How to start IDLE (Python editor) without using the shortcut on Windows Vista?

There's a file called idle.py in your Python installation directory in Lib\idlelib\idle.py.

If you run that file with Python, then IDLE should start.

c:\Python25\pythonw.exe c:\Python25\Lib\idlelib\idle.py

In Python 3.2.2, I found \Python32\Lib\idlelib\idle.bat which was useful because it would let me open python files supplied as args in IDLE.