Restoring .lnk file associations

ID: Q172053

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

When you select programs from the Start menu or shortcuts nothing happens, the "Open with" dialog box is displayed or a specific program runs.


CAUSE

The .lnk association is either missing, incorrect or corrupted. Because all shortcuts and Program Menu items are files with a .lnk extension. Selecting one either brings up the "Open with" dialog box, a specific application such as Notepad.exe or Wordpad.exe or doesn't do anything.


RESOLUTION

You can correct this by either restoring the registry key from another working computer or manually replacing the registry key.

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system-wide problems that may require you to reinstall Windows NT to correct them. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use this tool at your own risk.

To restore the registry key from another computer, perform the following steps:

  1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe) and select the following subkey: 
    
   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk


  2. From the Edit menu, click Delete.


  3. On another Windows NT 4.0 computer, start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe) and select the registry key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk.


  4. From the Registry menu, click Save Key.


  5. Copy this file to the computer exhibiting the problem or to a floppy disk.


  6. On the computer exhibiting the problem, recreate the registry key by selecting HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and then from the Edit menu, click Add Key. Type .lnk for the key name.


  7. Select the new key, click Restore from the Registry menu, and select the file from the other computer or floppy disk.


  8. Quit Registry Editor and restart the computer. Test a Program menu item or shortcut.


To manually enter the information, perform the following steps:
  1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe), select the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT subkey, and then click Add Key on the Edit menu.


  2. In the Key Name box type ".lnk" (without quotation marks), and then click OK. Note that you should leave the Class box blank.


  3. In the Add Value dialog box, click OK to leave the Value Name blank, and click REG_SZ in the Data Type list.


  4. In the String Editor box, type "lnkfile" (without quotation marks), and then click OK.


  5. Select the .lnk key you just re-created under the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT subkey. On the Edit menu, click Add Key and then type "ShellNew" (without quotation marks). Note that you should leave the Class box blank.


  6. Click Add Value on the Edit menu, type "command" (without quotation marks) in the Data Name box, click REG_SZ in the Data name box, and then type "RunDLL32 AppWiz.Cpl,NewLinkHere %1" (without quotation marks) as the string value.


  7. Quit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.


Additional query words: Howto file types 


Keywords          : kbfile ntsetup nthowto NTSrvWkst 
Version           : WinNT:4.0
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: February 24, 1999