Copyright: © 2003 PS Soft Lab


About PS Hot Launch VVL

PS Soft Lab development team is happy to introduce PS Hot Launch VVL (PS Hot Launch).

As you can see from the name, PS Hot Launch is meant to quickly run different applications, open documents, go to the right folders and web pages, send mail to a specified address, etc.

The above operations are carried out through the menu that can be called by clicking the program icon in the taskbar system tray, and also by pressing user assigned hot keys (support for the <Win> key significantly extends the number of possible combinations).

The list of applications, documents, folders can be shown as a tree, that is you can divide everything that you want to run into logical groups that make it easier and quicker to find the tasks that you want now. This grouping will allow you to form a very handy structure of the executable commands. Using the structure, you can very quickly find and run something that you want now.

PS Hot Launch is a perfect alternative to the Start menu and the Quick Launch panel (see Fig. 1).

Fig.1


System Requirements

- Windows 95-98 Me NT4 2K XP,

- 486-based PC (Pentium recommended),

- 32 MB RAM (recommended),

- VGA monitor with 1000's or millions of colors display,

- 2 MB hard disk space.


How to Get in Touch

Our details:

URL: www.pssoftlab.com

E-Mail: support@pssoftlab.com

If you have any remarks about the program and also suggestions on its improvement, please send them to the above address.


Introduction

On opening the main window of the program you will see the command root ready to be configured. There is only one element there: "Root". "Why, will I have to spend a lot of my time creating my configuration", you ask. We hope that this tour will help you to carry out the configuration very quickly and efficiently, and after the last step you will get the best configuration at your disposal, which will let you implement any action that you need at the moment.

So, let us start .


Step 1. Creating Command Groups

The first thing that you should do is to think through the structure of the groups, which will form the basis of your menu. The groups that you will create at this stage should provide the maximum comfort during subsequent use, since their main purpose is logical grouping of commands. You do not have to form a full command hierarchy instantly, as you can do that at any time suitable for you.

We will consider creating of groups using quite a general example.

To form our own configuration, we will create the following groups: Games, Internet, Multimedia, Tools, Favorites, Office and Bookmarks. You do not have to replicate the structure. This structure is given as a simple example to help you understand the idea of the process.

So, let us create our first group "Games":

- call the drop-down menu for adding of elements by clicking the arrow in the right part of the button,

- choose the "Add Group" menu item (you can also do the same by pressing the <Ctrl+G> hot key),

- enter the name for the newly created group.

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Fig.1

Repeat the steps for each group. The result can be seen in Fig. 2.

Fig.2

Note the time we spent and you will see that this 'difficult' operation takes reasonable time (we will wisely exclude your thoughts about the groups that you will need).

Now we have all the necessary groups and we will fill them with commands at the next step.


Step 2. Filling Groups with Commands

At this step we will fill the groups that we have just created with commands.

Let us consider the simplest and the quickest Drag&Drop way of creating commands. To facilitate the process, we can make the main window of the program stay always 'on top' by clicking the mode toggle in the toolbar (see Fig. 1).

Fig.1

We will start with the shortcuts that you put on your desktop. First minimize all open windows to get access to the desktop and drag the shortcuts that you need to the window of PS Hot Launch with the mouse. In the same way you can drag the right shortcuts from the Quick Launch panel, from the Start Menu, as well as from any folder opened in Windows Explorer.

You do not have to place the commands directly into groups, you can do it later by simple drag&drop.

We recommend that you not group the commands that you are going to use most often. It will let you find and run them in the menu more quickly.

After placing our commands into groups we can improve the visual perception of the commands using separators.

Separators are added in the following manner:

- call the drop-down menu for adding elements by clicking the arrow in the right part of the button,

- choose the Add Separator menu item (you can also do the same by pressing the hot key <Ctrl+S>.

Now we can consider the results of our work:

Fig.2

Our menu has been formed and is (hopefully) handy to get around. Now we can test it by right-clicking the icon of PS Hot Launch in the system tray.

The menu is a very good thing. But we also wish to run our commands even quicker. To do it, we will assign hot keys to groups and commands at the next step.


Step 3. Assigning Hot Keys

Hot keys are meant to speed up the operations that are executed. They can be assigned to groups and elements that constitute them (files, folders, etc.).

Note. We recommend that you check the "Show Hot keys" option in the Options dialog before assigning hot keys. It will help you to avoid potential conflicts.

To assign a hot key combination to an element, select it in the tree, then go to the "Hot key" input field and press the key combination that you want on the keyboard (i.e. <Ctrl+Alt+W>). If the combination has been successfully assigned, you will see it in the tree on the right to the element name. If it is highlighted green, it means that the assigning is fine. Red means that the combination is already used and you should choose another.

To increase the number of possible combinations and decrease the probability of such conflicts, we added the possibility of using the <Win> key in the combinations. To assign a hot key using the <Win> key to an element, please do the following: select the element in the tree, check the "Win" option against the "Hot key" input field, activate the input field and press the end of the combination on the keyboard (i.e. <Ctrl+A>). You will see <Win+Ctrl+A> (see Fig. 1) in the tree on the right of the element.

Fig.1

We have done all the necessary steps and can move to the final step now.


Conclusion

So, you have finished configuring. We hope that the three steps did not take much of your time. Now let us move to what you endured this for — we will try it in action.

We will start with the menu that can be invoked by clicking the icon of PS Hot Launch in the system tray. Look at the result (in your case it can, of course, be different):

Doesn't it look like the Start menu and the Quick Launch bar all in one? But, these settings belong to you only and no other program can arbitrarily make a mess in the system that you created. Note how easy it is to find your way around the menu thanks to the separators.

