Adding CMD to right click on desktop

[Guest]

Greetings

There are times, though rare, that Windows starts with a blank Desktop - no
taskbar, no icons, just the back ground. Usually, not even Ctrl-Alt-Del
works; it's like the shell hung on start. But after a har reset, when
everything comes up, I find no errors in the systems or applications logs.
For all apparent purposes, everything has started fine.

I can right click and get the desktops properties to come up e.g Arrange
Icons by >, Refresh, NEW, properties, etc. What I'd like to add is the
ability to launch a command processor (cmd.exe) similar to what many of the
Linux and Unix flavors have as options.

By launching a cmd prompt I could run a program like Process Explorer and
see what is actually going on, do a controlled restart, etc.

Is there a reg hack for that? I could not find one, so TIA for the help.

CapWx

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Hi CapWx,

Unfortunately, adding static context menu items to the Desktop is not possible in Windows 9x/XP.

Does Task Manager open when you press CTRL+ALt+DEL (or CTRL+SHIFT+ESC). If so, you can launch applications from Task Manager [File - New Task]

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Greetings

There are times, though rare, that Windows starts with a blank Desktop - no
taskbar, no icons, just the back ground. Usually, not even Ctrl-Alt-Del
works; it's like the shell hung on start. But after a har reset, when
everything comes up, I find no errors in the systems or applications logs.
For all apparent purposes, everything has started fine.

I can right click and get the desktops properties to come up e.g Arrange
Icons by >, Refresh, NEW, properties, etc. What I'd like to add is the
ability to launch a command processor (cmd.exe) similar to what many of the
Linux and Unix flavors have as options.

By launching a cmd prompt I could run a program like Process Explorer and
see what is actually going on, do a controlled restart, etc.

Is there a reg hack for that? I could not find one, so TIA for the help.

CapWx

 

[Guest]

Ramesh

Thanks for the response. I was afraid of that. Anyway, there are times when
Ctrl-Alt-Del yields no result at all, and I have no choice but to hit the
reset button. I was looking for a way to, in those rare instances, cleanly
exit and restart XP.

Thanks!

CapWx

Hi CapWx,

Unfortunately, adding static context menu items to the Desktop is not possible in Windows 9x/XP.

Does Task Manager open when you press CTRL+ALt+DEL (or CTRL+SHIFT+ESC). If so, you can launch applications from Task Manager [File - New Task]

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Greetings

There are times, though rare, that Windows starts with a blank Desktop - no
taskbar, no icons, just the back ground. Usually, not even Ctrl-Alt-Del
works; it's like the shell hung on start. But after a har reset, when
everything comes up, I find no errors in the systems or applications logs.
For all apparent purposes, everything has started fine.

I can right click and get the desktops properties to come up e.g Arrange
Icons by >, Refresh, NEW, properties, etc. What I'd like to add is the
ability to launch a command processor (cmd.exe) similar to what many of the
Linux and Unix flavors have as options.

By launching a cmd prompt I could run a program like Process Explorer and
see what is actually going on, do a controlled restart, etc.

Is there a reg hack for that? I could not find one, so TIA for the help.

CapWx

 

[Bob I]

It would seem that if the system is not recognizing the keyboard, a
command prompt would be of little use.

Ramesh

Thanks for the response. I was afraid of that. Anyway, there are times when
Ctrl-Alt-Del yields no result at all, and I have no choice but to hit the
reset button. I was looking for a way to, in those rare instances, cleanly
exit and restart XP.

Thanks!

CapWx

:

Hi CapWx,

Unfortunately, adding static context menu items to the Desktop is not possible in Windows 9x/XP.

By launching a cmd prompt I could run a program like Process Explorer

Does Task Manager open when you press CTRL+ALt+DEL (or CTRL+SHIFT+ESC). If so, you can launch applications from Task Manager [File - New Task]

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Greetings

There are times, though rare, that Windows starts with a blank Desktop - no
taskbar, no icons, just the back ground. Usually, not even Ctrl-Alt-Del
works; it's like the shell hung on start. But after a har reset, when
everything comes up, I find no errors in the systems or applications logs.
For all apparent purposes, everything has started fine.

