How to reset shortcuts (.lnk file) in win7?

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Somehow I went to open a shortcut and windows couldn't find the target but instead of pointing the shortcut to the exe it pointed the lnk file handler to the exe, so now all my lnk files are trying to be opened by the borderlands game. WTF? I'm guessing I can do it by resetting the .lnk entry in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, but I don't know what to set it to. windows-7 registry shortcuts link|edit|flag edited Apr 6 '10 at 13:46 quack quixote 17.8k31242 asked Jan 7 '10 at 22:39 Joel Barsotti 13113

5 Answers

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up vote1down vote	Thank god for system restore points. I don't know a direct fix, but I'm back up and running. If you can't fix it with a scapel, try a sledgehammer. link|edit|flag answered Jan 7 '10 at 23:01 Joel Barsotti 13113
	2 If you can't fix it with a sledgehammer, you're not hitting it hard enough! – Phoshi Jan 7 '10 at 23:03

up vote0down vote

According to what I have found on several places (like here or there), you can fix this with a registry operation. Create a new text file Paste the following inside Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.lnk] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.lnk] @="lnkfile" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.lnk\ShellEx] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.lnk\ShellEx{000214EE-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}] @="{00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.lnk\ShellEx{000214F9-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}] @="{00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.lnk\ShellEx{00021500-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}] @="{00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.lnk\ShellEx{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}] @="{00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.lnk\ShellNew] "Command"="rundll32.exe appwiz.cpl,NewLinkHere %1" Save the file as "Something.reg" Double-click the file I can't guarantee that it will fix your problem (since I don't have it myself), but having tested this on my current computer, I can tell you at least that this is harmless (and reading the keys which are modified, it seems to indeed restore the behavior for .lnk extensions).

0down vote	Doug Knox has fixes for this and other similar problems available for download, look for: LNK (Shortcut) File Association Fix (Restores Default Shortcut Behavior) link|edit|flag answered Jan 25 '10 at 20:13 Molly7244

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Save the following into a .reg file, then import into the registry. Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 ;LNK file association fix for Windows Vista. ;Updated on April 24, 2007 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk] @="lnkfile" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellEx] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellEx\{000214EE-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}] @="{00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellEx\{000214F9-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}] @="{00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellEx\{00021500-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}] @="{00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}] @="{00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellNew] "Handler"="{ceefea1b-3e29-4ef1-b34c-fec79c4f70af}" "IconPath"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,\ 74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,\ 00,68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,00,\ 31,00,36,00,37,00,36,00,39,00,00,00 "ItemName"="@shell32.dll,-30397" "MenuText"="@shell32.dll,-30318" "NullFile"="" "Command"=- [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellNew\Config] "DontRename"="" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile] @="Shortcut" "EditFlags"=dword:00000001 "FriendlyTypeName"="@shell32.dll,-4153" "NeverShowExt"="" "IsShortcut"="" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\CLSID] @="{00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shellex] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\OpenContainingFolderMenu] @="{37ea3a21-7493-4208-a011-7f9ea79ce9f5}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\{00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}] @="" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shellex\DropHandler] @="{00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shellex\IconHandler] @="{00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.lnk\UserChoice] link|edit|flag edited Apr 30 at 3:44 Gareth 3,3432622 answered Apr 29 at 22:38 Mukesh9871 1

up vote0down vote

The extension .lnk is associated with the Lnkfile which is more commonly known as a Shortcut. To repair the misassociation, open a Command Prompt and type: assoc.lnk=lnkfile Press Enter and you should be good to go.