Shortcut key 'Ctrl+Alt+' working only erratically

[Mike]

XP Home.

On the properties sheet of shortcuts to Windows applications there is a
field called 'Shortcut key' which allows the addition of a letter plus a
mandatory Ctrl+Alt to open the file by key combination. Thus Ctrl+Alt+N
would open notepad if this combination were put in a shortcut to
notepad.exe. This is a very useful function but it hardly ever seems to
actually work. Am I missing anything? I set up a shortcut to application X,
put Ctrl+Alt+X in the shortcut key field, close and press Ctrl+Alt+X and
nothing happens. The process taunts me by working with a few files but
mostly not. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Mike]

XP Home.

On the properties sheet of shortcuts to Windows applications there is
a field called 'Shortcut key' which allows the addition of a letter
plus a mandatory Ctrl+Alt to open the file by key combination. Thus
Ctrl+Alt+N would open notepad if this combination were put in a
shortcut to notepad.exe. This is a very useful function but it hardly
ever seems to actually work. Am I missing anything? I set up a
shortcut to application X, put Ctrl+Alt+X in the shortcut key field,
close and press Ctrl+Alt+X and nothing happens. The process taunts me
by working with a few files but mostly not. Any help would be
appreciated. Thanks.

Anyone has similar please note Windows help did not mention that the
shortcut needed to be
within the start menu hierarchy or on the desktop. Works for me now - also
someone in another ng mentioned using Shortcuts Map to see which if any are
already assigned. Thanks again.

http://www.zealsoftstudio.com/shortcuts/