Launch any program from Run command…

9 02 2006

This small hack tells how to launch any program from the Run command (win key + r)

Method 1:
Create a shortcut to the program you want to launch in the the same directory as the program. Then copy this shortcut file into the WINDOWS directory, i.e C:\WINDOWS and rename this file to anything (any shortcut name) you want. Now just type in the name into Run command box and enjoy ;-).

Method 2:
This is a registry hack for doing the same thing. It doesn’t need any shortcut thing. Do this at your own risk..
1. First open the Registry Editor using type regedit in the Run.
2. Then Navigate to
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE –> SOFTWARE –> Microsoft –> Windows –> CurrentVersion –> App Paths
3. Now create a new key in there as
  [shortcut name].exe (dont forget the .exe extension otherwise it won’t work)
4. Modify the Default Value to the [path to the program (e.g C:\Program Files\My Program\Me.exe)] of the program.
5. Alternatively you can add a Path string and also set that up (optional only if you know the values you can see the path name from the properties of the program).
Now just typing the in the Run command should run the program.

9 02 2006: sukhbirsingh (19:35:20) :

Second method is really good.
10 02 2006: arun (10:49:56) :

I got this tweak searching for registry keys of flock..just wanted to rename the shortcuts to launch it..
17 02 2006: Amiya Patanaik (13:29:57) :

Hay really cool idea-It saves a lot of time. Thank you
24 02 2006: Inside Out » Blog Archive » Create Shortcut to any Location in Run (12:14:02) :

[...] If you wanna learn how to launch any application from the Run command..read the article here [...]
28 02 2006: Rahul P (13:52:10) :

2nd one is excellent !
saves lot of time !
thnks a ton !
22 03 2006: Inside Out » Blog Archive » Best of me… (01:33:12) :

[...] Launch Any Program From the startmenu Run command [...]
19 05 2006: josh (22:21:09) :

How do you create registry entries (above) to launch URL’s? Ive tried it all sorts of ways; cant get it to work!
Please help!
22 05 2006: arun (10:25:03) :

@Josh:
create a new internet shortcut in the C:\Windows folder..You can do that by Right Click -> New -> Shortcut then type in an internet address like : http://google.com and then give a name for the file..The file would be like “xxx.url”. Now to launch the shortcut just type in xxx.url in run..It should open your default browser..If you are having Opera as your default browser then this method doesn’t work..It works fine with Flock