You can create keyboard shortcuts to open programs. Opening programs this way is often simpler than opening them using your mouse or other pointing device.
Lets create a Keyboard shortcut for IE8. Before you get started, you need to create a simple shortcut for IE8 on desktop or anywhere else. See the image below.
Now follow these simple steps.
Locate the IE8 shortcut and right click on it.
Select Properties.
In the Shortcut Properties dialog box, click the Shortcut tab.
Click in the Shortcut key box, press the key on your keyboard that you want to use in combination with Ctrl+Alt (keyboard shortcuts automatically start with Ctrl+Alt), say Ctrl+Alt+I, and then click OK.
Now if you want to open IE8, just press Ctrl+Alt+I.