How to dix error code 16389. it popped up when I couldn't create a short cut link on my windows desktop.

RichardClark-6298 0 Reputation points
2026-07-19T21:04:50.12+00:00

I'm operating on a nearly brand-new HP laptop. the solutions are using jargon too obscure for me to understand without taking a Microsoft technician course. or watching a video of someone using a very thick English dialect from Bombay that is frankly very difficult to understand. I'm seeing terms like check disk, Partition, volume. I didn't understand MS DOS then and I assure you I don't understand it 40 years later.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage
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RichardClark-6298 0 Reputation points
2026-07-23T01:33:13.05+00:00

Thank you for your interest and responding. 

I found the solution by accident. To cut to the chase, the "show desktop icons" in the "view" menu had been turned off . It turns out that I had been successfully creating the desktops all along, they simply weren't displaying. For example;  seven "Google" icons showed on the desktop after I activated the "show ...icons" selection. I believe this selection had somehow been off since I received the HP laptop last March. I had almost given up, and put the problem aside for a couple days. I still could access the aps I needed thru the taskbar. Yesterday, I started playing around with the right click menus, almost randomly clicking selections looking for a choice that might offer a path to a solution. I eventually found the "show desktop icons" selection and clicked on it. I I only learned that it was in the "view" menu after the fact, when I reconstructed my efforts to compose this email.

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  1. Anonymous
    2026-07-20T02:30:23.82+00:00

    Hi RichardClark-6298,

    I understand you're receiving error code 16389 when trying to create a shortcut on your desktop.

    To better understand the issue, could you please provide a little more information:

    1. Which version of Windows are you using?
    2. What exactly are you trying to create a shortcut for (a program, file, or folder)?
    3. How are you creating the shortcut? For example, are you right-clicking an item and selecting "Create shortcut", or using another method?
    4. Could you provide the complete error message associated with error 16389?
    5. Does this happen with every shortcut you try to create, or only with one specific item?

    With this information, I can determine the cause and suggest the most appropriate troubleshooting steps.

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