shortcuts missing refers to has been changed or moved? Help

tnigro77

Member
After uninstalling some uncessary programs like games and other stuff like google chrome (i use firefox and IE) off my computer and then restarting, most of the shortcuts orignal picture icons were repalced with general icons. When i try to open one up it says "Item that this shortcut refers to has been changed or moved".
So, I tried going to properties on all of the shortcuts but Icouldn't access the general tab it says "the name specified in the target box is not valid."
When i try to open some one of the shortcuts , like Microsoft Works, directly throguh "all programs" or the actual folder it says " Windows is searching for MSWorks.exe, to locate the file yourself, click Browse." When i locate the file and try to open it, it just continues to say the same thing.
I have also tried a system restore to the date before i unistalled some programs, but when I tried I got an error message that said system restore failed and now when i try to restore it that date no longer exists so i cant system restore anymore...

The thing I am most worried about is that my the Itunes Music Library Folder which held all had all of the files for my music has now turned into one Notepad File. (I was going to backup all of my music on hard drive right after now i cant:cry:)

Thanks for any help!
 

My Computer

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
i download and used the lnk and exe options and then restarted and unfortunatley it didnt fix the problem...

btw thanks for the quick reply Shawn

any other suggestions?
 

My Computer

Welcome
Appears to be a bit of a unique problem. Lets see if you can go back with a System Restore
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/76905-system-restore-how.html
If it does work, back up your stuff. Then remove one or two programs at a time and if you are still good, make a system restore point. Continue the processs. When you find the program that is the cause of the problem, go back with the System Restore and do not remove that program.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
in my system restore for some reason my previoust restore points aren't showing up and I can't restore it to a date before I started removing programs.
 

My Computer

When you DO see the dates, look at the bottom left. Is there a box to tick, show additional dates?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Ok i just opened up System Restore agian, and now it says "No restore points have been created on your system disk" ???? (It just showed a restore point from yesterday about 5 mins ago).
 

My Computer

Sometimes circumstances make a solution to a problem more difficult to diagnose because they mislead. Lets, for the sake of testing, assume that the problem was not caused by the removal of programs. Lets run a full anti virus scan and download and make a full and updated scan with malwarebytes. Your problem, other than the uninstalls, sounds like it can be a malware problem
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Run a full anti virus scan as directed, too. Make sure that the Malwarebytes and anti virus are updated first.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
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