There’s the Quick Launch bar, the Start menu, several different application launcher programs you can install, but there’s also the context menu. The context menu seems too often overlooked as a great way to fire up programs faster than you expected. Today, I’m going to show you how to add applications to the context menu by using Your Menu.
The context menu is the menu that pops up whenever you right-click. You have a context menu specific for the blank desktop area, a context menu when you right click shortcuts, a context menu within Firefox, etc. With Your Menu, you’re able to launch applications by right-clicking anywhere on the desktop.
There are a lot of different ways to play with the Windows context menu in Windows 7. The most effective way is to probably just go right through the registry, where you’re able to edit context menus of all sorts, for your blank desktop area or for certain file types. That can be a long process though. If what you’re wanting to do is just place a shortcut to an application or file in your right-click menu on the desktop, then Your Menu has what you need.
Upon proceeding, you’ll reach a very simple screen that allows you to select what type of context menu item you’re trying to create: a single context menu shortcut or a cascading menu with multiple items.
If you select to add a single item, again, the process is very painless. Menu Name would be what the name of the item is that you’re trying to add. It will be displayed as such in the context menu. From there, click the next field and a prompt will open for you to select which file you want to associate with the menu name. It can be any file, not just an executable.
Also, you can click into this field and cancel the opening of the prompt to manually type in a path or additional parameters. This is good if you want to open a program silently, windowed, etc.
Afterwards, click the button to generate the registry file. Two REG files will then be placed on your desktop, for installation and uninstallation. Click the file to install the registry tweak, confirm the prompt, and then right click on any empty space of your desktop.
You’ll notice that the new entry is immediately there in your context menu. If you want to create multiple items within this context menu, you’ll have to do it one-by-one, and they’ll begin to stack beneath each other.
Creating cascading menus is the same exact process, and a preview of that can be seen near the header in the application window.
If any part of this process is confusing to you, just send leave a comment and I’ll be sure to help. This tool is designed, and has only been tested, for Windows 7, so that’s where I’d recommend you keep it.
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