How do I create a Windows shortcut?

First, a little history of Windows:
Windows has several types of objects which can be processed.

The most fundamental is executable code (also called a "program"), which generally has a name ending in .exe (although windows like to hide the endings of filetypes that it knowa about, but that's another story). Traditionally, most executable code that was distributed as a part of Windows, itself, was stored in a directory called C:\Windows and most and most programs that were installed separately put their code in C:\Program Files\(Company or Program Name) When you run the installer, it generally assumes that location but gives you the option to change it. e.g. C:\Program Files\Folding@Home. There is no REQUIREMENT that programs be installed there, however. In fact in the early days of DOS and Windows3, it was common to install code directly in C:\ or perhaps C:\(Company or Program Name) and in Vista, the convention is changing again.

A second type of object that can be processed is called a shortcut. It is a very small object which can make it easier to run a program than actually navigating to C:\Program Files\Folding@Home and then clicking on FAH504-Console.exe (or doing something similar in the text window or, perhaps also needing to add command line parameters and then spelling something wrong and having to do it all again).

Back to the original question:

How do I create a shortcut?

 * In windows explorer, navigate to the location of the executable program.
 * Right-click on the program and in the context menu click copy
 * Navigate to the place you want to put the shortcut (the desktop?) and right-click on some spot where no icon already exists.
 * In the context menu, click on paste shortcut

Caution: The first context menu has an option for "create shortcut"  That will create a shortcut in the same directory as the original program, which is probably not what you wanted to do.

Caution: The second context menu has an option for "paste" which will paste a copy of the original program, which is probably not what you wanted to do.

Alternate method:

 * In windows explorer, navigate to the location of the executable program.
 * Right-click on the program and in the context menu click create shortcut
 * Right-click on the newly created shortcut and click cut
 * Navigate to the place you want to put the shortcut and right-click on some spot where no icon already exists.
 * In the context menu, click on paste