atw: Tips: Opening files in other programs

Sometimes you might want to open a file in a program other than the one
associated with the file. For example, in a particular instance, you might
want to open a text file in Word or Excel so that you can use features that
Notepad lacks, such as: spell-checking; wildcards in Find and Replace;
sorting lists; or generating a series of numbers. 

Here are a couple of easy ways to open a file in an alternative program:

* Add the program(s) to the Send To menu, as discussed below. You can then
right-click on any file and choose Send To > [program] to open the file. (To
add a program to the Send To menu, you can right-click on the Start button,
choose Explore to open the Start Menu folder in Windows Explorer, open the
SendTo folder -- which you should find just above the Start Menu folder --
and then create a shortcut to the program you want to use.)

* Drag the file you want to open and drop it onto the program you want to
use. You need to drop the file outside of any open document window so that
the program opens it rather than inserting it into the document. For
example, you can drop the file onto the program's menu bar or toolbar. To
tell whether you're over a suitable place to drop the file, look for a plus
sign on the mouse pointer. (If the program window is covered by other
windows, drag the file onto the program's button on the Windows taskbar
without dropping it, and hover there for a moment to tell Windows to bring
the program to the front, then drop the file onto the program as discussed
above.)

I hope there's something useful in the above for many people.

Cheers,
Craig 

**************************************************
To post a message to austechwriter, send the message to 
austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To subscribe to austechwriter, send a message to 
austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "subscribe" in the Subject field.

To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 
"unsubscribe" in the Subject field.

To search the austechwriter archives, go to 
www.freelists.org/archives/austechwriter

To contact the list administrator, send a message to 
austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
**************************************************

Other related posts: