Is it possible to create folder-shortcuts that'll work on any computer

[samuro]

I'm working with a large batch of pictures that I'm archiving/cataloging. I'm putting them in different folders based on their contents, and for the sake of ease in going through them later I thought I'd create shortcuts to other folders relating to the content of the folder I'm working on.

For example, say I made a folder containing pictures of a letter from a U.S. consulate verifying the receipt of certain items and I wanted to include in the folder a link to another folder containing the letter originally requesting the items. It's simple to do and I haven't had problems while working on my computer. HOWEVER, I realized when I transferred the files to another computer that the shortcut pathing was based on the directory I had it in on the original computer on which I did the work. So when I moved the files/folders to another computer and tried to use the shortcuts I had built in, they couldn't find the file.

So ultimately, my question is this. Is there a way to make internal shortcuts that will effectively transfer from one computer to another? If I completed an enormous store of pictures with their accompanying folders and shortcuts, then moved all the files to another computer or drive, is there a way to ensure that the shortcuts would still function?

Thanks.

 

[LMiller7]

Welcome to the forum.

That would only be possible if the computers were members of an Active Directory domain. That would require a domain controller running on a server OS.

 

[samuro]

Welcome to the forum.

That would only be possible if the computers were members of an Active Directory domain. That would require a domain controller running on a server OS.

If all the shortcuts are made with the files remaining on a portable hard drive, could the files then be transferred to another hard drive? The shortcut says it's referencing E:\Work\etc... so if I transferred the Work folder over to another drive that popped up as "E:" would it function then?

 

[GokAy]

Why not? If you use a folder in root of C with the same name, then your shortcuts should work. Appreciate any input to this reasoning.

Edit: I would say, yes, they should work as long as drive letter and folder structure stay the same. This is the same thing I am saying.

Also, if you are in a network, you can put the folder in a server and map network shares to that folder and use same letter assignment on all client PCs, then your shortcuts should work. Would eliminate multiple copies of same files as well.

 

[LMiller7]

In a general sense what was wanted is not possible. There are various ways you can move shortcuts but it isn't going to happen automatically.

In a domain you can move a file from one computer to anywhere on another computer, including different drive letter and path and filename, and all shortcuts to the file will be automatically updated. Just as if the move was within the local machine. You can't do that without a domain.

 

[MilesAhead]

If the entire folder tree was just below the root drive letter you might be able to get away with running a small program to change all the drive letters in the paths in the shortcuts.

For instance, if every single .lnk file(shortcut) in all the folders descending from the root folder, were these references and not to exe programs scattered on the system HD, then you could find out the current drive letter and substitute it all the way down. Any small scripting language with a function to read and write shortcuts could do it.

 

[Pyprohly]

There are two ways of referencing a file/folder: absolute paths and relative paths. What you want, Samuro, is some Shortcut where you are able to reference a relative path.

'Shortcuts', or specifically .lnk files, can only operate with absolute paths. But there's a different type of link – one that is capable of functioning with either a absolute or relative path… so to answer your question of

So ultimately, my question is this. Is there a way to make internal shortcuts that will effectively transfer from one computer to another?

Yes, there is a way to make "internal shortcuts" that will transfer from one computer to another. They’re called Symbolic Links.


E.g. Consider these two paths on my thumb drive.

• E:\Foo\Bar\Bacon\Pics
• E:\Foo\Baz\Work\Etc

My \Pics folder contains a bunch of images of bacon that I'd really like to have easy access to when I'm browsing my \Etc folder. Because these paths exist on a thumb drive – where the drive letter will vary – I'll go ahead and create a Symbolic Link (instead of a Shortcut) in \Etc called MyPics, and I'll set the Symbolic Link to point to the relative path of ..\..\..\Bar\Bacon\Pics.

Now when I click on MyPics, (the Explorer address bar will display E:\Foo\Bar\Bacon\MyPics and) the contents of E:\Foo\Bar\Bacon\Pics are revealed.

