Creating a Shortcut to a Program


You can create shortcuts and place them on the desktop to provide quick access to programs. You can then double-click a program shortcut to quickly start that program. Creating the shortcut is easy; finding the program file is the most difficult part. To do so, perform the following steps:

1.

Display the program file for which you want to create a shortcut. For help on navigating among your drives and folders, see Chapter 3, "Managing Files." Usually, most programs are stored within folders in the Program Files folder. Try looking there. For instance, to find Office files, look in Program Files and then Office.

note

You can also update Windows and add Windows components. See Chapter 20, "Upgrading Windows."

2.

Right-click the file and then click the Send To command. From the submenu, click the Desktop (Create Shortcut) command (see Figure 14.1).

Figure 14.1. Here, the Excel program file is selected and a shortcut to this program will be added to the desktop.


Windows adds the shortcut to your desktop (see Figure 14.2). Notice that it has a small arrow in the left corner. This indicates that the icon is a shortcut icon. The icon is not the program itself, but a link to the program.

Figure 14.2. The icon is added to your desktop.


After you add the shortcut icon, you can do any of the following:

  • Windows XP uses "Shortcut to" plus the program file name for the shortcut name. For instance, a shortcut icon to Excel is named "Shortcut to Excel." You can change this name to a more descriptive one. To do so, right-click the shortcut, select Rename, type a new name, and press Enter.

    tip

    You can follow these same steps to create a shortcut to a file or folder. Open the drive and folder where the folder or file is stored. Then right-click and select Send To, Desktop (Create Shortcut). When you double-click a file shortcut, that file is opened in the associated program. For instance, if you double-click a shortcut to a Word file, the document is opened and Word is started. If you double-click a folder shortcut, the contents of that folder are displayed.


  • Remember that you can move icons around on the desktop. See Chapter 1, "Getting Started with Windows XP," for more information.

  • You can delete a program shortcut icon: Right-click the icon and select Delete. Confirm the deletion by clicking the Delete Shortcut button. Keep in mind (as the confirmation message tells you) that when you delete the shortcut icon, you are not deleting the program itself, just the pointer to the program. If you want to get rid of the program (remove it from your computer), you must uninstall the program. See "Uninstalling Applications" later in this chapter.

  • Some programs add shortcut icons to your desktop automatically when you install them. You have the same options for working with these icons: You can rename them, move them, delete them, and double-click them.

  • The purpose of the desktop is to provide quick access to your most commonly used programs (files and folders also). If your desktop becomes too cluttered with icons, you defeat the purpose of having fast access. You can clean up your desktop by getting rid of program icons you don't use that often. You can find information on this process in Chapter 18, "Improving Your Computer's Performance."



    Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Windows XP
    Absolute Beginners Guide to Windows XP (2nd Edition)
    ISBN: 078973432X
    EAN: 2147483647
    Year: 2005
    Pages: 176
    Authors: Shelley OHara

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