Number 263 - April 2005

Creating Shortcut Icons A Technical Tip
by Cass Lewart (rlewart@monmouth.com)
During the program installation process you are often asked if you would like a shortcut on your desktop. If you agree, an icon will appear on your desktop after you installed the program. Clicking on that icon will start the appropriate program. Some programs will automatically put an icon on the desktop even without your approval. I personally like program icons, in particular, for frequently used programs. It is easier to click on a desktop icon than to go through the standard Microsoft dance: Start / Programs / Name of the program / Executable module, followed by the Open File dialog.    Desktop icons can lead you not only to, for example, a browser such as Microsoft Explorer or Netscape. they can also lead you to a particular URL. For example, you expect a UPS package and would like to track it, or you are selling an item on Ebay and would like to keep checking on it without having to go through multiple screens. Here is how you can do it:    1. Open your browser and navigate to the page of interest    2. Copy the URL by marking it, then pressing Ctrl-C    3. Minimize or close your browser    4. Right click anywhere on the desktop    5. Choose New Shortcut	6. Follow the Wizard by pasting (Ctrl-V) your URL into the "Command Line" or "Location" dialog box, depending on the OS version your are using. Then give a name to your Shortcut in the "Name" dialog box (e.g., "My Ebay Treasure").    7. Click Finish    You will now see the newly created icon on your desktop. You can move it, place it on the task bar or rename it.    Similarly, if in Step 6, e.g., you enter a .doc or a .pdf file in the Command Line/Location box, clicking on the newly created icon will open that file in the program associated with the extension--Word or Acrobat Reader, respectively.    You can also create a shortcut to run a specific program, not necessarily a URL or a file location. To do it, enter in the Command Line dialog box the name of your program including complete path (C:\My folder\ ...exe).    After creating the new icon you can change the icon picture, if you are not satisfied With the default. Finally when you no longer need your icon. delete it from the desktop with a right click and Delete. This will keep your desktop clean.
Number 263 - April 2005