Equivalent of Windows Search Deskbar Shortcuts in Windows 7

windows-7 shortcuts windows-search

07
2014-07

w5m

On my previous Windows XP laptop, I made extensive use of the "Windows Search Deskbar" and specifically the shortcuts you could define in an ini file. Essentially, you could associate a path/URL/search string etc with a keyword. You could then type the keyword into the Windows Search Deskbar and it would execute the associated command.

By way of example, here are a few example shortcuts from my ini file...

[db]
chrome==chrome.exe
ping=cmd /k ping http://www.google.com
dict=chrome http://dictionary.cambridge.org/results.asp?searchword=$w&x=0&y=0
map=chrome http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=$w
wb=C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Workbench 5.2 CE\MySQLWorkbench.exe

Example usage (i.e. by typing keyword in Windows Search Deskbar) and effect...

chrome superuser.com -> opened URL in Google Chrome
ping -> pinged the specified URL from the command-line
dict frustration -> launched dictionary site in Chrome showing definition of "frustration"
map SW1A 0AA -> launched Google Maps in Chrome showing location of UK postcode
wb -> launch MySQL Workbench application

These deskbar shortcuts I setup were a swift means of getting around my computer and launching websites efficiently. Is this facility available in Windows 7? If not, is there an equivalent (preferably without installing any third-party software)?

Answers

Wutnaut

I believe AutoHotKey could solve this. You will want a keyboard shortcut to execute an InputBox and have a condition per shortcut you want. It's probably going to be as big of a pain in the butt to set up as simply going where you want each time, but that's your call to make.

Related Question

How to pin "Visual Studio 2010 Documentation" shortcut to Windows 7 taskbar?

windows-7 taskbar shortcuts visual-studio-2010

Chris W. Rea

I just installed Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 at home, on my Windows 7 PC. One of the items installed with VS2010 is "Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Documentation".

I like to have the documentation installed locally and at my fingertips, and so before had always added a shortcut for the help viewer to my Quick Launch toolbar. However, I'm not able to pin the new documentation to the Windows 7 taskbar. It's frustrating.

Note carefully: When I launch "Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Documentation" from the Start menu, it seems to perform two functions:

First, it launches the "Help Library Agent", which is a local HTTP server from which the help content is served... similar to the local ASP.NET web development server. This program gets an icon in the tray notification area, not in the taskbar.
Second, it launches the default web browser against the localhost URL corresponding to the port on which the "Help Library Agent" is running, for example:

http://127.0.0.1:47873/help/1-1444/ms.help?method=f1&query=msdnstart&product=VS&productVersion=100&locale=en-US

Similarly, that doesn't get its own icon in the taskbar, but instead hijacks the browser icon.

... in other words, the "Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Documentation" program doesn't leave behind an active foreground process that displays in the taskbar. So, I can't choose "Pin this program to taskbar" as one might do so with a typical program.

How can I get a shortcut to "Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Documentation" in the Windows 7 taskbar? Has anybody got a workaround for this?

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Equivalent of Windows Search Deskbar Shortcuts in Windows 7