Posted by member 71746 on 2003-12-15 19:28:37 link
Corps, if you want to make it even easier and more scalable you can follow this method:
Create a windows shortcut for the executable you want to launch. Name that shortcut "cs". Move the shortcut to your \WINNT\ or \Windows\ directory.
Now, regardless of what theme you're running, regardless of whether you're even running LITESTEP or whether you're in windows explorer, at any time you can summon a Run... dialog (or an LSXCommand bar if you're in litestep), type 'sc' and hit return and the program will run :)
I do this with pretty much all my commonly-used apps.. That way I can have "sndedit" launch my sound-editor program easilly, and if I change sound editors it's an easy system-wide update - for example, I used to use CoolEdit. Then I found a version of SoundForge that works way better for me, so I turfed CoolEdit and replaced its WINNT shortcut with one pointing to SoundForge.
Using the methods outlined by other people in this thread, you would have to manually go through your config files and change any reference to that program's path to the new program path.
Using my method, all the config files simply point to a file named "sc" so they just launch whatever that shortcut points to, so to change the app you just change what the shortcut points to.
Also, this way you only have to type "sc" instead of "!sc".
If you want to avoid cluttering up your WINNT dir any more than it already is, you can create a sub-directory and call it something like "shortcuts" or "links". I use "link" so I'll use that as the example. Create the folder named "link". Use that directory to store any shortcuts you want for apps. Open your System control panel and on the Advanced tab, click "Environment Variables". In the EnvVars window there should be an entry for "Path=" with a bunch of paths in it. (eg, "Path=C:;C:\WINNT;C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32").. Add ";C:\WinNT\Link" to the list. (the semicolon separates paths).
One other thought... If you just have a couple apps that you want to make very easilly accessible, you can go into your \litestep\profiles\(yourName)\personal\hotkey.rc file and add a hotkey to launch the app.
If you're going to start playing with Hotkeys, a quick tip is to stick to the Windows key. Almost every program out there uses Ctrl-key commands and Alt-key commands so best not to use those (if you assing Ctrl-S to, say, !Shutdown, whenever you try to save a file using Ctrl-S it'll try to shut the machine down instead). Also, the combination Ctrl+Shift is one to stay away from as there a a bunch of programs that use Ctrl+Shift commands.
I've never found any application that uses the Windows key as a modifier key so any Win or Win+Shift assignments should be kosher :)
Create a windows shortcut for the executable you want to launch. Name that shortcut "cs". Move the shortcut to your \WINNT\ or \Windows\ directory.
Now, regardless of what theme you're running, regardless of whether you're even running LITESTEP or whether you're in windows explorer, at any time you can summon a Run... dialog (or an LSXCommand bar if you're in litestep), type 'sc' and hit return and the program will run :)
I do this with pretty much all my commonly-used apps.. That way I can have "sndedit" launch my sound-editor program easilly, and if I change sound editors it's an easy system-wide update - for example, I used to use CoolEdit. Then I found a version of SoundForge that works way better for me, so I turfed CoolEdit and replaced its WINNT shortcut with one pointing to SoundForge.
Using the methods outlined by other people in this thread, you would have to manually go through your config files and change any reference to that program's path to the new program path.
Using my method, all the config files simply point to a file named "sc" so they just launch whatever that shortcut points to, so to change the app you just change what the shortcut points to.
Also, this way you only have to type "sc" instead of "!sc".
If you want to avoid cluttering up your WINNT dir any more than it already is, you can create a sub-directory and call it something like "shortcuts" or "links". I use "link" so I'll use that as the example. Create the folder named "link". Use that directory to store any shortcuts you want for apps. Open your System control panel and on the Advanced tab, click "Environment Variables". In the EnvVars window there should be an entry for "Path=" with a bunch of paths in it. (eg, "Path=C:;C:\WINNT;C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32").. Add ";C:\WinNT\Link" to the list. (the semicolon separates paths).
One other thought... If you just have a couple apps that you want to make very easilly accessible, you can go into your \litestep\profiles\(yourName)\personal\hotkey.rc file and add a hotkey to launch the app.
*Hotkey Win N "C:\program files\Nero\nero.exe"
(this launches nero when I hit Win-N)
... or, if you're using this in conjuction with the windows shortcuts method I outlined...
*Hotkey Win N "cdburner"
("cdburner" is a shortcut in my WINNT dir, pointing to the Nero executable)
(this launches nero when I hit Win-N)
... or, if you're using this in conjuction with the windows shortcuts method I outlined...
*Hotkey Win N "cdburner"
("cdburner" is a shortcut in my WINNT dir, pointing to the Nero executable)
If you're going to start playing with Hotkeys, a quick tip is to stick to the Windows key. Almost every program out there uses Ctrl-key commands and Alt-key commands so best not to use those (if you assing Ctrl-S to, say, !Shutdown, whenever you try to save a file using Ctrl-S it'll try to shut the machine down instead). Also, the combination Ctrl+Shift is one to stay away from as there a a bunch of programs that use Ctrl+Shift commands.
I've never found any application that uses the Windows key as a modifier key so any Win or Win+Shift assignments should be kosher :)