Desktop and Start Program icon .LNK File Associations
-
lunes, 18 de mayo de 2009 23:21
The file associations for .LNK files on a Vista Home Premium SP1 computer have changed from their default association to another application program, ie. Internet Explorer Picture Viewer, with the result that none of the program shortcut icons or desktop icons launch their respective programs - they all attempt to launch Explorer. Changing the file association on an individual shortcut results in all shortcuts being changed to the selected program. Is there a way to change the .LNK file associations back to the Windows default in order to relate the shortcuts to their respective application program?
Todas las respuestas
-
martes, 19 de mayo de 2009 6:26Moderador
Hi, thanks for the post. We can modify registry to fix the issue. Let's download the file below:http://cid-4fc3e8fc77f77286.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/lnkfix.zip
Compress the zip file and simply double click the .reg file and it will some add registry entries, restart the computer and see if the issue is resolved.
Hope this helps!
Sean Zhu - MSFT- Propuesto como respuesta Sean Zhu -Moderator martes, 19 de mayo de 2009 6:26
- Marcado como respuesta Sean Zhu -Moderator viernes, 22 de mayo de 2009 2:00
-
viernes, 22 de mayo de 2009 1:34
Hi Boogysk,
Thans for the post.
You can restore the file associations for .lnk filetype by running a registry fix from the following link.
http://www.winhelponline.com/fileasso/lnkfix_vista.zip
I am sure it should work.
Check it out.- Propuesto como respuesta Error_Counter viernes, 22 de mayo de 2009 23:28
-
viernes, 27 de noviembre de 2009 23:14
-
miércoles, 02 de diciembre de 2009 3:10Dear error counter,
Thank for the post. I download your link and it just works.
Thanks.
-
jueves, 10 de diciembre de 2009 13:18Had the same problem and followed the Vista and Win 7 posts on the subject.
One other test. I created a "New User" with administrator permissions. Tested all the short cuts and they worked fine. That tells me the corruption may not have been in the registry but in the profile instead. So I moved off all the user files to the "New User" and this has worked fine. -
domingo, 03 de enero de 2010 20:36
Hi Error_Counter,
Thanks for the link to lnkfix_vista.zip.
It worked fine in Windows 7- Propuesto como respuesta eniwei martes, 09 de febrero de 2010 16:37
-
miércoles, 27 de enero de 2010 10:52thank u very much, my computer files changed into .lnk today, and this fix cured it, again thank u very much, after it got fixed i immediately made a new acct. here.
-
martes, 09 de febrero de 2010 16:36
Hi Boogysk,
Thans for the post.
You can restore the file associations for .lnk filetype by running a registry fix from the following link.
http://www.winhelponline.com/fileasso/lnkfix_vista.zip
I am sure it should work.
Check it out.
Thank you Error_Counter .
It's working with my Windows 7 OS.
Best Regard
Eniwei- Propuesto como respuesta eniwei martes, 09 de febrero de 2010 16:37
-
martes, 09 de febrero de 2010 16:37Yap pear_tree. It's working with Windows 7.
-
lunes, 05 de abril de 2010 2:19
Hi Sean,
Your post was extremely helpful...saved me lots of stress :)
Thanks for your advice. The error was fixed straight away.
-
sábado, 10 de abril de 2010 21:04
Hi Sean
Just to let you know that you have made another person very happy. After trying to resolve this exact same issue (Windows 7) for 2 hours. I searched the web and found your solution. It worked first time.
Thank you.
-
sábado, 10 de abril de 2010 22:16
Error Counter,
I cannot thank you enough for your simple solution to what appeared to be a complex problem! I took a leap of faith that there wasn't anything bad in running that file, and all the darned .LNK obsession my new Win 7 laptop had developed has disappeared. I really appreciate that your method did not involve my having to unzip stuff, access the sacred registry, etc.
BTW, do you know a way for file extensions to show in Win 7 without making the .LNK mess? That's how it all began, I suspect. I'm an old DOS user, so I really like to see what is what, and Win 7 seems to be determined not to let me know. After all these years, using DOS, Win 3.1, Win 95, 98 and XP Pro, I couldn't believe that Win7 seems the least user friendly! Go figure. Perhaps I'll change that opinion over time, though. Again, thanks, and to anyone who is afraid to just do it, it works like a charm!
