Microsoft Windows Registry Guide, Second Edition

Creating Program Aliases

'll bet you didn't know that you can create aliases for your favorite programs' paths and file names. For example, you can create an alias called ed.exe to run TextPad–my favorite text editor from Helios (http://www.textpad.com).

The key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths contains these aliases. For each alias, create a subkey and name it the alias you want to create. Then, set the subkey's default value to the full path and file name of the program you want to launch when you run the alias. Using my previous example, create a subkey called ed.exe and set its default value to C:\Program Files\TextPad 4\TextPad.exe. Then, you can launch the path and file name by simply typing the alias in the Run dialog box and pressing ENTER.