Windows Vista Forums

Start menu shortcuts won't work

  1. #1


    Betty Guest

    Start menu shortcuts won't work

    Hi there I hope someone here can help me. I have already dont 2 total
    reinstalls for this smae problem but it keeps happening. My Menu>programs
    aorks fine but whenever |I try to click to open one of those programs e.g
    word, psp or even defrag , none of them do anything. the only thing that
    happens is i end up back on the bare desktop with nothing to show for the
    clicking. If i choose to go the route of C/: and look for the programm
    itself then everything i look for will open but i have tried getting rid of
    the shortcuts and doing a send to desktop on the actual programs and still
    they won't work on the start menu. What in god's name have I dont to my
    computer that it hates me this much. My last total reinstall was only 3 weeks
    ago. Please someone HELP!!!!! before i go out of my mind
    Betty



      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  2. #2


    Rick Rogers Guest

    Re: Start menu shortcuts won't work

    Hi Betty,

    How long after reinstalling did this problem restart? What software was
    installed prior to it happening? Something is affecting the .lnk file
    associations, and while it probably can be fixed (without reinstalling), you
    need to prevent recurrence by identifying the source of the problem.

    --
    Best of Luck,

    Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
    http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
    Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
    My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

    "Betty" <Betty@xxxxxx> wrote in message
    news:19CB9ECF-0A28-448D-9409-2D1198B46FE5@xxxxxx

    > Hi there I hope someone here can help me. I have already dont 2 total
    > reinstalls for this smae problem but it keeps happening. My Menu>programs
    > aorks fine but whenever |I try to click to open one of those programs e.g
    > word, psp or even defrag , none of them do anything. the only thing that
    > happens is i end up back on the bare desktop with nothing to show for the
    > clicking. If i choose to go the route of C/: and look for the programm
    > itself then everything i look for will open but i have tried getting rid
    > of
    > the shortcuts and doing a send to desktop on the actual programs and still
    > they won't work on the start menu. What in god's name have I dont to my
    > computer that it hates me this much. My last total reinstall was only 3
    > weeks
    > ago. Please someone HELP!!!!! before i go out of my mind
    > Betty

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  3. #3


    louie Guest

    Re: Start menu shortcuts won't work



    "Rick Rogers" wrote:

    > Hi Betty,
    >
    > How long after reinstalling did this problem restart? What software was
    > installed prior to it happening? Something is affecting the .lnk file
    > associations, and while it probably can be fixed (without reinstalling), you
    > need to prevent recurrence by identifying the source of the problem.
    >
    > --
    > Best of Luck,
    >
    > Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
    > http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
    > Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
    > My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
    >
    > "Betty" <Betty@xxxxxx> wrote in message
    > news:19CB9ECF-0A28-448D-9409-2D1198B46FE5@xxxxxx

    > > Hi there I hope someone here can help me. I have already dont 2 total
    > > reinstalls for this smae problem but it keeps happening. My Menu>programs
    > > aorks fine but whenever |I try to click to open one of those programs e.g
    > > word, psp or even defrag , none of them do anything. the only thing that
    > > happens is i end up back on the bare desktop with nothing to show for the
    > > clicking. If i choose to go the route of C/: and look for the programm
    > > itself then everything i look for will open but i have tried getting rid
    > > of
    > > the shortcuts and doing a send to desktop on the actual programs and still
    > > they won't work on the start menu. What in god's name have I dont to my
    > > computer that it hates me this much. My last total reinstall was only 3
    > > weeks
    > > ago. Please someone HELP!!!!! before i go out of my mind
    > > Betty
    >
    >

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  4. #4
    Brink's Avatar

    Administrator


    Join Date : Apr 2007
    Texas, USA
    Posts : 30,588
    64-bit Vista Ultimate SP2, Windows 7 Ultimate SP1, Windows 8 Enterprise
    Local Time: 03:50 PM
    usa us texas

     

    Re: Start menu shortcuts won't work

    Quote Originally Posted by Betty View Post
    Hi there I hope someone here can help me. I have already dont 2 total
    reinstalls for this smae problem but it keeps happening. My Menu>programs
    aorks fine but whenever |I try to click to open one of those programs e.g
    word, psp or even defrag , none of them do anything. the only thing that
    happens is i end up back on the bare desktop with nothing to show for the
    clicking. If i choose to go the route of C/: and look for the programm
    itself then everything i look for will open but i have tried getting rid of
    the shortcuts and doing a send to desktop on the actual programs and still
    they won't work on the start menu. What in god's name have I dont to my
    computer that it hates me this much. My last total reinstall was only 3 weeks
    ago. Please someone HELP!!!!! before i go out of my mind
    Betty
    Hi Betty,

    In addition to Rick Rogers statement, you might try going to this link for a possible solution. Click on the "lnk" in the box to download the "inkfix_vista.zip" file. Follow the rest of the Usage instructions at the site. This will fix the lnk (shortcut) association.