Sincerely, Gini
-
martes, 20 de abril de 2010 15:01
Error Counter,
Does it work with XP Pro as well? I understand that it works on Vist and Win7 but what about XP Pro? Thanks in advance.
-
jueves, 13 de mayo de 2010 0:07dude, god blase you. :D
-
martes, 25 de mayo de 2010 3:33
Holy ____ Error counter. i cant thank you enough for this, been looking for a week (not very hard, but still looking.) and finally, finally my links work again.....im super freakin stoked....now immma go play some halo, USING MY NOW WORKING DESKTOP LINK. Thanks bro.
oh i have windows 7 x64 bit BTW
-
martes, 25 de mayo de 2010 5:40
Nice Link everyone I fix my problem in 1 second! thanks a lot.
http://cid-4fc3e8fc77f77286.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/lnkfix.zip
Don't forget to unzip
-
sábado, 12 de junio de 2010 6:54great post worked for me thanks i been really worried.thanks agaim
-
viernes, 09 de julio de 2010 10:40
This worked fo me on XP> http://rapidshare.com/files/405904508/lnk_and_exe_fix.rar.html
(both fixes and instructions)
I had same prob with lnk and exe files.
I can upload seperately if you are unable to decompress the rarred files.
I'm sure it was an issue with adwatch.exe that caused the initial problem, unticking "automatic " stopped the problem recuring.
-
miércoles, 28 de julio de 2010 2:26
Error Counter that fixed the problem try for ages to fix with other things but yous link fixed it first go thanks for your help.
-
jueves, 29 de julio de 2010 16:00
glummy
Got the same 'fix' from another site and didn't fix mine. Still searching before I reload the whole thing
-
viernes, 06 de agosto de 2010 12:24
hey sean ,
ur ink zip just worked for my girlfriend's laptop in windows 7 os,
thank u very much :)
-
sábado, 07 de agosto de 2010 18:35Error Counter: After several months of trying, your link solved my problem in just a minute. I created a username just to thank you. Thanks so much!!
-
domingo, 15 de agosto de 2010 13:49
hey!!
thanx a lot for the help....it really worked....thanx again!
-
viernes, 17 de septiembre de 2010 15:55Thank you so much for this fix - it worked instantly - saved me much more agita!!!
-
lunes, 04 de octubre de 2010 10:37
OMG i love you guys, =D just i got one little thing, as all my programs were changed to link files all the icons are unable to change to the real ones, so i got like 50 things on my desktop with all the same icon, and it doesn't allow me to change them? and yes i am admin of my PC...
it works GREAT!! with Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit.
Can i Please get some help
byronbay_007@hotmail.com- Editado 1Byron lunes, 04 de octubre de 2010 10:38 Edit
-
viernes, 15 de octubre de 2010 7:27I tried the fix above with the same problem, and it didn't work for me. Is there something I'm doing wrong?
-
viernes, 29 de octubre de 2010 23:48
Try to download the registry fix file from here:
http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/105/1/File-association-fixes-for-Windows-Vista.html
Click on either exe or lnk from the blue box to download. Unzip and import the registry file and restart. I worked fine for me this morning.
Hope that helps.
Tam
-
miércoles, 10 de noviembre de 2010 10:17It works like charms on my windows 7. thnks a lot Sean Zhu for help. Cheers.
-
miércoles, 17 de noviembre de 2010 23:46thank u so much,.... it works!!!!
-
sábado, 27 de noviembre de 2010 17:08
Hi, thanks for the post. We can modify registry to fix the issue. Let's download the file below:
http://cid-4fc3e8fc77f77286.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/lnkfix.zip
Compress the zip file and simply double click the .reg file and it will some add registry entries, restart the computer and see if the issue is resolved.
Hope this helps!
Sean Zhu - MSFTthanks buddy its really works
pankaj keshari
-
domingo, 28 de noviembre de 2010 20:45
Hey guys, its been long time. The link is working but looks like tis damaged can any1 post the reg or zip?
