Run a CMD comand from a key stroke?

To expand on @ckhan's answer, You can write an AutoHotkey script that uses hotkeys and the Run command. For example,

^x::
    Run, C:\MyScript.bat
    return

will launch C:\MyScript.bat when you press Ctrl+X.

If you don't want to use third party software, Windows offers a similar solution with shortcut (.lnk) files. You can create a shortcut to your script or executable and then define a shortcut key in the Properties dialog for the shortcut. The limitation of this approach is that not all key combinations are accepted. For example, Ctrl+X is replaced with Ctrl+Alt+X.

Note:

For either method, if you want to use commands without first creating a batch file, I recommend using the /c (run and close) or /k (run and keep open) flags of cmd.exe. For example, you could replace C:\MyScript.bat above with

cmd.exe /c "abc"

to run the command abc.

• More: Windows XP - CMD documentation

You want http://www.autohotkey.com

It has the ability to map arbitrary keystrokes to files or programs. Lots of examples, including ones very similar to what you're trying to do, in their quick start tutorial: http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/Tutorial.htm

Unfortunately this seems to depend on the OS. In Linux Debian 12, in the main menu under 'Keyboard Shortcuts' there is the predefined key combination for 'Run a terminal' as Ctrl+Alt+T.