You can create a hotkey in Windows 7 to quickly...

You can create a hotkey in Windows 7 to quickly open a program without an icon shortcut. Credit: Handout

Is your Windows 7 or XP desktop too cluttered with shortcut icons to find the one you need? Or, do you like your desktop pristine to let your wallpaper shine? Either way, you can create a hot key to quickly open a program without an icon shortcut. Here's how.

1. First, click the Windows Start button and find the program. If it's not on the short list that appears, click All Programs. If you still don't see it, type its name in the "Search programs and files" window.

2. When you find the program, right click on it, and from the list that appears, select Properties at the bottom. A window will open. Go to shortcut key. It will say "None."

3. The format for a hot key is pressing the CTRL and ALT keys plus a letter or number. In the shortcut key window, type the letter or number you want to assign to open the program; CTRL+ALT+the letter/number will appear. Press Apply, then OK. Now, any time you press those three keys together, the program will open.

What began as a desperate hunt for Shannan Gilbert in the marshes near Gilgo Beach became, in three astonishing days in December 2010, the unmasking of a possible serial killer. NewsdayTV's Doug Geed has more.  Credit: Newsday/A. J. Singh; File Footage; Photo Credit: SCPD

'We had absolutely no idea what happened to her' What began as a desperate hunt for Shannan Gilbert in the marshes near Gilgo Beach became, in three astonishing days in December 2010, the unmasking of a possible serial killer. NewsdayTV's Doug Geed has more.

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