I can right click and get the desktops properties to come up e.g Arrange
Icons by >, Refresh, NEW, properties, etc. What I'd like to add is the
ability to launch a command processor (cmd.exe) similar to what many of the
Linux and Unix flavors have as options.

By launching a cmd prompt I could run a program like Process Explorer and
see what is actually going on, do a controlled restart, etc.

Is there a reg hack for that? I could not find one, so TIA for the help.

CapWx

 

[Guest]

Bob I

That would be the acid test - to see if it's actually a keyboard failure
(USB sub service not starting or something of that nature) or some other
service not loading, such as explorer. Having a command prompt may or may not
make a difference, but it would be nice to know. I could program in a batch
file to run the shutdown command to perform a clean restart.

CapWx

It would seem that if the system is not recognizing the keyboard, a
command prompt would be of little use.

Ramesh

Thanks for the response. I was afraid of that. Anyway, there are times when
Ctrl-Alt-Del yields no result at all, and I have no choice but to hit the
reset button. I was looking for a way to, in those rare instances, cleanly
exit and restart XP.

Thanks!

CapWx

:

Hi CapWx,

Unfortunately, adding static context menu items to the Desktop is not possible in Windows 9x/XP.


By launching a cmd prompt I could run a program like Process Explorer

Does Task Manager open when you press CTRL+ALt+DEL (or CTRL+SHIFT+ESC). If so, you can launch applications from Task Manager [File - New Task]

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Greetings

There are times, though rare, that Windows starts with a blank Desktop - no
taskbar, no icons, just the back ground. Usually, not even Ctrl-Alt-Del
works; it's like the shell hung on start. But after a har reset, when
everything comes up, I find no errors in the systems or applications logs.
For all apparent purposes, everything has started fine.

I can right click and get the desktops properties to come up e.g Arrange
Icons by >, Refresh, NEW, properties, etc. What I'd like to add is the
ability to launch a command processor (cmd.exe) similar to what many of the
Linux and Unix flavors have as options.

By launching a cmd prompt I could run a program like Process Explorer and
see what is actually going on, do a controlled restart, etc.

Is there a reg hack for that? I could not find one, so TIA for the help.

CapWx

 

[Bob I]

You could also set the Power Options to do "Shutdown" when you press
Power Button. That would be the proper way to do what you want to
accomplish.

Bob I

That would be the acid test - to see if it's actually a keyboard failure
(USB sub service not starting or something of that nature) or some other
service not loading, such as explorer. Having a command prompt may or may not
make a difference, but it would be nice to know. I could program in a batch
file to run the shutdown command to perform a clean restart.

CapWx

:

It would seem that if the system is not recognizing the keyboard, a
command prompt would be of little use.

CapWx wrote:

Ramesh

Thanks for the response. I was afraid of that. Anyway, there are times when
Ctrl-Alt-Del yields no result at all, and I have no choice but to hit the
reset button. I was looking for a way to, in those rare instances, cleanly
exit and restart XP.

Thanks!

CapWx

:



Hi CapWx,

Unfortunately, adding static context menu items to the Desktop is not possible in Windows 9x/XP.



By launching a cmd prompt I could run a program like Process Explorer

Does Task Manager open when you press CTRL+ALt+DEL (or CTRL+SHIFT+ESC). If so, you can launch applications from Task Manager [File - New Task]

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Greetings

There are times, though rare, that Windows starts with a blank Desktop - no
taskbar, no icons, just the back ground. Usually, not even Ctrl-Alt-Del
works; it's like the shell hung on start. But after a har reset, when
everything comes up, I find no errors in the systems or applications logs.
For all apparent purposes, everything has started fine.

I can right click and get the desktops properties to come up e.g Arrange
Icons by >, Refresh, NEW, properties, etc. What I'd like to add is the
ability to launch a command processor (cmd.exe) similar to what many of the
Linux and Unix flavors have as options.

By launching a cmd prompt I could run a program like Process Explorer and
see what is actually going on, do a controlled restart, etc.

Is there a reg hack for that? I could not find one, so TIA for the help.

CapWx