The drive letter is no longer relevant, however, the directory structure must be somewhat constant.



Edit:

• I remember answering a question pertaining to relative path shortcuts before.
  
• Looks like Seven Forums has a tutorial about creating links: MKLINK – Create and Use Links in Windows.
  Kari, the author of the tutorial, demonstrates the use of the Mklink command to create Junctions. To create a Directory Symbolic Link instead, simply use the /d switch rather than the /j switch (which creates Junctions).
  E.g.
  

  mklink /d "E:\Where\SymLink\Should\Be\Made" "..\Some\Relative\Path\Here"

• One thing I forgot to mention: Symbolic Links are a feature the NTFS file system. If one would like to have relative path shortcuts on their thumb drive, one would have to format their thumb drive to NTFS before they can use Symbolic Links.

 

[Alejandro85]

The problem is ultimately that shortcuts don't support relative paths at all and you can't warrant that the path will be the same.
Found this link while Googling, maybe some solution there might be good: Using relative paths for Windows shortcuts - Super User

 

[MilesAhead]

The problem is ultimately that shortcuts don't support relative paths at all and you can't warrant that the path will be the same.
Found this link while Googling, maybe some solution there might be good: Using relative paths for Windows shortcuts - Super User

The utility Relative mentioned there may be worth a try.

 

[Pyprohly]

Found this link while Googling, maybe some solution there might be good: Using relative paths for Windows shortcuts - Super User

The utility Relative mentioned there may be worth a try.

Sorry to shoot you guys down, but the top answer in that SuperUser question and that Relative utility are flawed solutions. They're basically the same, they rely on the same concept: create a Shortcut (.lnk) file whose target takes advantage of Explorer.exe's parameters.

The problem with calling Explorer.exe is that you'd start a new process and a new Window each time you use the Shortcut. This can become quite annoying, as Nums remarks about this method --

I know it's possible to use %windir%\explorer.exe "..\..\Folder 3\Folder A" but that opens a new explorer window rather than take the current window to the destination folder, it sounds like small problem but it gets annoying quick if you have to frequently swap between folders (theyre art assets).

Taking advantage of Explorer is not an elegant solution; at least not compared Symbolic Links IMHO.

 

[MilesAhead]

Another way to do it with Macro

Create the shortcut with relative path but instead of Explorer put GoShort.exe

It clears the address input line in the folder window and puts in the relative path via macro.

The exe should be put in a folder in the Path. The source is included so it could be changed to a hotkey implementation if desired.

The Sleep statements may be adjusted to control the macro speed.

To run or compile this script the latest ahk (currently 1.1.22.02) should be downloaded from here: AutoHotkey

Macro may look a bit clunky but if you adjust the wait times to fit your PC it is less noticeable.

Note: If you like it the way it is you do not need to download or have AHK installed. The exe has the AHK interpreter bundled inside.

 

[GokAy]

Ok, guys please see this: from the little testing I did, it works. It involves creating a single symbolic link (mklink /d):

Procedure is:
- copy my humble batch file inside your root folder (that you wish to carry around) and run it, you can change the folder name of course (it will create a symbolic directory link in root C to the folder it was run in, all PCs have a C as common, that's why I created the link here)

mklink /d C:\mainfolder %cd%

- (for ease of access) browse to C, and right click "mainfolder" and "Send To: Desktop"
- from this point on, only open your root folder with the shortcut on Desktop or from C:\mainfolder in order not to mess up shortcuts you will create anew (in Explorer if you click address bar, it will show C:\mainfolder\...)
- for old shortcuts, you have to edit them and replace a portion of it with "C:\mainfolder" such as:
-- replace "C:\Users\Gokhan\Desktop\New folder\...\..." (the bold part) in target box of the shortcut

- If you decide to move the folder to another place in same PC, then please delete the symbolic link in C before running the batch file again, as it doesn't overwrite/update the symbolic link, and I decided not to put a delete folder command in order to avoid any accidental data loss)

Once you setup the folder, you can move it to any place (run the bat file, and open the folder from C:\mainfolder or create a shortcut to desktop) and it will work.