BTW: what causes this issue? is it a trojon /virus? my nephew did some mess with my lappy :(
Devudu Andari Vaadu -
domingo, 12 de diciembre de 2010 9:55Error counter. Well done thanks, quick and easy fix on windows 7. thanks again
-
jueves, 23 de diciembre de 2010 21:34
Thanks man you rock, This worked for windows7 too :D
made my day!!! 5/5 :)
-
sábado, 01 de enero de 2011 13:40
Thank you a gazillion times it worked like a charm on Vista SP1.
-
sábado, 01 de enero de 2011 17:19I am still having problems fixing my lnk issue, because I can download the zip file but it wont do anything because no programs will work. I unzipped the file to my desk top but nothing. I am using winxp. I saw in another forum to use the run command and link to the location but that did not work either. Any suggestions?
-
domingo, 02 de enero de 2011 18:33Thank You very much it really worked and gives me relief of that .lnk. I must say thanks to you. Awesome work.
-
jueves, 27 de enero de 2011 1:43
It's nice to actually receive a tried and true resolution for a common problem. So many posts are untried or only work for the person who made the post.
Thank you for this resolution, as I only wish I found it 8 hours earlier :(
-
domingo, 06 de febrero de 2011 23:10works gr8 10x
-
lunes, 28 de febrero de 2011 5:50Is there a way to fix this without the file. I am not an admin on my laptop.
-
domingo, 06 de marzo de 2011 3:20It worked! Thanks much.
-
lunes, 21 de marzo de 2011 4:48Hey Thanks alot man i just wanna know how to get the icons back ?
-
miércoles, 23 de marzo de 2011 1:52
Thanks so much! This file worked perfect on my Windows 7! I couldn't even get this problem resolved at my local tech store, this is great!
-
miércoles, 23 de marzo de 2011 12:31Just a quick question. Due to Group Policy, our REGEDIT and CMD are disabled at work (Yes, very complicating) Is there another way I can restore the file associations? Thanks, Shane
-
lunes, 18 de abril de 2011 15:00
thnx a lot man
you help me just in middle of my revision for exams
again, thnx loads
-
miércoles, 11 de mayo de 2011 21:36If CMD and regedit are not available, then use Powershell.
-
sábado, 28 de mayo de 2011 16:53
I"m not sure if it was installing Open Office or the file search I did right before, but I surely wandered into one of the biggest computer mine fields of my career. Every icon had went all white and nothing would work. Not from the desktop... Start/Programs. Nothing. We're talking about my poor Win7 pooter going from a champ to a boat anchor in about 3 seconds.
I did manage to get Firefox going and finally found my way to you. I had tried every other piece of advice.
Anyway, I ran the program, rebooted, and I'm back to the way it is sposed to be. I have NO idea what that fix does...but it WORKED!!! MANY greatful thanks.
If all of your icons have gone berserk, all with that goofy .lnk extension, all the same, and not working..grab the little restore program and run it. No guess work or buttons to push. Run it, see it say all fixed, and then reboot. All happy then! Three seconds flat.
Mega Monster Thanks!!!
Norm
-
domingo, 24 de julio de 2011 20:26So when I hit the link I get an "ERROR" page with a link back to SKYLINK
-
jueves, 28 de julio de 2011 11:31Hi,
Download the lnkfix from below location
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=22b3d9789544c9d9&sc=documents&id=22B3D9789544C9D9%21104
Read the info at below location before applying it-
http://am-techzone.blogspot.com/2011/07/default-file-association-for-lnk-files.html -
viernes, 12 de agosto de 2011 8:48
Thanks Error counter
This is perfect, I got my issue fixed.
-
viernes, 12 de agosto de 2011 13:24
Thanks alot for your technical support. As per the directions in the solution, I just down loaded the http://cid-4fc3e8fc77f77286.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/lnkfix.zip and installed. Then I made my computer to restart. Problem was solved.
Onceagain I thank you for your support
m paul prasad.
