how to know which target program is associated with a shortcut icon?

[JD]

Hi,

Given a shortcut icon, how do I know which program it will invoke if it is
clicked on? I right-click the icon and choose property. In some case, the
target program is shown but in some other cases, the target program is
empty, which puzzles me. Any help is much appreciated.

JD

 

[Don Phillipson]

Given a shortcut icon, how do I know which program it will invoke if it is
clicked on? I right-click the icon and choose property. In some case, the
target program is shown but in some other cases, the target program is
empty, which puzzles me. Any help is much appreciated.

You are doing the right thing. You might as well delete
every blank shortcut (that points nowhere) and create
new ones for apps you want on the Desktop. If this
happens again, suspect malware.

 

[JD]

You are doing the right thing. You might as well delete
every blank shortcut (that points nowhere) and create
new ones for apps you want on the Desktop. If this
happens again, suspect malware.

Sorry my post probably misled you. The Target field is not empty. It has a
long name with spaces in between. I think that's a description to the real
..exe file. However, I just couldn't find the exe file by the long name. My
XP is well protected by the company's firewall. So it's probably in its
normal state.

JD

 

[Sam Hobbs]

There are some very strange shortcuts that work somehow that is not obvious
and that cannot be modified, at least not using traditional solutions. In my
case, it was a Start Menu item so perhaps my comments are totally irrelevant
but my guess is that a desktop icon could be the same way.

The specific shortcut that I cannot mess with is MySQL Control Center. It is
not a security issue however.

I am not asking for help, I just want to make this comment in case it is
relevant and useful.