Desktop shortcuts to items on network drives sometimes disappear from desktop

Anonymous
2009-10-05T10:31:59+00:00

I have a number of shortcut icons on my Windows 7 (RC1) desktop to networked items - some are folders on a NAS, some are mapped as drives, etc. However, sometimes Windows 7 seems to simply remove all of them without notice and I have to recreate all the shortcuts to my NAS items again.

I wondered at first if this may have been because Windows would sometimes boot before all of my network devices became available, but when that happens it just correctly marks the icons with a red cross to indicate that it couldn't find them at boot time, and as soon as the NAS is available then the shortcuts work fine.

However at random intervals, all seven of these shortcuts simply disappear from the desktop. All other shortcuts and icons are fine, and the mapped drives are still present in my 'Computer' display - it's just the NAS-related shortcuts on the desktop which vanish.

Any idea why this might be happening?

Andre

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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Anonymous
2009-11-02T19:48:31+00:00

If you create desktop shortcuts to removable storage places such as NAS the icons will disappear from time to time because Windows 7 has a built in task schedule to clean up broken and unused links. 

To prevent the task from running you need to disable the task in the task schedular: start-programs-accessories-system tools-task scheduler

Expand the tree in the left hand pane until you get to Task Scheduler Library-Microsoft-Windows-Diagnosis.

In the right hand pane, right click the task named Scheduled and click Disable.

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Anonymous
2015-04-30T16:17:45+00:00

This feature is extremely annoying.  Whenever I take my work laptop on the road, this has happens and I never knew why until now.  In my case, when the shortcuts to my network folders and applications disappeared, there was no trace left, not in my computer or anywhere.  And trying to figure out how to remap them all was a nightmare!!!  Productivity lost, headaches, etc...  thanks MS!

Fortunately, I found a way to get them back!   Check this out:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows\_7-desktop/how-to-restore-desktop-shortcuts/0cfe39d3-16c7-49c3-b538-6d5a3f5b6abe/

After doing the copy from previous versions, I was able to find the missing shortcuts and drag them from the 'Desktop Temp' folder to my desktop.  Thank God.

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  1. Anonymous
    2009-10-06T05:31:06+00:00

    Hi Andre,

    Thank you for using Microsoft Windows Vista Forums. 

    You need to change a setting to resolve your issue. Let us try to follow the instructions below which will help you in resolving the issue.

    Method 1:

    1. Right-click Computer and then click Map Network Drive.
    2. In the Folder field, specify the Web share location.
    3. Click to select the Reconnect at logon check box.
    4. Click Finish.

    Method 2:

    1. Go to Control Panel \ Personalize (or right-click on the desktop and select Personalize), and then choose the link for “Change Desktop Icons” on the left-hand side.
    2. Now you can chose the icons you want back on the desktop by checking the box next to the name.
    3. Click the Apply button, and you should see the icon show up on the desktop immediately.

    Please post back and let us know if this has helped to resolve your issue.

    Regards,

    KarthiK TP

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  2. Anonymous
    2009-10-07T07:30:35+00:00

    Nope, method 2 simply shows the standard five windows desktop icons: Computer, User's Files, Network, Recycle Bin and Control Panel, all of which I had already enabled on my desktop anyway. No other icons are listed in this settings box.

    Andre

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  3. Anonymous
    2009-10-06T15:42:49+00:00

    Thanks for the reply. I know all my networked drives are set to "Reconnect at Login", but I will check your other suggestion when I get home tonight. The mapped drives themselves are always present in the 'Computer' view, it's only the desktop shortcut icons which vanish.

    This problem also occurs if I put a shortcut directly to a NAS address onto the desktop (e.g. a shortcut that points to "\\DISKSTATION\Documents\"). When the network item icons vanish from the desktop, they all do so at once. I've even tried setting the shortcuts to Read-Only.

    This does not only happen at boot time, it can also happen in the middle of a session - for example this morning I had left the PC running for 15 minutes unattended, copying some files onto the NAS, and when I came back all the desktop shortcut icons for the NAS had vanished again.

    Andre

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