Thursday, February 3, 2011

Windows desktop shortcuts opened with the same application

Problem: All shortcuts in the Windows Desktop shows the same icon and Windows try to open them with the same application (for example Adobe Reader, a picture manipulation software and so on). This is not a problem for a whole computer but only for a particular user profile

Resolution: In the faulty user profile go to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.lnk

The folder OpenwithProgids should only have the default  - REG_SZ - (value not set) and lnkfile  - REG_NONE - (zero-length binary value) values listed. If you have other values, delete them, close the registry editor, logoff from the current windows session and logon again.