Frequent tipster Leonid Nemirovsky sent us instructions on setting up an alternate method to starting AutoCAD. Start by opening Windows Explorer. Highlight any AutoCAD drawing file in a folder.

From the pull down menu, select Tools, then Folder Options, then the File Type Tab. Scroll down the list of file types. Once selected, click the ADVANCED button. A dialog box will open, click the NEW button.

There are two fields to fill out: Action and Application used to perform action. The ACTION field is a descriptor; it will be the name of what is going to happen and the option you will right click in Windows Explorer. In Application Used to perform action field, browse to your acad.exe file. If you want to use a profile to start the file with, add /P "C:my-profile.arg" or whatever your saved profile is. Save and close all dialog boxes.

Now highlight any drawing in proper folder and right click - you will see new option to start AutoCAD.

Notes from Cadalyst Tip Patrol: There are many ways to start AutoCAD. This is yet another method that many might be interested in. It works great if you want to use a specific profile in AutoCAD, or if you have different Autodesk applications that can open the same type of files. For example, you might want to open a DWG file using AutoCAD, Civil3D, Map3D, True View, or some other application. You can use this tip to set up alternate right click options to open a DWG file in. You can also apply this tip to any file type in Windows, not just AutoCAD.