Now we will test the work of the hot keys assigned. Previously we assigned the <Win+Alt+R> combination to the "Root" group. You can assign a combination to any group at your discretion. Use this combination and see the result:

that is you can put your mouse aside and work with PS Hot Launch using hot keys only.

After you finish the introductory course we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the "Configuration" and "Options" sections, where you can find more information on tuning PS Hot Launch.


Configuration

To start forming the task hierarchy for launching, you have to activate the configuration window. You can do that by double-clicking with the right or left mouse button (see Options) on the icon of PS Hot Launch in the system tray [image].

Fig. 1

There are two ways to configure the program:

1) Just drag the elements that you want from the Start menu, from the Quick/True Launch bar, from the Desktop, etc. (from anything that supports drag&drop) to the configuration window.

2) Use the internal tools of PS Hot Launch, that is the respective buttons and menu items.

The first way is clear, so we will consider the second more closely.

So, you can add elements of four kinds, namely: groups, separators, links to folders and links to files (executable ones, documents, shortcuts, etc). Use the drop-down-menu button at the left-hand part in the toolbar (see Fig. 2):

Fig. 2

Now in detail:

- to add a link to a file, click the "Add File" button [image], find the file that you need in the pop-up window press the "Open" button,

- to add a link to a folder, click the arrow of the "Add File" button [image], choose the "Add Folder" item from the drop-down menu and find the folder that you need in the window that will appear and press the "OK" button,

- to add a random link, click the arrow of the "Add File" button [image], choose the "Add Silently" item from the drop-down menu. No window will pop up, and you can fill in the "Display Name" and "File Name" fields manually,

- to add a group, click the arrow of the "Add File" button [image], choose the "Add Group" item from the drop-down menu,

- to add a separator, click the arrow of the "Add File" button [image], choose the "Add Separator" item from the drop-down menu,

After you add the right element you can configure it more specifically (see Fig. 3.1 and 3.2), that is

Fig. 3.1

Fig. 3.2

- specify the name of the element in the "Display Name" field,

- assign a hot key to the element. If the assigning has been successful, you will see your key combination on the right of the element highlighted green in the tree, otherwise (conflict) highlighted red,

- edit the path to the file or folder in the "File Name" field or using the "Select File" button [image] or the "Select Folder" button [image].

- define how a group will react to the hot key (Fig. 3.2). If you check "Show Menu", a menu with the list of the elements in the group will be shown, and if you check "Execute", all the elements in the group including subgroups will be launched.

Note: You can also create links to web pages and e-mail addresses. For instance, to make a link to the web page of www.pssoftlab.com, you have to type the following in the "File name" field: "http://www.pssoftlab.com"; and if you want to make a link to the e-mail address of support@pssoftlab.com, type "mailto:support@pssoftlab.com" in the "File name" field.

After you add all the elements that you want, you can arrange them by simply dragging to any position or group.

Note. If you want to move an element in front of a group rather than to the group, hold down the <Shift> key.

Now that all the elements have been added and arranged, you can minimize the Configuration window and get down to the program. Right or left clicking (see Options) on the program icon in the system tray will call the menu. You can use the menu to launch your elements.

You can change other options if you click the "Options" button (see Options).

P.S.

The program has a "semidocumented" way of executing certain commands ("Shutdown", "Reboot", "Run screensaver", controlling Winamp, etc.). To configure it, do the following:

1) create a command group;

2) create a few links to any folders or files within the group;

3) select any of the links in the tree;

3) holding down the <Shift> key, left-click in the "File name" field;

4) choose the right command in the pop-up menu (the text from the menu item will get to the "File name" field)

5) the command has been added, move on to adding another.


Options

You can specify additional settings in the Options window.

Fig. 1

Checking the "Run with Windows" box will enable or disable running PS Hot Launch automatically when Windows starts.

Checking the "PopUp Menu On Mouse Hover" box will make the taskbar tray menu appear when you point your mouse there and hold it for the time specified in the "Interval" field (in ms).

Checking the "Show Hot keys" box will let you see the corresponding hot keys on the right of the element names.

The "Show Tray Menu On Click..." radio buttons let you specify which mouse button should be used to call the taskbar tray menu. The way you call the Configuration window will also change: when "Left mouse button" is checked, you use double right-click, and vice versa, when "Right mouse button" is checked, you double-click the tray icon with the left mouse button.


Other Useful Software

PS Hot Launch VVL is the second but not the last of the useful software family belonging to a new series of utilities that are meant to make your everyday work easier. We are also glad to introduce the progenitor of the series: PS Tray Factory (AKA PS Tray Tuner or PS Tray Tweaker).

PS Tray Factory is a powerful and handy tool meant to flexibly control ALL the other icons in the system tray of the taskbar. PS Tray Factory will help you to manage all the applications that place their icons in the taskbar tray. When you have installed PS Tray Factory, you will forget about the problem of lack of space in the system tray, and will also get an easy, fast and handy tool to handle those applications. In short, ALL Windows users will get this handy and powerful tool at their disposal, whereas only Windows XP users have an idea of it. For the latter, we have made a nice surprise, as the features of PS Tray Factory exceed the standard built-in ones of this OS.

So, if your system tray currently looks like this:

PS Tray Factory will help you to make it look like this

  or even

while keeping tray icons easily accessible.

PS Tray Factory main features:

- hide icons from the system tray,

- sorting icons in the system tray,

- quick access to hidden icons using a special menu,

- password protection of hidden icons,

- minimizing any application to the system tray,

- restoring system tray icons after Explorer.exe crash

and many other features.

You can find out more about PS Tray Factory if you visit its web page at http://www.pssoftlab.com