Assign Window + hotkeys to quick launch items in win XP with HotKeyBind

Today I have come up with a tweak that I wanted to implement in windows xp from a long time, and today after reading a post on how to geek I got idea to implement it, Thanks how to geek 

What I wanted to do?

I want to set the keyboard shortcuts for quick launch items in Windows XP same like as it is there in Windows Vista where all the quick launch items can be launched with the hot keys Win + 1 ,Win +2 and so on according to the order they appear.

You can easily implement this tweak on Windows XP too with an application called HotKeyBind.

What is HotKeyBind?

HotKeyBind is a program that lets you use different hotkeys (shortcut key combinations) to do common tasks: opening a web page, launching applications, opening files and opening your quick launch items with hot keys which you can set.

Let’s see how can you do this.

Follow the procedure given below

1. First Download and install HotKeyBind.

2. You will see a gray colored icon in the task bar if it is running ( as shown below)      

 

3. Double click on this icon a new window will appear ( shown below)

   

 

 

 

 

 

4. Click on the Add button,  and select the option which says  Launch a File >> Executes a Program and Click Ok (shown below)

 

5. Browse to the target quick launch items folder , path for it would be

<replace with operating system drive letter>:\Documents and Settings\<replace with your windows username>\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch

For Example:

C:\Documents and Settings\zapper\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch

Note: Make sure the that Show hidden files and folder is set to shown in folder options before browsing to this path.

Other wise copy the path above and paste it in the address bar and drag the quick launch items on the target box.

6. After selecting the shortcut for the program like Gtalk in quick launch items click Ok ( as shown below)

 

 

 

 

 

7. A New window will open up with title as Edit Keys , click the checkbox WIN and press any number key. ( as shown below)

 

 

 

As Google talk is the first item in my quick launch after Start button so I have set the shortcut for it as Win +1

8. That’s it Done

Similarly you can set the keyboard shortcut for your other quick launch items.

If you want to explore more about this cool application read this article Keyboard Ninja Beginner: Using Hotkeys the Easy Way in Windows by how to geek

Download HotKeyBind