-
lunes, 15 de agosto de 2011 15:12
@Error_Counter
It worked...! on Win 7 as well!
thanks
-
jueves, 18 de agosto de 2011 16:27
Thank you very much Error Encounter !! you just saved my day and health!!
It worked like magic after searching through the internet for a whole day!!
Regards
-
domingo, 11 de septiembre de 2011 11:44
Hey Error_counter this file association type was making my mind sick for almost 3 hrs but coz of ur link with just 1 click and restart i was surprised to c every thing fine ,,,thank u vry much error counter bundle of thanx and hats off to u.
for all others! it also works on windows 7....
-
domingo, 25 de septiembre de 2011 8:23
sean zhu: man i tried this and downloaded the infix file but when i double click on it ,its registry editing has been disabled by your administrator...please give me solution for this problem
-
viernes, 30 de septiembre de 2011 13:11
best and the easiest solution thanks dude you are just.. tooo great
-
sábado, 22 de octubre de 2011 3:12
THIS FILE IS A LIFE SAVER thank you so much :D
-
martes, 08 de noviembre de 2011 18:10Thank you very much................
-
jueves, 29 de diciembre de 2011 2:47
Hello, I had the identical problem on my Windows 7 highest version. Actually how it happened> I received over the SKYPE connection a .jpg picture file. Normally I open these in Windows Live Gallery. This time, it asked me, what program I want to open it in. I must have unintenmtionally, without a second thought hit the Windows Photo Gallery (different from above) and probably indicated to always associate it with this type of files. The picture did not open, but it changed all my icons on my desktop from .exe to .exe.lnk Thereafter I could not get to my programs from the icons.
Thanks to the Post by Sewan Zhu - MSFT -- on May 19, 2010 at 6:26 AM -- after two days of going around in circles I resolved my problem in less then two minutes. Thank you, Leslie
-
jueves, 29 de diciembre de 2011 2:51Thank you for your help. It worked.
I had the identical problem as BOOGYSK on Monday, May 18 2009 11:21 PM -- on my Windows 7 highest version (Laptop) as BOOGYSK.
Actually how it happened: I received over the SKYPE connection a .jpg picture file. Normally I open these in Windows Live Gallery. This time, it asked me, what program I want to open it in. I must have unintentionally, without a second thought hit the Windows Photo Gallery (different from above) and probably indicated to always associate it with this type of files. The picture did not open, but it changed all my icons on my desktop from .exe to .exe.lnk Thereafter I could not get to my programs from the icons.
Thanks to the Post by Sewan Zhu - MSFT -- on May 19, 2010 at 6:26 AM -- after two days of going around in circles I resolved my problem in less then two minutes.
Thank you, Leslie
-
lunes, 02 de enero de 2012 13:28
Hi, thanks for the post. We can modify registry to fix the issue. Let's download the file below:
http://cid-4fc3e8fc77f77286.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/lnkfix.zip
Compress the zip file and simply double click the .reg file and it will some add registry entries, restart the computer and see if the issue is resolved.
Hope this helps!
Sean Zhu - MSFT
thanks a million mate :) -
miércoles, 04 de enero de 2012 9:56
i have had this problem via a windows movie maker video and now everything on my desktop goes white...i have tryed the vista .lnk file but it just keeps coming up with a wordpad file? plz help me as i cannot open any of my games.
-
jueves, 26 de enero de 2012 11:10
little late i know and you probably fixed it by now, but for those with the same issue...
if you are unable to execute the .reg file:
manually link your .reg files to the regeditor
start > enter "%windir%\system32\control.exe /name Microsoft.DefaultPrograms" in the search bar end enter.
choose associate a file type or protocol with a specific program,
scroll down to the .reg extension
double click the extension and double click the Register editor icon.
if the icon is not there browse for it, it usually is located in "C:\Windows"
now you are able to start the reg file to restore your icons
regards,
Marcel
-
jueves, 09 de febrero de 2012 19:43
3 years ago and it's still the answer.
thanks so much!
