One of the good things about XP is that you can create a shortcut to virtually any file and place that shortcut in virtually any file that you choose. There are three particular file shortcuts which I find useful to keep on my desktop:

Firstly a Shortcut to Program Files:

I’m mainly a Firefox 3 user. (I use IE at times; as well as K-Meleon occasionally too; but mainly I stick to Firefox.) When I download something with Firefox I have it set to use my Desktop as the folder in which it stores the download. If the download is a program then I don’t want the .exe file to remain there on my desktop; whether or not I install the program – And my solution is to drag and drop it to Shortcut to Program Files so that it is stored in the Program Files folder rather than cluttering my Desktop with another icon unnecessarily. Also, since I use program Files as a store for program executables, I just click the Shortcut to Program Files when I want to pass a freeware program executable on to a friend; by email, Windows Live Messenger, upload to their ftp server or to their USB drive if they’re here in person, whatever.

The Second is a shortcut to Startup:

The “Startup” folder at %systemroot%\Documents and Settings\Username\Start Menu\Programs\Startup – Where %systemroot% is your operating system’s root drive; normally C: , and Username is the name of your user account in Windows XP, e.g. “Sharron” – is a folder into which you can insert shortcuts to .exe files in order that they run at Windows startup. Quite obviously nobody wants every program on their computer to run at startup; in fact it would probably crash your system if you attempted to accomplish exactly that, but I like to set certain programs that I find on the web or have recommended to me to run at startup if I like them + I find them useful + I need to use them a lot: For instance I currently have 5 shortcuts in that folder on this computer: Erunt (Auto-backup), Project Whois, (Which I might soon remove.) Glint, Evernote, and ScreenHunter. – Having this shortcut gives me easy access to add and change programs that I select to run at system start. (For instance; I find ScreenHunter to be an invaluable tool as a blogger – And if it runs at system startup then it’s there ready for me to use at any time after I’ve clicked the “Standby” button on its initial appearance.)

Finally the Third Shortcut is to Send To:

The “Send To” folder at %systemroot%\Documents and Settings\Username\Send To - Where %systemroot% is your operating system’s root drive; normally C: , and Username is the name of your user account in Windows XP, e.g. “Sharron” – is a folder into which you can insert shortcuts to files so as they appear as destinations in the “Send To” dialog box which appears when you right-click a folder’s icon and hover over the words “Send To“. There are already certain shortcuts there; which have been created by the operating system, such as “Mail Recipient” and “My Documents“. I’ve added other shortcuts, such as “My Pictures“, “Program Files“(Again), and other folders that I like to send files to regularly; such as a massive “Pictures” folder that I created on my second hard drive. – Basically create a shortcut to any file and place it in this folder to have it included in the “Send To” dialog box. (For instance; having created a screen-capture or partial-screen-capture with ScreenHunter, I might use it again; so before I delete it I send it to “Pictures” or “My Pictures“.)

These may seem like minor issues not worth making a post like this about; but the idea of owning a computer is to be able to use it as a tool. Little extras such as these shortcuts can greatly increase the versatility of your computer; giving the tool greater ease of use.