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Window Manager
Brian Livingston
Make your own Power Toy for Windows and associate files with two or more programs

MY READERS ARE always interested in the latest and greatest tricks to make Windows work better. Subtle changes in Windows 2000 -- some of which will also show up in Windows ME -- have inspired the following tips.

I've written several times over the years about Power Toys, a free set of 15 utilities that Microsoft provides for downloading on its Web site. Although the utilities are very useful, the Redmond, Wash.-based company has never officially supported the Power Toys set. A version for Windows 95 is available at www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/contents/ wutoys/w95pwrtoysset/default.asp. Microsoft says only six of the 15 utilities "may" work under Windows NT 4.0 and gives no encouragement at all under Windows 2000. This inspired reader Phil Earnshaw to create his own utility to replace one of the handiest Power Toys.

Known as Folder Command Prompt, this utility quickly opens a command-line console to do something difficult or impossible in Windows -- for example, to rename all of a folder's .txt files to .bak files. If so, the command REN *.TXT *.BAK is faster than Windows' one-file-at-a-time Rename function.

The old Power Toys let you right-click on a folder in Windows Explorer, then click Command Prompt on the context menu that appeared. This opened a command-line console focused on the folder you selected. It's a simple matter to add this feature to Windows. There's a different procedure to do this under Windows 2000 and under Windows NT/9x.

Take these steps for Windows 2000:

Step 1. Open the My Computer icon on your Win2000 Desktop.

Step 2. Pull down the Tools menu, click Folder Options, then select the File Types tab.

Step 3. Scroll down the list of extensions to the "N/A" section, then select N/A Folder. (An extension is usually "Not Applicable" to a folder, hence the abbreviation.) Click the Advanced button.

Step 4. In the Edit File Types dialog box that appears, click the New button.

Step 5. In the Action box, type the words Command Prompt.

Step 6. In the Application Used To Perform Action box, type the command cmd.exe.

Step 7. Close the dialog box and click OK until you're back at the Desktop.

Take these steps for Windows NT or 9x:

Step 1. Open the My Computer icon on your Windows NT or 9x Desktop.

Step 2. Pull down the View menu, then click Folder Options, then select the File Types tab.

Step 3. Scroll down the list of file types, then select Folder. Click the Edit button, then click New.

Step 4. In the Action box, type the words Command Prompt.

Step 5. In the Application Used To Perform Action box, type cmd.exe for Windows 2000, or command.com for Windows 9x.

Step 6. Close the dialog box and click OK until you're back at the Desktop.

Once you've taken the above steps, you should be able to right-click a folder in Windows Explorer or My Computer, then click Command Prompt to open a console on your selected folder. After your commands have run, type Exit to close the console window.

Another reader, Dennis Woo, likes how Win2000 made it easier to associate documents with more than one program. For example, you may want to open HTML files in your browser. Other times, you may want to open them in Notepad or an HTML editor.

In Win2000, right-clicking a file brings up a context menu that includes the choice "Open With." If you select an alternate program to open a file with, Win2000 includes that program (along with the default) every time you use the Open With menu in the future. This saves you from having to reselect your alternate program every time. (Caution: Don't check the "Always use this program to open this file" box or you'll sever the original association with the default program.)

Reader Joe Stern points out that something like this is available under Windows 95/98, Windows NT. Hold down the Shift key when you right-click a file, and "Open With" appears on the context menu. Windows 9x and NT don't "remember" the alternate program. More information is at support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q141/2/75.asp.


Brian Livingston 's latest book is Windows 2000 Secrets (IDG Books). Send tips to brian_livingston@infoworld.com. He regrets he cannot answer individual questions.



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