Maybe one of you programmers can make a script/batch file/etc to change current shortcuts automatically?

Please try and comment on shortcomings and what not.

 

[MilesAhead]

With a hotkey implementation and macro you would not have to make links or shortcuts. Just text files with relative paths like this example

assuming you had a subfolder in the current folder named "download" the text file could be named anything but let us call it download_relpath.txt and it would have one line
.\download

the hotkey could read the selected file to get the relative path and paste it into the folder address input. Once the relative path is correct it would never need to be changed unless the folder layout was altered.

Many ways to skin the cat.

Edit: Yes you could double click the download folder instead. But it is just a foolproof example as proof of concept. ( Or you could have explorer settings such that a new window was opened if the actual folder was double clicked and this would move in the same window etc.. )

 

[GokAy]

Miles, would you need to install AHK to all PCs that will be used? And does AHK have to be running for your method to work?

My methods strength (I believe):

- OP doesn't need to change his method

- Making a shortcut is faster, and once you create the link (1 click) and browse through C, every shortcut you create works on any PC, any partition, be it external or internal, you can even change the folder name and it will work, no need for 3rd party tools, which I believe is the best solution when possible.

- OP only needs to modify previously created shortcuts, unless someone comes up with a simple batch/script to do it automatically (I believe even this is redundant, with 1000 shortcuts need to be modified, it will take at most a day or two)

----------------------

To sum it up (once previous shortcuts are fixed):

- If there is a previous sym link, delete it (only if you need to change folder location)
- (Copy bat to folder, only for the first time) and run it
- make a shortcut of sym link to the desktop (optional but I would suggest to make life easier) and open explorer with that
- that's it!

----------------------

 

[MilesAhead]

So is the guy wrong that wrote the Relative utility that if the entire folder tree was copied to another machine the target would be copied rather than the symlink?

I don't know. I used links in Linux where there were no drive letters to get in the way of them working logically. Everything descended from '/' and that was that.

It is just as easy to make a macro that makes a text file with the relative path as it is to have it make a symlink. It is trivial.

Edit: The exe program does not need ahk to run. To modify the source and run or compile it, ahk is needed. Once you finalize the exe it runs on its own, Just copy to a folder in the Path.

 

[GokAy]

would you need to install AHK to all PCs that will be used? And does AHK have to be running for your method to work?

These were genuine questions, and I asked you because I know you are proficient with AHK and use it to write some of your programs. You are the guy I will be seeking help from if I ever need AHK (And UsernameIssues for AutoIt)

Using relative paths for Windows shortcuts - Super User, this method would work for the OP of that thread too.

As for Relative's webpage, here is the part about sym links (notice he is talking about usage of links which reside in the folders themselves, I don't have any links within the folder, all are pure shortcuts):

What's wrong with "mklink"? Unfortunately, at least two big things:

1- If you copy symbolic links with Explorer or a directory tree that contains such links, the link files that should be in the copy are replaced by their targets! This is a fatal design flaw.

2- If you backup Windows machines with a remote linux file server, symbolic links are copied as zero-length files with no information about how to recreate them when the backup is restored. Of course, that's just a limitation of Samba on Linux. So next I tried using Microsoft's backup program that comes with Windows 7. I created a small tree of files and folders that contained some symbolic links and backed them up. Then I restored the backup to another location. The result was such a mess that I'm at a loss for words to describe it.

1- There is no symbolic link copying involved. You only copy your working folder, which includes normal shortcuts, re-running the batch file (no configuration needed as it uses %cd%) at the new location creates a new sym link at C.

2- No need to backup the sym link, you can backup your working folder as you see fit with whatever program you wish to use, again just re-run the batch file after you restore and the shortcuts will start to work.

I really appreciate your input (especially in your holiday ), hopefully others will chime in too.

 

[Pyprohly]

Symbolic Links are basically Shortcuts but include support for relative paths as targets. They're a feature built into Windows and do not require a 3rd party program to create.

