Specifications

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in the first few letters of the browser’s name.
Launchy allows you to extend this same key-
stroke-easy search functionality to just about
any other file or program on your PC, as well.
In order to do this, however, you’ll need to point
Launchy in the right direction. Look to the Op-
tions pane (image A) and click the Catalog tab.
See that button all gussied up with a + symbol?
Click it.
» You’ll be rewarded with the ability to hunt
down additional folders and files from your PC’s
internal or external storage locations to include
in Launchy’s catalog (image B). Once you’re
done, click OK. If you’re fussy about what kinds
of files get thrown into your Launchy search
catalog, you can even specify which extensions
and executables should be included by using
the File Types dialogue located on the right-
hand side of the Catalog options pane
(image C).
» When you’ve located the files or folders
that you want to include in your Launchy cata-
log, click the Rescan Catalog button. Boom:
The folder or file you selected has been added
to Launchy’s index. You can repeat this process
for as many folders or files as you want. Sure
this is a little more work than any of us might
actually want to do, but it’ll pay off huge divi-
dends in the end.
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PUT LAUNCHY TO WORK
Y
ou’ve installed Launchy, skinned it and
tweaked it. Now it’s time for the easiest
part of this tutorial: using it. To access Launchy,
press your keyboard’s Alt key and spacebar at the
same time. Your freshly skinned Launchy inter-
face will pop up on the desktop, just begging for
some text input
(image F). Go ahead and give it
a try. Based on what you’ve entered in Launchy’s
text field, you’ll be presented with a number of
search results (image G).
» Just use your keyboard’s arrow keys to navi-
gate to the program or file you’re looking for, hit
Enter, and Launchy will launch it. Using just the
keyboard, Launchy is pretty much the fastest
way to launch programs—in no time at all, you’ll
be using it like a pro and wondering why anyone
would ever want to do anything as old school as
open up their Start Menu.
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CUSTOMIZE LAUNCHY Since you’re already customizing your PC to
make hunting down applications and files a whole lot easier, you might
as well take a little time to customize your customization. If you look at
Launchy’s Option panes, you’ll notice a tab for Skins and another for Plugins.
We won’t insult your intelligence by explaining what purpose each of these
serves. Select a skin (or, if you feel like being difficult, don’t), for your Launchy
interface (image D). Now, turn your attention to the Plugins tab.
» Launchy comes with six plugins baked right in, and they’re enabled by
default (image E). In our opinion, the best of the bunch is one named Controly,
which makes it possible for Launchy to add Control Panel items to its search
index. If you don’t think that’s huge, just consider how many times a week
you’re forced to jump through fire to access a single Control Panel function.
Yeah, now you’re getting the idea. There’s some other great plugins here as
well, including one that allows Internet searches from right inside of your
Launchy interface, user command-line access, and even a calculator capable
C
G
E
D
F
of doing some pretty complex number crunching. If for
some reason, you feel like this is all too much awesome
for you to handle, the plugins can be turned off with the
click of a checkbox. Oh, and if you’ve got a hankering
for additional plugins, you can find them on the official
Launchy webpage.