Shortcut targets being changed

Savvy_01

Honorable
Feb 24, 2013
11
0
10,560
I'm not exactly certain what's causing my problem but I have a good idea.

Problem: All of my shortcuts keep coming up with "Destination not found" and that the .exe is not in the target destinations. Specifically, firefox and Scrivener are all on my C drive (SSD) and for some reason it's all targeting my D: drive (same location, but the program was never there.

Probable cause: I used the registry to change my targeted programs folder, so I'm thinking that changed could've changed all my program paths. If that's the case, how do I solve this dilemma without changing drive paths again? And will this continue to happen if I install certain vital programs to the C drive? More importantly, is there anything else that got changed or targeted to the D drive when it needs to go to C? I've done this before but didn't realize there'd be issues.
 

SBMfromLA

Distinguished
Nov 11, 2011
160
0
18,710
I've experienced a similar problem in the past. Back during my PC newbie days I used to use those Registry Cleaners and I remember a couple of times half the shortcuts on my system messed up. I tried to undo the changes but the shortcut problems remained. I tried to manually create new shortcuts but it was just too much work... so I did the only logical thing and wiped my system and reinstalled Windows. One thing I've learned is.. some times when you have some bad errors going on... the best thing is to just start all over.

Did you make a backup of your registry before you made any changes? Of course you didn't, right? Well, you could try using a System Restore Point of before you made the changes.. or just restore from an Image Backup that you have.
 

Savvy_01

Honorable
Feb 24, 2013
11
0
10,560


You know what... I was going to make a back up but... It seemed like such a simple change why bother right? lol. I know it's the registry edit, because I did it 3 days ago, after my laptop was out of commission from a broken screen for about a year, and when the shortcuts got messed up. I assumed what Ingtar33 said, that someone who was using my laptop (with the TV as a monitor for netflix) probably got a virus on it so I reinstalled Windows 8.1 (A serious pain in the rear if you ask me.) These changes were made on a fresh system, so what I'm thinking is that the registry thinks those exe's were moved because I altered the target path.

So, that begets the question: on a fresh install, what else relies on those two lines of the registry to determine where to run an exe? So far, only the two programs Scrivener and Firefox had their target property rerouted to the D drive, although the destination still states that the exec is on the C drive. But those are the only shortcuts that I have for now. I just want to make sure that moving forward, i'm not digging myself a deeper hole and not know it.

 

SBMfromLA

Distinguished
Nov 11, 2011
160
0
18,710
Just try installing a few more programs and see... Since everything is still new you could easily just do another reinstall... that should only take about 10-15 min... One thing about me is.. I like my installs to be perfect and when I find problems I just start all over. One thing that's given me the most problems with my new installs were the Windows Updates. Sometimes, when you install too many updates at one time... something... some times... goes wrong... and errors pop up.. so just be careful.