Re: Solution: Desktop shortcuts cause "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item" error

From: Kelly (kelly_at_mvps.org)
Date: 05/29/04 

Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 01:36:50 -0500

>I should point out that the other reason he had given me the notebook in
>the
>first place was that he had been "infected" with a CoolWeb hijacker
>variant.
>I wonder if the two problems are related?

Have no idea. You might ought to post this to another group for reasoning.

As for the error message, this is primarily directed toward:

Desktop Shortcut to the 3 1/2 Inch Disk Drive or to the CD-ROM Drive Does
Not Work
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824143&Product=winxp

Good luck and keep us posted with any updates! 

-- 
All the Best,
Kelly
Microsoft-MVP Windows® XP
2004 Windows MVP "Winny" Award
Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com
Taskbar Repair Tool Plus!
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/taskbarplus!.htm
"news.microsoft.com" <ccastiglia@infosystemspro.com> wrote in message 
news:%23YhcmJRREHA.644@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> One of my users at work (my day job) reported this "new" problem (new for
> him, anyway):  he creates a shortcut on the Desktop, double-clicks it, and
> an error box pops up with "Windows cannot access the specified device, 
> path,
> or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item".
>
> I determined that he was creating the shortcuts correctly and created
> several more myself, including simply left-dragging items off the Start 
> menu
> or from a folder and dropping on the Desktop with "Create Shortcuts here".
> The Start menu items were especially interesting in that they worked from
> the Start menu but not from the Desktop Shortcut.
>
> I googled this problem, found out that it has been reported many, many,
> times, and came up with a few possibilities - edit the registry in
> accordance with KB Article 172223 for example, or removing a particular
> recent hotfix (sorry, I forget which one...).  Anyway, none of these fixes
> worked.  Indeed, they don't seem to have worked for most of the people who
> had previously reported the problem.
>
> I was examining the Properties window for one of the non-working shortcuts
> when I noticed something not-quite-right with the "Location" shown on the
> General tab.  It was pointing to "C:\Documents and
> Settings\user_name\Cookies\Desktop".  This was obviously wrong - a quick
> comparison to another system verified that "C:\Documents and
> Settings\user_name\Desktop" would have been the correct entry.
>
> In Windows Explorer, I determined that this user's "Desktop" folder was
> indeed inside of the "Cookies" folder.  I dragged it out and dropped it 
> back
> in it's proper location directly under C:\Documents and 
> Settings\user_name.
> And that solved the problem - all old and new shortcuts now function
> correctly.
>
> The question is, how did the Desktop folder get moved in the first place?
> The user is certain that he didn't do it.  There are a few other user
> accounts on this system (a Dell notebook, by the way) and those folders 
> are
> all arranged in the normal fashion.
>
> I should point out that the other reason he had given me the notebook in 
> the
> first place was that he had been "infected" with a CoolWeb hijacker 
> variant.
> I wonder if the two problems are related?
>
> By the way, this was a WindowsXPsp1a system with all hotfixes installed. 
> I
> suspect however that this solution would apply to all Windows versions 
> from
> 98 and up.
>
> Hope this info helps!
>
> Carmine Castiglia
> http://www.infosystemspro.com
>
>

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