    File association fixes for Windows Vista

    Shawn

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  5. #5


    Betty Guest

    Re: Start menu shortcuts won't work

    thank you Brink for that link it seems to have done the job nicely.
    and to Rick Rogers I have no idea what keeps causing this unless it has to
    do with paintshop pro X, X1 and X2 being on the same machine and sharing the
    same folders for the plugins ect. The last program i put on was Photoshop CS3
    and that was over a week before. I willl certainly keep my eyes ope to see if
    I can find out what causes it but i thank you all for your help and I have
    bookmarked the link that Brink gave me in case i need it again.
    Betty

    "brink" wrote:

    >
    > Betty;506253 Wrote:

    > > Hi there I hope someone here can help me. I have already dont 2 total
    > > reinstalls for this smae problem but it keeps happening. My
    > > Menu>programs
    > > aorks fine but whenever |I try to click to open one of those programs
    > > e.g
    > > word, psp or even defrag , none of them do anything. the only thing
    > > that
    > > happens is i end up back on the bare desktop with nothing to show for
    > > the
    > > clicking. If i choose to go the route of C/: and look for the programm
    > > itself then everything i look for will open but i have tried getting
    > > rid of
    > > the shortcuts and doing a send to desktop on the actual programs and
    > > still
    > > they won't work on the start menu. What in god's name have I dont to my
    > > computer that it hates me this much. My last total reinstall was only 3
    > > weeks
    > > ago. Please someone HELP!!!!! before i go out of my mind
    > > Betty
    >
    > Hi Betty,
    >
    > In addition to Rick Rogers statement, you might try going to this link
    > for a possible solution. Click on the "lnk" in the box to download the
    > "inkfix_vista.zip" file. Follow the rest of the Usage instructions at
    > the site. This will fix the lnk (shortcut) association.
    >
    > 'File association fixes for Windows Vista'
    > (http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/105/1/)
    >
    > Shawn
    >
    >
    > --
    > brink
    >
    > *There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask them.*
    > WWW.VISTAX64.COM (\"HTTP://WWW.VISTAX64.COM\")
    > *Please post feedback to help others.*
    >

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  6. #6
    Brink's Avatar

    Administrator


    Join Date : Apr 2007
    Texas, USA
    Posts : 30,588
    64-bit Vista Ultimate SP2, Windows 7 Ultimate SP1, Windows 8 Enterprise
    Local Time: 03:50 PM
    usa us texas

     

    Re: Start menu shortcuts won't work

    Quote Originally Posted by Betty View Post
    thank you Brink for that link it seems to have done the job nicely.
    and to Rick Rogers I have no idea what keeps causing this unless it has to
    do with paintshop pro X, X1 and X2 being on the same machine and sharing the
    same folders for the plugins ect. The last program i put on was Photoshop CS3
    and that was over a week before. I willl certainly keep my eyes ope to see if
    I can find out what causes it but i thank you all for your help and I have
    bookmarked the link that Brink gave me in case i need it again.
    Betty
    ------------------------------
    "brink" wrote:
    Hi Betty,
    >
    > In addition to Rick Rogers statement, you might try going to this link
    > for a possible solution. Click on the "lnk" in the box to download the
    > "inkfix_vista.zip" file. Follow the rest of the Usage instructions at
    > the site. This will fix the lnk (shortcut) association.
    >
    > 'File association fixes for Windows Vista'
    > (
    http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/105/1/)
    >
    > Shawn
    Your welcome Betty.

    Glad to hear it fixed your problem. This is sometimes caused when using a program made for XP instead of Vista when changing the shortcut arrow overlay. Hope that may help in finding the cause.

    Shawn

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  7. #7


    Betty Guest

    Re: Start menu shortcuts won't work

    Thank you shawn that tells me exactly what caused the problem as i did in
    fact get rid of the shortcut arrow just before it happened.

    Betty

    "brink" wrote:

    >
    > Betty;508538 Wrote:

    > > thank you Brink for that link it seems to have done the job nicely.
    > > and to Rick Rogers I have no idea what keeps causing this unless it has
    > > to
    > > do with paintshop pro X, X1 and X2 being on the same machine and
    > > sharing the
    > > same folders for the plugins ect. The last program i put on was
    > > Photoshop CS3
    > > and that was over a week before. I willl certainly keep my eyes ope to
    > > see if
    > > I can find out what causes it but i thank you all for your help and I
    > > have
    > > bookmarked the link that Brink gave me in case i need it again.
    > > Betty
    > > ------------------------------
    > > "brink" wrote:
    > > Hi Betty,

    > > >
    > > > In addition to Rick Rogers statement, you might try going to this
    > > link

    > > > for a possible solution. Click on the "lnk" in the box to download
    > > the

    > > > "inkfix_vista.zip" file. Follow the rest of the Usage instructions at
    > > > the site. This will fix the lnk (shortcut) association.
    > > >
    > > > 'File association fixes for Windows Vista'
    > > > ('http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/105/1/'
    > > (http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/105/1/))

    > > >
    > > > Shawn
    > >
    >
    > Your welcome Betty.
    >
    > Glad to hear it fixed your problem. This is sometimes caused when
    > using a program made for XP instead of Vista when changing the shortcut
    > arrow overlay. Hope that may help in finding the cause.
    >
    > Shawn
    >
    >
    > --
    > brink
    >
    > *There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask them.*
    > WWW.VISTAX64.COM (\"HTTP://WWW.VISTAX64.COM\")
    > *Please post feedback to help others.*
    >

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  8. #8
    Brink's Avatar

    Administrator


    Join Date : Apr 2007
    Texas, USA
    Posts : 30,588
    64-bit Vista Ultimate SP2, Windows 7 Ultimate SP1, Windows 8 Enterprise
    Local Time: 03:50 PM
    usa us texas

     

    Re: Start menu shortcuts won't work

    Quote Originally Posted by Betty View Post
    Thank you shawn that tells me exactly what caused the problem as i did in
    fact get rid of the shortcut arrow just before it happened.

    Betty
    ------------
    "brink" wrote:
    Your welcome Betty.
    >
    > Glad to hear it fixed your problem. This is sometimes caused when
    > using a program made for XP instead of Vista when changing the shortcut
    > arrow overlay. Hope that may help in finding the cause.
    >
    > Shawn
    LOL Betty,

    Glad it solved the mystery. You might take a look at this tutorial for how to remove or change the shortcut arrow safely in Vista.

    Shortcut Arrow

    Shawn

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

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