[insert post 12 and 14 here]

GokAy, I think you may have missed a few points. Please see my post #7 where I establish the fact that Shortcut files, per se, do not support relative paths as targets, which is what the OP really needs. Designing some Shortcut with relative path capability is the real goal here.

Now revise your post #12. The method you describe, GokAy, which I'll summarise here (extremely briefly) --

constantly rebuild each of one's (absolute path-ed) Symbolic Links when needed, using a Batch file

... does not make any sense. Why not simply create a Symbolic Link with a relative path target in the first place?


The OP ultimately has two options here:

a) Format his thumb drive to NTFS and use Symbolic Links (that use relative paths),​

OR

b) Choose not to format his thumb drive to NTFS, and instead use MilesAheads' method of creating relative Shortcuts.​

(Windows' variant of Symbolic Links are, of course, an exclusive feature of the New Technology File System, and can only be used on NTFS formatted devices)

... OR (not recommended)

c) (see below script)​

If the entire folder tree was just below the root drive letter you might be able to get away with running a small program to change all the drive letters in the paths in the shortcuts. [...] Any small scripting language with a function to read and write shortcuts could do it.

OP only needs to modify previously created shortcuts, unless someone comes up with a simple batch/script to do it automatically (I believe even this is redundant, with 1000 shortcuts need to be modified, it will take at most a day or two)

No, the OP does not need to modify his Shortcuts. The OP needs to use some method or form of relative Shortcuts.


If you guys insist you must see such a script, then here ...

// th-374447.js

/* desc.
For each Shortcut (.lnk) file in the script's directory and all child 
directories, modify the Shortcut's target path to use a drive letter 
the same as this script's current location (when it's run). 
*/

var fso = new ActiveXObject('Scripting.FileSystemObject')
var WshShell = new ActiveXObject('WScript.Shell')

drive_letter = fso.GetDriveName(WScript.ScriptFullName)

function recurse_folders( folder ) {
	for (var enum_file = new Enumerator(folder.files); !(enum_file.atEnd()); enum_file.moveNext()) {
		if ( fso.GetExtensionName(enum_file.item().path).toUpperCase() == 'LNK' ) {
			lnkfile = WshShell.CreateShortcut(enum_file.item().path)
			lnkfile.TargetPath = fso.GetDriveName(WScript.ScriptFullName) + lnkfile.TargetPath.slice(drive_letter.length)
			lnkfile.Save()
			delete lnkfile
		}
	}
	delete enum_file
	for (var enum_subfolder = new Enumerator(folder.subfolders); !(enum_subfolder.atEnd()); enum_subfolder.moveNext()) {
		recurse_folders(enum_subfolder.item())
	}
	delete enum_subfolder
}
recurse_folders( fso.GetFolder(fso.GetParentFolderName(WScript.ScriptFullName)) )

(it takes about 25 seconds to process 1000 Shortcut files with my laptop (using a thumb drive with absolutely nothing on it but Shortcuts (and the script file of course (don't forget the script file or it won't work (I tried it myself (didn't work without the script file (strange)))))))

c) Choose not to format his thumb drive to NTFS, and instead use a script to edit each of his Shortcut files' target paths to use the appropriate drive letter for it's current volume.


Don't consider the above as a solution though. I, for one, do not want to have to click on some script each time I want to use my USB.

As far as relative Shortcuts go, Symbolic Links deliver the best fit user experience. Set it up once, no more clicking.

 

[MilesAhead]

As for Relative's webpage, here is the part about sym links (notice he is talking about usage of links which reside in the folders themselves, I don't have any links within the folder, all are pure shortcuts):

This is what confused me. The mixing of shortcuts and links so I don't know who is talking about what method. In any case I think the OP should comment on what seems good for the purpose. If macros seem like a kludge there is no sense writing more.

We need feedback rather than arguing which is best among alternatives nobody will use(or where that is at least a strong possibility.)