Create a desktop shortcut to open your CD-DVD drive

Macs have an eject key on the keyboard to eject discs from their optical drives. Most Windows machines do not.

I describe below how to create a desktop shortcut to do that for Windows computers. The shortcut can be assigned to a keyboard key, pinned to the Windows 7 Taskbar or added to the XP or Vista Quick Launch toolbar.

1. Download the Nirsoft NIRCMD utility.
2. Unzip the file.
3. Three files are included in the zip. Double-click on the nircmd.exe file.
4. A dialog window will appear with a button Copy To Windows Directory; click on it.
5. Then click the OK button.
6. Open up My Computer from the Start button.
7. Find the drive letter of your DVD/CD drive. Make a note of it. You will need it in a moment.
8. Next, right-click on a blank area of your desktop.
9. Select New —> Shortcut from the context menu. The Create Shortcut wizard opens.
   
10. Type in the space labeled Type the location of the item:.

                nircmd.exe cdrom open D:

    Change the letter D to the appropriate letter for your DVD/CD drive, as noted above.

11. Now click the Next button.
12. The shortcut wizard will ask you to name the shortcut. Replace the default text nircmd.exe with something like Open DVD-CD player.
    
13. Then click the Finish button. But we are not yet finished.
    
14. Right-click on the new shortcut icon on your desktop and select Properties from the context menu.
15. Click on the Change Icon… button.
    
16. A warning dialog pops up telling you that there are no icons in the nircmd.exe file. Click the OK button.
17. The Windows default icon repository shell32.dll opens up. Select an icon. I like the one with the optical disk above the drive. Click the “OK” button.Now let’s assign a keyboard shortcut key to open the optical drive.
18. Do this by clicking on the space with the word none next to the Shortcut key: label. Press whichever key or key combination you want. Try not to use existing shortcuts like Ctrl-C (copy) or F1 (help). The F7 key seems to work fine.
19. Now one more time click the OK button.

We are now finished with creating the shortcut.

Test out your new shortcut by double-clicking on the desktop icon you created. If you did it correctly the optical drive transport tray should come out. You have to close the tray by gently pushing it in. Next test your shortcut key. I used F7 which works fine on my Windows 7 computer.

If you are using Windows 7 you can pin the new shortcut to the Windows Taskbar. Right-click on the desktop icon and select Pin to Taskbar from the context menu.

If you are using Vista or XP you can add it to the Quick Launch toolbar. Make certain you have the Quick Launch toolbar visible by right-clicking on the Taskbar and selecting Toolbars. If there is a checkmark next to the Quick Launch item in the menu it is open. If not, click on it to open it.

Now right-click on the new DVD-CD shortcut on the desktop and drag the icon down to the Quick Launch toolbar and let go. Select Create Shortcuts Here from the context menu.

Windows users shouldn’t be envious of Macs because of the eject key. Macs are big-time trouble when a disc gets stuck in their optical drives. There is no little hole where you can stick an unbent paper click to mechanically open the optical drive transport. You may have to take it in for costly repairs to remove the disc and regain use of the optical drive.