There is not really much to explain about the interface itself. It consists of two elements. The first is being used to browse the local computer system to select a file. The second to select an alias for that file that will be added to the operating system. One nice effect of this procedure is that the program does not need to be running after the alias has been added. Removing an alias on the other hand is not as straightforward as the program does not keep track of the added aliases. This means the only way to remove one is to pick the file again and select the remove button instead of the add button.

The new alias is immediately active and will from then on launch the selected file in the run dialog window. AddTorun (via Addictive Tips) is a portable software application that is a great help for users who do not like to add shortcuts to a system path. That’s another valid option to add files as a run alias as every shortcut in a system path folder can be executed from the run dialog.

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Advanced Run takes the default Run dialog to the next level by providing access to several additional functions and features. It does that in the most convenient way by replacing it with its own interface and keeping the shortcuts. The first difference is the “Run as different user” option which makes it possible to run a selected application as a different user.

That’s an interesting way to load applications with a higher or lower user level or simply as a different user. It features three so called security profiles in addition to run an application with specific privileges which can be defined in the program’s option. By default the security profiles anti-spyware, maximum permitted and maximum prohibited are available with the option to create additional ones.

Another advantage are so called command templates which can be defined to launch an application with parameters. These can be stored in the database of known shortcuts which is editable as well. The list contains many of the known shortcuts like cmd to open the command line or services.msc to open Windows Services Management. It is possible to change or add commands for each shortcut to speed up the start.

Shell Verbs are supported and a list of all available shell verbs can be viewed in the main menu. A shell verb is a command like open or print followed by a path to a file.

The last option that is of importance to companies or users with multiple computers is the import and export function. The settings could be exported after configuring Advanced Run on one computer and imported on additional computers.

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The run command in the start menu is not touched at all but you can hijack the run shortcut Windows R if you like or use the defined Windows Z for opening Executor. It offers the complete features of the natural run implementation of Windows and adds many features to it.

It is possible to launch applications using shortcuts. In the example on the left I’m able to start my burning suite Nero by typing in nero. Executor may scan the startmenu and add all applications listed there as a keyword so that you can access them by typing such keywords.

It is always possible to alter keywords and add new keywords to start programs to it. This can be done by manually editing the keywords list or by dragging and dropping a file or shortcut into the program interface.

It is furthermore possible to open an Internet address or perform defined actions such as searches on Wikipedia. Dozens of defined keywords exist for this already.

Shortcuts to folders can also be created. Simply add the path to the folder and a keyword to Executor. Whenever you type the keyword and hit return the folder will be opened.

Multiple commands are supported. You could for instance do the following which opens Photoshop, the Deviantart homepage and Winamp. Photoshop || www.deviantart.com || Winamp

Several fixed commands are integrated. The commands ?shutdown, ?restart, ?lock for instance open the shutdown dialog, the restart dialog or lock the computer.

This is really the run feature that Windows should have had from the very beginning. There are simply to many features to list them all here. I absolutely recommend this free software.

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