A way to stop "broken shortcuts" from disappearing?

Brink said:

Unless they were deleted, the shortcuts should return when the drive is connected again.

I'm not sure it's possible to stop them from being hidden when the source is disconnected.

I will test that using flash drive.

I have tested with external hard drive. While present in "TaskBar" folder, shortcuts don't return to the taskbar after I connect the drive back. Restarting computer or refreshing taskbar doesn't return them either.

RolandJS said:

Icons pinned to taskbar should remain there, unless X is specifically removed by program X uninstall. Many installs normally leave orphans pinned to taskbar. Are we including icons in the taskbar notification area? If so, they normally disappear with most uninstalls, and probably "get lost" when their hard-drive[s] is/are removed.

I am talking about pinned programs, where you right-click and select "Pin to Taskbar". Sorry, if I wasn't clear enough.

Brink said:

I must admit that I'm stomped as well.

If you like, you could use the tutorial as a workaround for now to be able to backup and restore your pinned taskbar items as needed before and after disconnecting and connecting the drive.

Taskbar - Backup and Restore Pinned Items in Windows 7

Thanks for the guide, I will try that tomorrow.

Callender said:

Something to try:

Check shortcut locations. I think you want the first one.

%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar

%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\StartMenu

If you want to pin certain programs there - directly point shortcuts to the EXE file as some corrupt installers prevent icons from some shortcuts showing up. For this, you have to pin the program as usual (right click on the button and "Pin ..."), then create a shortcut pointing to the exe file in some other folder (doesn't matter where), then overwrite the pinned shortcut with your manually created shortcut and the icons should be back!

Also try adding this to registry. Reboot to take effect.

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00


[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoResolveTrack"=dword:00000001

Hello, Callender!

Unfortunately, your methods don't work in my case. I cannot pin the programs, because the drive is disconnected and if I right-click "broken shortcut", the "Pin to..." option is missing from the menu.

As for the registry entry, I have tried, but it does not affect the Windows Installer, which performs forced "broken shortcut" cleanup, which I try to avoid.

Thanks for your suggestions anyway!