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Cheap Tricks for computer success
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Putting commands in contextWhen you right-click on a folder in Windows, a menu pops up giving you several options, such as Open, Explore and Find. But you can add almost any other command you like to this context menu. To do this you need to edit Windows’ Registry. (If you are unfamiliar with the Registry, be sure to check the instructions and precautions at http://www.WE-Compute.com/registry.html.) In the Registry, make your way to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell. Right click on the shell key and select New and Key from the brief menu that appears. Name the new key whatever you want the new command to be. For example, if we want to be able to launch Microsoft Word from folder context menus, we might enter Word as the key name. Then right-click on the new key (Word in our example) and again select New and Key. This new key should be named Command. Click once on the new Command key and in the pane on the right double-click on (Default). In the Edit String dialogue box, enter the path to the file as the Value Data. In our case, the path would be C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Winword.exe, but you can make a path to any other program, file or shortcut on your system. Click on OK, close up the Registry Editor and press F5 to refresh the Registry. Right-click on any folder on the desktop or in Explorer and your new option will be available. Free *Cheap Trick* of the Week: August 14, 2000 |
| Now, here's some more information related to this tip. You can customize Windows Explorer this same way. And, it already has a rich selection of options you can set up. Just poke around in it, and you can turn up its usefulness factor considerably. Why is Windows Explorer important, and (if you don't know already), how to you call it up? Microsoft tends to hide this, but it should be your standard interface with your computer, unless you don't mind working blind. You can always right mouse click the Start button to invoke it, but you should add Windows Explorer to your Quick Launch bar and several other menus in Windows. Now, you really do want to change things in Windows Explorer. The default settings for Windows Explorer defy logic. Change these so you can actually see what files you are looking at. Enable it to show you the file extensions (unclick the insane "Hide extensions" box that is, stupidly enough, checked by default though actually there is never any reason to ever check this box). Select the option to show details. Now, you will be able to see your file size, file date, and other useful information. If you right click around a bit, you can find quite a bit of functionality in Windows Explorer. If you haven't been using this interface previously, make a point of using it now. If you always open files from within Windows Explorer, you will always be able to see all available files and select the right one. Use Windows Explorer to set up your filing system as if it's a paper filing cabinet. Save all files either on the data drive (dual hard drive machine) or in a folder on a single hard drive machine. Do NOT save files to the default locations. These never make any sense. They are typically within your applications, which is a dumb place to save them. That's how you end up with corrupted data files and it also makes file backups difficult. For single-drive users, an easy solution is to create a folder called 0files as your top-level data folder. The zero means it will show up at the top of your file list, making things easy for you. Below this folder, create you filing structure. Never store anything at the root of this folder. Think of it as the shell of a five-drawer filing cabinet and don't toss stuff in the bottom. Always put files in folders that are in drawers. With a good filing structure in place, you will always be able to find your files by simply clicking right to them. So think this out as you go and follow a good taxonomy. It's a much more effective way to work than how the zombies at Microsoft envision people working.
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