Adaptigo Blog

Make your own Run box shortcuts for hyper-productivity

I have always thought that the start menu in Windows was very inefficient. About two years ago I figured out a way to use something simple and different as a more efficient substitute. For example if I want to run Windows Notepad.exe I just press the WindowsKey (the one with the flag) and R - this opens the Windows Run dialog box. Then in the Run Box I type the letter n and press enter. This opens Notepad. For all the programs that I run most often, I have a created one of these shortcuts.

Here is the script I use to create my Run Box shortcuts. Just copy the text and put it in a file called c:\create-shortcuts.vbs. Then run it one time. After that you can type ED in your Run Box to edit the script (and save it). Then type CS (this stands for create shortcuts) to get rid of the old shortcuts and create new ones using the information in the script you edited (using ED).

You'll see that this is much faster than trying to locate shortcut icons on your desktop or start menu.

 (Note: There are some problems with this on Windows Vista.  I will create a new version soon that will show how to make it work on Vista too.)

Copy the text out of the text box below and create this file as: C:\create-shortcuts.vbs and run it to give it a try.

' This will setup your computer so that you can use Run Box shortcut commands.
' Just edit the code below to add the shortcuts you want.
' To use the shortcuts just press the window's key and the R key to display the Run Box.
' After that just type in your Run Box shortcut and press enter.
' For example: pressing Win+R, C<enter> is a lot faster that tracking down the calculator
' shortcut link in the start menu.
'
' Thanks,
' Jason Stracner
' Adaptigo.com
DIM sRunboxShortcut(9999)
DIM sTarget(9999)
DIM sArguments(9999)
DIM sStartIn(9999)
DIM sComment(9999)
intItem = 0
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "A"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\MSACCESS.EXE"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\"
sComment(intItem) = "Access"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "C"
sTarget(intItem) = "calc.exe"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = ""
sComment(intItem) = "Calculator"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "CP"
sTarget(intItem) = "control"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = ""
sComment(intItem) = "Control Panel"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "CS"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\create-shortcuts.vbs"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = ""
sComment(intItem) = "Create shortcuts"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "ED"
sTarget(intItem) = "notepad"
sArguments(intItem) = "C:\create-shortcuts.vbs"
sStartIn(intItem) = ""
sComment(intItem) = "edit this script"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "f"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\FRONTPG.EXE"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10"
sComment(intItem) = "Frontpage"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "ff"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox"
sComment(intItem) = "Mozilla Firefox Web Browser"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "i"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = "%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%"
sComment(intItem) = "Internet Explorer"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "ib"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE"
sArguments(intItem) = "about:blank"
sStartIn(intItem) = "%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%"
sComment(intItem) = "Internet Explorer - Blank Page"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "ir"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\IrfanView\i_view32.exe"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = "%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%"
sComment(intItem) = "IrfanView"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "l"
sTarget(intItem) = "%windir%\System32\rundll32.exe"
sArguments(intItem) = "user32.dll,LockWorkStation"
sStartIn(intItem) = "%windir%"
sComment(intItem) = "Lock the computer"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "m"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player"
sComment(intItem) = "Windows Media Player"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "n"
sTarget(intItem) = "%windir%\system32\notepad.exe"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = "%windir%"
sComment(intItem) = "Notepad"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "o"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\OUTLOOK.EXE"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10"
sComment(intItem) = "Outlook"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "p"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\PalmOne\Palm.exe"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = ""
sComment(intItem) = "Palm Desktop"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "r"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Rememorizer\rememorizer.exe"
sArguments(intItem) = "/w 1020 /h 1175 Rememorizer Rememorizer fCou"
sStartIn(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Rememorizer"
sComment(intItem) = "Rememorizer"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "rp"
sTarget(intItem) = "Appwiz.cpl"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = ""
sComment(intItem) = "Add/Remove Programs"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "s"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Clip2Speech\Clip2Speech.exe"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Clip2Speech"
sComment(intItem) = "Clip2Speech"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "t"
sTarget(intItem) = "%windir%\system32\taskmgr.exe"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = "%windir%"
sComment(intItem) = "Windows Task Manager"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "ts"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\Data4Backup\vbscript\datetimestamp.vbs"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = "C:\Data4Backup\vbscript"
sComment(intItem) = "Time Stamp"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "tw"
sTarget(intItem) = "E:\__Staff\Stracner\wiki\Jason'sDDriveWiki.htm"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = "E:\__Staff\Stracner\wiki\"
sComment(intItem) = "My TiddlyWiki wiki"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "v"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE"
sComment(intItem) = "VB.Net"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "v6"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VB98\VB6.EXE"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VB98"
sComment(intItem) = "VB6"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "w"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\WINWORD.EXE"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10"
sComment(intItem) = "Word"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "wm"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\WinMerge\WinMergeU.exe"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\WinMerge\"
sComment(intItem) = "WinMerge"
intItem = intItem + 1
sRunboxShortcut(intItem) = "x"
sTarget(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\EXCEL.EXE"
sArguments(intItem) = ""
sStartIn(intItem) = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\"
sComment(intItem) = "Excel"
'----
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
strCommand = ""
strCommand = strCommand & "cmd /c "
strCommand = strCommand & "DEL " & WshShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%WINDIR%\") & "*.lnk" 
' Send command to system:
WshShell.Run strCommand,7,true ' 7=minimized true=wait for return
For intCount = 0 To UBound(sTarget)
 if sRunboxShortcut(intCount) = "" then exit for
 set oShellLink = WshShell.CreateShortcut(WshShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%WINDIR%\") & sRunboxShortcut(intCount) & ".lnk")
 oShellLink.TargetPath = sTarget(intCount)
 oShellLink.Arguments = sArguments(intCount)
 oShellLink.WindowStyle = 1
 oShellLink.Description = sComment(intCount)
 oShellLink.WorkingDirectory = WshShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings(sStartIn(intCount))
 oShellLink.Save
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