Open web pages from the command line

Here's a tip you might like if you're fond of starting things from the Run... box. You can open a web page in a new Firefox tab by typing firefox name. It works with Internet Explorer too: just type iexplore instead of firefox.

"So what?" I hear you say. "I can just type the address into the address bar or the Run... box without typing 'firefox'. How does this help me?"

Well, it can save a few keystrokes for a start. Instead of typing http://www.tech-pro.net you can type firefox tech-pro.net. It won't save you a lot, but http:// is a bit harder to type than firefox, due to the need to use the shift key.

You can even shorten firefox down to ff (and iexplore down to ie) with a bit of registry hacking. Launch regedit, open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths and create a new key called ff.exe. Open the firefox.exe key, double-click the Default value and copy its contents (the full path to Firefox) to the clipboard. Then double-click the default value of the new ff.exe key and paste into there. Now you can refer to Firefox as ff anywhere you want to.

« Write once, run anywh… | Home | More malware than eve… »