Often, the quickest way to open a built-in Windows XP application or utility is to use the command prompt or Run box, instead of clicking through a series of menus.

To get to the Run box, choose Start>Run. To get to the command prompt, choose Start>Run, type command, and press Enter. For example, to open Notepad, at the Run box or a command prompt, type notepad.exe and press Enter.

You can run dozens of Windows XP utilities and programs this way. Of course, one can’t remember or rather doesn’t need to remember all the shortcuts. It would be enough to remember the shortcuts to utilities that you use frequently.

Here’s a list of shortcuts to some applications and utilities that people use often.

netstat.exe - Active Connections Utility - Lets you view information about your current network settings.

hdwwiz.cpl - Add Hardware Wizard

appwiz.cpl - Add or Remove Programs

ntbackup.exe - Backup

calc.exe - Calculator

charmap.exe - Character Map - Launches the Windows Character Map

chkdsk.exe - Chkdsk utility - This utility checks your hard disk for problems and errors.

chkntfs.exe - Chkntfs - Tells you whether a hard disk uses the NTFS file system.

clipbrd.exe - Clipbook Viewer

cmd.exe (or) command.exe - Command Prompt

timedate.cpl - Date and Time properties

devmgmt.msc - Device Manager

cleanmgr.exe - Disk Cleanup

defrag.exe - Disk Defragmenter

desk.cpl - Display Properties

control.exe fonts - Fonts folder

ftp.exe (or) tftp.exe - FTP - Runs a File transfer protocol utility

helpctr.exe - Help and Support Center

logoff.exe - Logoff

main.cpl keyboard - Keyboard Properties

main.cpl - Mouse Properties

magnify.exe - Microsoft Magnifier

notepad.exe - Notepad

ncpa.cpl - Network connections

osk.exe - On-Screen Keyboard

mspaint.exe - MS Paint

regedit.exe - Registry Editor

shutdown.exe - Shutdown

control.exe speech - Speech properties

rstruie.exe - System Restore

taskmgr.exe - Task Manager

sndvol32.exe - Volume Control

explorer.exe - Windows Explorer

wordpad.exe - Wordpad

freecell.exe - FreeCell game

mshearts.exe - Hearts game

winmine.exe - Minesweeper game

pinball.exe - Pinball game

sol.exe - Solitaire game

Note: For shortcut commands that end with ‘.exe‘ you can actually skip the ‘.exe’ part. For example typing notepad will work just as good as typing notepad.exe. However, for .cpl command you need to enter the full command including the ‘.cpl‘ part.

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