This is the third post in the series presenting the new Control Runner. The previous posts are:

1. A sneak peek of the new version of Control Runner
2. New import features of Control Runner

On this post, I’ll concentrate on the new options added to what is the heart of Control Runner: the program buttons.

I have to say that all these new options have been asked for by users and that I want to thank them for giving me the ideas that make Control Runner a better product.

Better organization of the dialog

The program button dialog is now bigger, and gets two additional tabs:

(Click on the images above to get a better view)

Coloring buttons

Do you want a particular program button to be easily spotted. Now it will be easy using the ‘Color’ option.

Setting a custom color couldn’t be easier:

And the result is, of course, a nice colored button that stands out of the crowd:

 

Use your keyboard

Some people like to use a keyboard combination to open their most used programs. This has been possible since Windows 95, although the mechanism provided by Microsoft is less than convenient, involving creating a shortcut and assigning a hotkey to execute the shortcut.

Now, it will be possible to assign, in a similar way, a hotkey to launch any program, document, folder or link on your system (or the Internet).

Do you use a dual monitor system?

If you don’t, you should at least try.

Some programs remember the last position and state they had last time they were running and they revert to the same position and state they had, including the monitor in which they were shown. Some don’t.

As usual, Control Runner comes to the rescue. If you want to show a particular program in your secondary monitor, but the program seems unable to remember your preference, simply check the ‘Use Secondary monitor’ option.

Note: As with other similar features, the Secondary monitor option does not work with documents or links, i.e. items that are managed by other programs.

Programs working as a group

Do you have some programs you want to execute always as a group?

Up until now, you would place several program buttons and would click on them in turn to launch them together. Or, you could create a batch file and add that batch file to Control Runner.

But, who wants to remember how to create batch files these days?

The solution is to use the new ‘Multiple’ option on Control Runner. Simply enter many target in the multiple target list and have Control Runner launch them in the correct order, optionally pausing between them.

Run as Administrator?

Windows Vista surprised us with the UAC, that is giving us great times of joy.

Jokes apart, Windows finally has the concept of requiring elevated rights to execute certain programs that could potentially harm your system, and that is a nice and welcomed addition to the OS.

If you need a program to be launched with Administrative rights, check the ‘Run as Administrator’ option and have Vista take care of the nasty details.

Note: This feature is still not completely implemented and might be not present in the early releases of Control Runner 4.

Note: Of course, the ‘Run as Administrator’ option is only available on Windows Vista systems and only works with executable files (not documents, links, folders or virtual items).

Want to use a folder as the target of your buttons?

Some users are not aware that Control Runner happily accepts folders as targets for a program button. Unfortunately it was not possible to use the ‘browse’ button to select the folder. Therefore, you would have to either type in the folder name (ugly!), or drag and drop the folder from Explorer (better).

The new version adds a little button to browse for a folder as the target of a program button.

What’s next?

Next post will show the all-new Tools dialog. Stay tuned!