How to Open Any Program by Typing its Name in RUN Dialog Box in Windows?

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UPDATE: We have released 2 exclusive free utilities to do the whole task automatically: Run It and Run Editor.

One of our readers "Balaji" asked us following question:

Hi Vishal,

I want to know how to create a registry entry for application shortcuts?
example:
For opening a notepad we go to start - run and type notepad
For opening paint brush we use start - run and type mspaint

Similarly i want to set keywords for opening specific applications in my desktops.
For that what is the registry keyword i need to create / modify... Pls guide me
looking forward for your reply.
Thanks in advance

Yes. That can be done easily using Windows Registry. You can open any desired 3rd party program by just typing its name in RUN or Start menu Search box and press Enter.

You'll need to set the application path in Windows Registry so that Windows can know about the application at the time of execution.

PS: Before starting the tutorial lets assume that our desired application name is "My Application". Its an EXE file and is stored in "C:\Program Files\My Application\" folder. It'll help you in easily understand the tutorial.

So without wasting any time, lets start our tutorial:

1. Type regedit in RUN or startmenu search box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths

3. Now we'll need to create a new key under "App Paths" key. Right-click on "App Paths" key and select "New -> Key". Set its name to your desired application name along with its extension e.g. My_Application.exe

4. Select the key created in Step 3 and in right-side pane, set value of "Default" to the full path of application's EXE file e.g. C:\Program Files\My Application\My Application.exe

5. Again in right-side pane, create a new String value "Path" and set its value to the folder containing your application EXE file e.g. C:\Program Files\My Application\

6. That's it. Now you can launch your desired application by just typing its name in RUN or Start menu Search box.

NOTE: If you want a ready-made registry script to do the task automatically, then copy paste following code in Notepad and save the file with name "AskVG.REG" (including quotes).

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\My Application]
@="C:\\Program Files\\My Application\\My Application.exe"
"Path"="C:\\Program Files\\My Application\\"

You just need to replace BOLD part of the above script with the correct application name and path. After saving the file, run it and it'll add the program path to Registry so that you can launch it directly from RUN and Start menu Search box.

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This article was posted by VG in following section: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP.

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Thomas

Is there a way to do the same thing but in a CMD window? Like type n app name and it opens? That's be nice.
Thanks.
VG

^^ I have not checked but IMO the above method should also work for CMD.
Thomas

I just checked, not extensively but enough to say that it doesn't work.... For example I type "firefox" into the RUN dialog and it works fine. But if I type "firefox" into a CMD window it just says the usual "'firefox' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batch file."

Any suggestions?
Thanks.
Ryan

Yes, you can do it in command prompt too, but not as far as I know with regedit.
Go to notepad and type:

@echo off
cd %PROGRAMFILES%\Example Program\
start program.exe

Save this 3-line batch as startexampleprogram.bat (make sure you don't save it as startexampleprogram.bat.txt! and that your file name has no spaces) to anywhere you like. Then you can run it, and confirm it starts program.exe (optional). Copy this batch file to %windir%\System32 which is where command prompt lives. Then you can run it as a command in CMD, and as far as I know (I use windows 7 but I think it works in others too, I just haven't tested it yet) it also works in Run. You have essentially just created an external command (type something random in CMD and it says not recognized as internal or EXTERNAL command) like diskpart, which is an exe that also lives in Sys32.

Of course, make sure you change %PROGRAMFILES%\Example Program\ to the directory where your program is, program.exe to the name of the executable or batch, and startexampleprogram.bat to the name of the command you want to use followed by .bat, like firefox.bat. CD is change directory, so it knows which directory to execute in, and START launches the program. In case you're wondering, CD and START are INTERNAL commands. =)

Good luck,
Ryan
Dennis

VG, Great site you got! been using the guides for a while..
I would like to ask if there is a way to integrate the run cmd line to the taskbar or convert the address bar in the taskbar into a run command line?..
Ryan

@Dennis -
As far as I know yes. I'm on Windows 7, and all external CMD commands as well as programs in %HOMEPATH% are present. In other words, you could type in diskpart as you would in CMD and it would start diskpart, which is located in Sys32. You need to right click the taskbar and click Toolbars>Address. I haven't tested this with custom commands made with regedit, but it does work with custom commands done in batch as I described above. (at least on Win7! =P)
Kevin

@Thomas

In CMD it should work by typing:

run myprogram

After you have done what VG says to do, it should run it, because the RUN dialog box is just that 3-letter command in CMD
banshi lal

regedit command is not running in run dialog box

plz solve it and also task manager is disabled
VG

^^ Check following topic:

http://www.askvg.com/frequently-asked-problems-with-solutions/
Karrypto

I have a question, too! Is there a way to synchronize the Windows Media Center picture/video etc. archive with the pictures/video folder? There are entries of pictures and videos, that I deleted long time ago, but no new added ones.