To have a program or document start off maximized, minimized, or hidden, consider the following hotkey subroutine, which assigns the Win+Z hotkey to launch two instances of Notepad, the first maximized and the second minimized:
#z:: Run, Notepad, , max Run, Notepad, , min return
To have a program use a specific folder as its working directory, consider this Win+C hotkey which creates a command prompt window in the specified directory:
#c::Run, %comspec% /k, C:\My Documents
In the above example, comspec is a built-in variable that resolves to C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe on a typical system.
To pass parameters, add them immediately after the name of the program or document as in these examples:
Run, %comspec% /c dir >"Output File.txt", C:\My Documents Run, Notepad.exe "C:\My Documents\Address List.txt" Run, "%A_AhkPath%" "C:\Scripts\Test Script.ahk" param1 "param2 with spaces" param3
In the second and third examples above, parameters with spaces in them are enclosed in quotes, which is generally the safest practice. By contrast, the working directory should not be enclosed in quotes even if it contains spaces, such as in the first example above.
Certain special words known as system verbs are also supported. The first example below opens the Explorer's properties dialog for the indicated file. The second example prints the specified document.
Run, properties "C:\Address List.txt" Run, print "C:\Address List.txt"
Finally, RunWait sets the built-in ErrorLevel variable to the exit code of the program it ran (it also waits for the program to finish and close). For example, the following displays a non-zero ErrorLevel because cmd.exe is indicating that a problem occurred:
RunWait, %comspec% /c dir c:\NonExistent.txt, , hide MsgBox, %ErrorLevel%
For more about launching programs and documents, see Run/RunWait.