"Open .Net Command Window Here" context menu for Windows Explorer

[Tom Dacon]

"Open .Net Command Window Here" context menu for Windows Explorer:

The reg file described below adds a new menu item to Windows Explorer's
context menu when you right-click over a folder (or the drive root). The
menu item text is "Open .Net Command Window Here". When you click it, it
opens a command window positioned at that directory and runs the
vsvars32.bat file to set the .Net Framework environment variable settings.
This makes it easy to run the .Net Framework command line utilities without
having to put those settings into autoexec.bat, and without having to
navigate to the target directory with the CHDIR command in a standard
command window.

This has been tested on Windows XP Professional and Windows 2000 Server. I
anticipate no problems running it on Windows 2000 Workstation.

To install this on your system:

1. Paste the lines below into a Notepad window, and save it somewhere under
a file name such as OpenNetCmdWindo w.reg. The file paths apply to VS.Net
2003. If you're still running VS.Net 2002, you'll have to modify them
according to wherever the vsvars32.bat file is located in that environment.
Likewise if you didn't install VS.Net on the C drive, make the appropriate
change. NOTE: the lines beginning with the @ character must appear on a
single line, so if your emailer wordwraps them you'll need to rejoin the
lines (hint: there's a space between .NET and 2003).

2. In Windows Explorer, right-click on the name of the reg file you created,
and choose the menu item "Merge" to insert the registry keys into the system
registry.
-------------------------- Don't include this line in the
file ---------------------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_RO OT\Drive\shell\ cmd.Net]
@="Open .Net Command Window Here"

[HKEY_CLASSES_RO OT\Drive\shell\ cmd.Net\command]
@="cmd.exe /k \"C:\\Progra m Files\\Microsof t Visual Studio .NET
2003\\Common7\\ Tools\\vsvars32 .bat\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_RO OT\Directory\sh ell\cmd.Net]
@="Open .Net Command Window Here"

[HKEY_CLASSES_RO OT\Directory\sh ell\cmd.Net\com mand]
@="cmd.exe /k \"C:\\Progra m Files\\Microsof t Visual Studio .NET
2003\\Common7\\ Tools\\vsvars32 .bat\""
-------------------------- Don't include this line
er ---------------------------------------
Regards,
Tom Dacon
Dacon Software Consulting