Perishable Press

Speed up your workflow by launching your favorite programs in one click using batch (.bat) files:

1. Create a folder and add shortcuts to your favorite programs.
2. Rename the shortcuts so that each consists of a single word.
3. Create a text file and change the name to something.bat.
4. Right-click on the .bat ("batch") file and select "Edit".
5. Emulate the following template according to your specific programs.

rem   comments should begin with rem
rem   note: this file launches all of my favorite apps!
rem   note: replace the names below with your own..

@echo off

   start %SystemRoot%\system32\cmd.exe
   start firefox http://google.com/
   start dreamweaver
   start photoshop
   start winamp
   start notes.txt

@echo on

That’s all there is to it! Of course, there are many other neat things you can do with batch files, but we leave that for you to discover elsewhere. You may want to create additional batch files for various kinds of work. For example, you could create one batch file for web-development apps, another for graphic-design apps, and so on. All shortcuts and batch files may be placed in the same folder. Then simply customize shortcuts to your various batch files and use them to consolidate your quick launch and clean up your desktop!