You can open files in more than one program - make it easier by customising your Windows Send To menu.

Question : How can I open my file in a different program -
easily?

Answer : Customise your "Send To" menu

Windows "associates" files with programs according to the
file extension and the software installed on the computer.
So "myfile.doc" will be associated with your default word
processor, "any.gif" will be associated with your default
picture viewer or editor.

Great - just one click on the filename, and it loads the
program. What a time saver!

But what if you don't want the file to load in its'
associated program?

For example: my PC has quite a few .html files (web pages)
stored on it. Some I've saved when surfing, some I've
created. Windows associates these with my browser - after
all, where else would you want to view a web page?

Quite often, in my web page editor! Or if I just want to
make a small change to one of my pages, in my text editor.
So, load the program, choose File, then Open, search for my
directory and file, and ... what was I going to do? Can't
quite remember, now!

You don't have to go this route. In Windows 98, if you
right-click on a file, you get a pop-up menu. One of the
choices is "Send To". You can easily add items to this
menu, so that you can load in a file in the program of your
choice rather than the default program.

Here's how:

Open Windows Explorer, and find the Windows directory. In
this directory you'll find the Send To directory. Click on
this to open it.

On the menu bar, choose File, New, and Shortcut. You'll
get a dialog box asking for the path or location of your
program - click the browse button and find it on your hard
drive, then choose OK. Click the "Next" button, and give it
a name. If you want it to be the first item on your Send To
list, you can use an underscore, like this : "_MyProg".

Click "Finish" and you're done. Now, when you want to open
a file in a program other than its' default, just right-
click, choose Send To, and the program you want.

Happy site building!


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Dianne Reuby is co-author of the e-book "First Website
Builder". Dianne created and runs the First Web Builder
site, dedicated to providing ebooks and tips for new
webmasters.
Visit FWB at http://firstwebbuilder.co.uk/
AOL

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