Program Alias

In mainframes, like VAX/VMS and IBM, program aliases can be created for frequently used programs so that there is no need to type long paths and file names. In Windows, you can do the same thing, too. For instance, you can create an alias, n.exe, for Notepad.

• Open Registry Editor.
  (Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and click OK.)
  
  
• Locate the registry key:
  
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths
  
  
• Create a subkey on the left pane and name it you want. In this case, it's n.exe
  
  
• On the right pane, set the default value to program with full path. In this case, it's C:\system32\notepad.exe.

You can then type "n.exe" in the Run dialog box to run Notepad.

In most cases, typing is faster than finding and clicking. And, bringing up the Run dialog box won't mess up the desktop layout you're working on.