I noticed there is a post about shortcut key not working but it is caused by a corrupted user profile.My case is different. It does not work for the shortcut of Wizmo but works fine fora few other applications that I have tried. Could anyone offer some tips for diagnosing this problem?hz

What are you saying, that a desktop shortcut pointed to the application doesn't work? I ask because the term "Key" is more often used to refer to entries in the Registry than in shortcuts.Where is Wizmo installed?Once installed, dragging it to the desktop with the right mouse button, then choosing Create Shortcut Here, should set everything up.Does the application require Administrative privileges to run (I'm guessing yes). If so, you'll need to go into the properties of the shortcut and check the [ ] Run As Administrator option. That will, unless you disable UAC, get you a UAC prompt every time you run it, of course.-Noel

Wizmo is a simple exe file. A shortcut was created on the desktop. It works if it is doubl-clicked. However the shortcut key (Ctr + Alt + O) created for this shortcut does not work (i.e. nothing happens if Ctr + Alt + O are pressed). Similar shortcut keys have been created for a few other shortcuts and all of them work. hz

when you store the shortcut key combination within the properties of the shortcut, does it correctly register and successfully save the shortcut key combination? e.g. if you store the key combo, save the updated shortcut, then view the properties again, the key combo is shown ok?e.g.right-click the short on your start menu, choose Properties, click in the ShortcutKey box, then press Ctrl-Alt-O, click Ok.You will need admin rights to save this.now go back and right-click the shortcut again and confirm the ShortCutKey box has stored your key combo.you can only access the "full" properties dialog from a proper shortcut, not an MRU StartMenu entry.I can do this ok for both inbox MS programs (remote desktop) and also for 3rd party program (Juniper VPN).I am using Win7Pro-32bit. I tried to assign Ctrl-Alt-O or Ctrl-Alt-V, with success on both.

in windows help, search for "shortcut key", the first entry describes how to create shortcut keys, and also mentions a gotcha - if you are currently running a program that has an internal purpose for that short key combo, then your key combo will be seen by the program and not by Windows shell so your preferred program will not be started.

Yes, it stores the combo correctly because I see it when I reopened tab.To make sure that combo shortcut key per se is not a problem, I have tried it (i.e. the exactly same shortcut key) for a few other applications and everyone worked.hz

OK, it works now. Here is what I have just done:I tried another shortcut key Ctrl-Alt-F and it worked. I switched it back to Ctrl-Alt-O and it worked too.I have found out that if the same shortcut key is assigned to another shortcut, the latter one takes precedence. If the shortcut key is deleted for the latter, it still does not work for the prior one. For example, if Ctrl-Alt-O is assigned to Wizmo shortcut, then assigned to Adobe shortcut, the shortcut key Ctrl-Alt-O works only for Adobe. If the shortcut key is deleted for Adobe, it will do nothing even the properties of Wizmo shortcut still shows its shortcut key as Ctrl-Alt-O.After finding out this, I first blamed myself for messing up the shortcut key assignment somehow though I do not remember I assigned Ctrl-Alt-O to other shortcut prior to Wizmo. Out of curiosity, I tried the same procedure on a Windows Vista machine and assigned Ctrl-Alt-O to a Wizmo shortcut first and saw exactly the same problem. Thank you all for your effort to help out!hz

Hallelujah! Now I know exactly what happened and the problem is reproducible. Here is how to reproduce it:Wizmo.exe is stored in a folder (in my case: C:\Program Files\Wizmo) Create a shortcut to Wizmo in that folder. Assign a shortcut key which can be any legitimate one. This shortcut keydoes not work as long as the shortcut is in that folder. Move the shortcut to Desktop without changing any properties. The shortcut keystill does not work. Change the shortcut key to another one which can be any one different. Itworks! Change the shortcut key back to the original one. It works too now.hz

I feel a little stupid... It never dawned on me that you might be referring to an actual KEY when you wrote key. Sorry for being particularly dense. :)Glad you got it worked out.-Noel

Noel, thank you for trying to help. My first message is undoubtedly too brief and has insufficient details. I apologize for it. Have a great weekend! hz