Vista 'Windows cannot open shortcut.lnk

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G

Guest

ok, when i first installed windows RC1 it worked fine, after a few reboots,
when i loggen on, all me desktop and startmenu shortcuts had a blank
icon..and when i click any of them i get: Windows cannot open shortcut.lnk
.... then gives me options to select a program to open them with..so at the
moment the only way for me to open a program is to go locate the .exe via
explorer.. any ideas??
this has happend in 3 installs of Vista

AMD 64 3200+
2GB Ram
Abit AV8 board
Nvidia 7600GT
2x 250 HD 2x250 external HD (1000GB)
Sound Blaster Live 24Bit
Vista RC1/ Windows XP Pro
400W PSU
 
Personally, I would do a clean Vista installation (versus upgrade). The
fact that your file associations are getting corrupted in such an unusual
way, by something (?), needs investigation. Just a theory: did you use some
tweak to remove the arrow shortcut overlay?
In the interim, a possible quick fix would be to copy the following (between
the dashes) into Notepad, and save as link.reg (no .txt extension):

------------------------------------------------------------------

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[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"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.LNK\ShellNew\Config]
"DontRename"=""


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile]
@="Shortcut"
"EditFlags"=dword:00000001
"FriendlyTypeName"="@shell32.dll,-4153"
"IsShortcut"=""
"NeverShowExt"=""

[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_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers\ShimLayer Property
Page]
@="{513D916F-2A8E-4F51-AEAB-0CBC76FB1AF8}"


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.LNK]
"FileOperationPrompt"="prop:System.ItemType;System.FileOwner;System.Author;System.Title;System.Subject;System.Comment;System.DateModified;System.Link.TargetParsingPath"
"FullDetails"="prop:System.PropGroup.Description;System.ItemType"

------------------------------------------------------------------

Double-click on link.reg, and allow the merge. On the other hand, you could
just check each of the above keys and values against your registry entries
to see what's up.

Dean
 
thank you for your reply, no i used no such tweak, i did not install any
programs or edit anything after the vista install...i installed and when it
first booted, all was fine, i reset let it boot up, was ok again, then i
reset for the 3rd time.. and then after it loaded up, all my shortcuts had
gone blank in my startmenu and the desktop, and thats when i would get the
'windows cannot open file shortcut.lnk, select program from list?'
this happend on 2 installs...
im installing vista again now to see if it makes any difference. maybe 3rd
time luck.
 
ok, that did not work, i tried your reg file aswell, no change..
as soon as i boot up, the first thing that comes up is:

Windows cannot open this file:
File: sidebar.exe
to open this file, windows needs ro know what program you want to use to
open it.
what do you want to do?
use the web service to find the correct program
select a program from a list of installed programs

then after i get the same message window for MSASCui.exe

then if i click on any link on desktop or startmenu, i get the same message
box come up...so if i click the windows media player via startmenu or desktop
shortcut, the message box comes up saying :windows cannon open file
wmplayer.exe

please someone help
 
2 more resets after that, and now after the vista bootup screen, it gose
blank quick, then shows arrow (pointer) with blank screen and stays like
that...can still move pointer, but nothing else happens, its like vista gives
up
 
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