Windows 7: Desktop shortcut results in error (target "missing or moved"), but it

One of my users is having a problem accessing a network shared folder via her desktop shortcut. Just this morning it worked several times, and suddenly gave her the message that the target folder is "missing or moved", and asks if it should delete the shortcut. Rebooting does not help. Tthe only thing I can do is to remove the shortcut and then replace it. The original folder is still where it has always been, and is still valid and accessible. This has been happenig for a few weeks, now.

Has anyone else seen this anomaly?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. She is using Windows 7 Enterprise on a Dell OptiPlex 390 system with 4 Gigabytes of RAM, and the folder resides on a Windows SBS Server 2003 server.

Thanks!

Hello,

Are you doing the shortcut through a mapped drive? Sometimes mapped drives will disconnect and the shortcuts stop working.

Try doing the shortcut using the full path (\\computername\sharename\foldername).


Dave

Dear Gerra,
Hi and welcome! You can try the following method if the first post does not solve the prob. Visit :http://http://support.microsoft.com/..._windows/en-us and follow the steps. If it helps you can consider rep. me by clicking on the middle icon in the right upper corner of MY post.

Regards,
sreedhav

I have a link which has helped me once. If the problem is not related to mapped drives on the network, then this should work.http://http://www.diagnoseyourpc.com...910&OVNDID=ND1

I have the habit of storing web addresses which i feel are useful in a folder on the Desktop and instead of searching for the same site again,i save time by a simple copy&paste in the new address bar. Hope this helps!

sreedhav

Mr. Atkin and sreedhav,

Thank you for your quick replies. As to Dave's first suggestion, the shortcut is already using the full path as you suggest, not the mapped drive, and it is still giving her the error message periodically, even after working successfully for several attempts during any given day.

sreedhav - the link you provided in your first reply was truncated and did not work. If you could get that to me again, perhaps the answer is there.

At any rate, I am grateful for the rapid responses, and the time spent on my issue.

Respectfully,

Do you have enough CALs installed on the Server? Check your licencing.


Dave

Kindly make use of the Microsoft Fix it Solution Center: Microsoft Fix it Solution Center: troubleshooting software issues

Please view the thumbnail below and click on it to view:

Again, thanks to both of you!

Dave - I never thought of the number of CALs, and will check that out forthwith. I need to know that whether that is the issue or not. (I am new to this position, and there is no readily available information on this network. I am flying blind, so to speak.)

sreedhav - I will give that link a try.

I will re-post what the answer is (or is not) as soon as I figure it out.

Good morning all,

I apologize for being so slow in getting back with this information, but being a part-time admin, I don't have enough time to get to the critical issues, let alone the minor annoyances.

I did, finally, get to check on the two things I had been "tasked" in trying. I now know that I have 35 CALs for my SBS2003 server (if you count 5 for SBS2000). I have 29(+/-) PCs and laptops accessing the system at any one time plus a few that regularly remote in after hours. Some users shut down daily at close of business, so those who remote in shouln't affect that total much.

I did try the Microsoft "Mr. Fix-It" site, but at the time I attempted that solution, there were no broken short-cuts on the desktop, so the "cure" had no effect.

The issue still pops up every so often, so I will keep looking.

Could this be related to the fact that this Windows install is a new install on a new computer, and the files and settings were imported using the Windows "Files and Settings Transfer Wizard"? That is what I suspect as the issue did not exist prior to that event. The question is, obviously, "What setting did not move as it should have?" The new computer is Windows 7 Enterprise, and the old computer was Windows XP Professional (SP3)

Thanks for your thoughts

Hi Gerra,

It could be a dodgy profile if you have used the transfer wizard but its normally quite solid.

Log in as the administrator and rename the local user profile to .old. Then log into the PC again with the user (It will create a new profile) and manaully move the old profile data across. Re-create the shortcut manually if possible.


Dave