As with real estate, location is everything. If a file used a particular program is moved or deleted, that program may no longer function correctly. This is because the location pointers are no longer valid. In Windows, location pointers are found in the System Registry. Think of the System Registry as a massive cheat list, laying out exactly where everything should be found and what it should be doing.

To make things easier, Windows allows users to create shortcuts. Many installation programs install shortcuts to their main executables. The Start | Programs menu is an excellent example of the use of shortcuts. Shortcuts are not the program or file itself, but rather a .lnk (link) file that provides a pointer to the original program or file.

For example, Notepad.exe is found in the Windows folder. Rather than browser there each time we wanted to use it, we can simply click Start | Programs | Accessories and launch it via the shortcut for Notepad that appears there.

Terms to know

• Icons
• Shortcuts
• System Registry