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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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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
    2014-06-13T12:49:15+00:00

    I didn't see there were more replies. The problem is i have to find a way to do this automatically for 200+ machines. Copying customized ps1 file on top isn't working with admin rights and via GPO startup script. Maybe i should repeat all the commands in that post (taking the ownership, etc.), though i'm in doubt this will work.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-05-30T11:54:34+00:00

    If it says your OS is not the one for which the fix is intended, chances are it isn't going to work.  Try following the 23 steps in the post just above yours.  I understand you're trying to apply a fix to multiple PC's, but once you follow the procedure on one system, you'll find it's not as complicated as it seems.  Maybe you can even simplify it by copying the TS_BrokenShortcuts.ps1 file to the other machines

    I changed:

    (Get-ListLength $brokenStartupShortcuts)) -gt 4))

    to this:

    (Get-ListLength $brokenStartupShortcuts)) -gt 400))

    Works like a charm, but of course you have to have the permissions to successfully modify the file...

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-05-30T08:16:35+00:00

    I have added these registry keys via GPO to all Win7 PC's, but it doesn't change anything. Shortcuts are still disappearing after disconnecting a PC from a network and working with it offline. Also Fix it files say that my OS is not the one which fix is intended for (i'm on Win7 SP1..).

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