressing the Windows key. Typing a

program’s full name, such as Mozilla Firefox

will work, but you can also type part of a

program’s name to launch it even faster.

You can also use this trick to quickly open files on your

computer – just type part of their name.

For example, you can press the Windows key, type fir, and

press Enter to quickly launch Firefox. (This may not work if you

have another application installed with fir in its name.)

If you launch an application frequently, you can assign a custom

keyboard shortcut to it.

First, locate the application in your start menu or on your

desktop, right-click its shortcut, and select Properties.

Click the Shortcut key box and type your

desired keyboard shortcut. Press the

keyboard shortcut you define here to

launch the application from anywhere in

Windows.

You can also use the Run dialog to quickly launch applications. Open it by

pressing WinKey+R.

In the Run dialog, type the name of a program’s .exe file and press Enter to

launch it. For example, type firefox and press Enter to launch Firefox or type

chrome and press Enter to launch Chrome.

Launchy is one of the most popular launcher applications for Windows, and it’s free.

After installing it, press Alt+Space anywhere in Windows and the Launchy window will appear (you can change this shortcut in Launchy’s preferences, if you like.)

Type a search and press Enter to launch an application, open a file, or visit a website. It’s smarter than the Start menu in several ways – for example, typing ffx into Launchy will match Firefox.

It also includes other features, such as a quick calculator and plug-ins for searching your bookmarks.

Launchy also works on Windows XP, where it’s even

more useful – it brings the quick application search

feature found in Windows Vista and Windows 7’s Start

menu to Windows XP users.

If you have any information you can go to link

below:

http://www.howtogeek.com/124109/5-ways-to-

quickly-launch-programs-on-windows/

Slide link:

http://www.slideshare.net/cchheng/l14-chivc