What Is A Shortcut And How Does It Work?

by: Arvind Singh

A shortcut may be a link that you have created somewhere, usually on the desktop, or may be a combination of keys to launch a program. Shortcuts will all be registered in the registry and clutter it up as and when you keep on adding the shortcuts to the computer. The registry thus needs to be cleaned up regularly with a registry cleaner.

There are two types of shortcuts in windows operating system environment. On shortcut is a link created and placed anywhere. This is mainly placed where one can see it such as on the desktop. Right clicking on the desktop and selecting -New - Shortcut can create a shortcut link on the desktop. Then browsing through the next window to get to the file or program that you want to create a shortcut link on the desktop to.

Once you have selected the object for the shortcut you click finish and a link is created on the desktop. Clicking on this link will open the file. Another way is to navigate or browse to the file or program on the PC and right click and select 'create shortcut'. The system will warn you that the short cut will be placed on the desktop for the particular object. Clicking 'ok' will accomplish the task. Now that you know what a shortcut is and how it works, you should also know the impact it may have on the registry of the system and why the registry has to be cleaned with a registry cleaner from time to time.

Some shortcuts can be created with the help of the windows keyboard. Presetting a set of control Alt (Key) will start up a program without you having to navigate to where the program is stored to get it up and running. However these shortcuts will all be registered in the registry and clutter it up as and when you keep on adding the shortcuts to the computer.

The registry is a central database of all the activity on the system and needs to be cleaned up regularly with a registry cleaner because as the registry grows older and is used more often it slows. When a shortcut key is pressed the shortcut keys refer to the registry for information on where to locate the program or file to launch. The registry in turn goes through its entire database in the section to locate the data being queried. So, if the registry is large with useless shortcuts, it will take a very long time to locate the shortcut that is being sought. This is the reason that the registry must be cleaned with a windows registry cleaner on a regular basis.

There are many free windows registry cleaners on the Internet. So go on and make your choice. It can only be of help to speeding up the system and making the operating system run error free and more efficiently with as few headaches as possible.