-
domingo, 04 de marzo de 2012 11:13
hi bro i owe you big time i was going to restore my window. but saw ur link ..thnx a lot man....life saver
God bless u
-
viernes, 09 de marzo de 2012 14:26
This work too :)
- From the affected machine, launch registry editor (regedit.exe) with your Admin Account
- Navigate to below key and export to make a backup in C:\Apps (file:///C:/Apps)
- HKEY_USERS\users key\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.lnk
- HKEY_USERS\users key\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.lnk
- Delete other key under .lnk, leaving OpenWithList and OpenWithProgids
- Press F5 to refresh then close Registry Editor
- Launch Task Manager > Processes and locate explorer.exe then right click and select End Process
- Click on File > New Task (Run) and key-in explorer.exe and hit Enter
- Test to confirm that issue should now be fix
10 cents from burn ;)
- Propuesto como respuesta Paul Kappler domingo, 17 de marzo de 2013 0:22
-
lunes, 19 de marzo de 2012 5:07thanks man!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i wanted this thing from 1 week and it worked on win7 home basic
-
martes, 20 de marzo de 2012 5:37Thanks man! It works in Windows 8 Consumer Preview, too!
-
sábado, 24 de marzo de 2012 10:38hey thanks a lot for the fix
-
martes, 24 de abril de 2012 16:31
i got it fixed right now, means today... too
pheew, what a relief! :P
abubakkar
-
miércoles, 25 de abril de 2012 15:50
If your using windows 7. Try this
1. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.lnk
Note: Make sure you back up the FileExts folder before deleting the UserChoice Folder
2. Delete the UserChoice folder
3. Restart your computer
- Propuesto como respuesta vykram lunes, 06 de mayo de 2013 3:03
-
viernes, 01 de junio de 2012 15:50
-
lunes, 18 de junio de 2012 8:17Thanks dude, i found the problem, i fixed with lnk reg file.... thaks a lot
-
miércoles, 08 de agosto de 2012 21:35
Thank you so much! Works perfectly fine in Windows 7 Ultimate. Thumbs up for this info. :)
-here at Philippines.
-
miércoles, 22 de agosto de 2012 7:27
Thank,s man !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank,s...
-
miércoles, 22 de agosto de 2012 21:02
i don't know how i did it but all of my programs even solitare has an icon of windows documents. also i don't know how to unzip a file or remove what your instructions are telling me to do to get rid of this .LNK file. once i download a fix, i have windows 7
can you PLEASE walk me through it?
-
miércoles, 22 de agosto de 2012 21:50
can u help me? i don't know what i did but somehow all of my programs have the 'windows documents' icon, can't even open solitare.
i don't understand what exactly to download to fix or get rid of .LINK file. i also do not know how to unzip and then take out what?
would you please help me?
thank you
diane
-
lunes, 10 de septiembre de 2012 8:30
once u download the infix.zip folder what do you do for it to run and return all the files back to normall
-
martes, 11 de septiembre de 2012 4:57thanku for the post... it did work...!! thanks a lot... :)
-
martes, 11 de septiembre de 2012 4:57
Hi, thanks for the post. We can modify registry to fix the issue. Let's download the file below:
http://cid-4fc3e8fc77f77286.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/lnkfix.zip
Compress the zip file and simply double click the .reg file and it will some add registry entries, restart the computer and see if the issue is resolved.
Hope this helps!
Sean Zhu - MSFT -
viernes, 26 de octubre de 2012 23:17Solution from Error_Count still works - thanks!
-
lunes, 05 de noviembre de 2012 2:48
Hey Error_Counter
Thanks so much!!!! This worked for my laptop. I thought I would have to take it to a computer shop or something bc I couldn't fix it myself and all my programs and files were changed to lnk. You saved me a lot time and money. Thanks again!!!
-
lunes, 28 de enero de 2013 0:48
Nice!
As I'm on a computer with no administrator privilege, this solution resolved my file associacion problem.
Great! Thanks!
-
lunes, 06 de mayo de 2013 3:05
this solution works to my user.. I've tried downloading those unassociate.exe but it doesn't work at all.. i just deleted some values under .lnk, leaving OpenWithList and OpenWithProgids and restart the whole pc.. all icons was back to normal..
thanks a lot!

