File Explorer Registry short-cuts not working on Windows 7

[Kukulkan]

Hello,

I found several articles which describe, how to add a short-cut to Windows file explorer using registry keys. This should work from Windows XP to 10 and this is how my Registry test files are looking:

HINT: no worry if the icon is missing, explorer uses a normal folder instead.

Add short-cut "myTest" to folder "C:\Users\" on both 32 and 64 bit Windows (copy to a new file "install.reg"):

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}]
@="myTest"
"System.IsPinnedToNamespaceTree"=dword:00000001
"SortOrderIndex"=dword:00000042

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}\InProcServer32]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,59,00,53,00,54,00,45,00,4D,00,52,00,4F,00,4F,00,54,00,\
25,00,5C,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6D,00,33,00,32,00,5C,00,73,00,68,\
00,65,00,6C,00,6C,00,33,00,32,00,2E,00,64,00,6C,00,6C,00,00,00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}\ShellFolder]
"FolderValueFlags"=dword:00000028
"Attributes"=dword:f080004d

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}]
@="myTest"
"System.IsPinnedToNamespaceTree"=dword:00000001
"SortOrderIndex"=dword:00000042

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}\InProcServer32]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,59,00,53,00,54,00,45,00,4D,00,52,00,4F,00,4F,00,54,00,\
25,00,5C,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6D,00,33,00,32,00,5C,00,73,00,68,\
00,65,00,6C,00,6C,00,33,00,32,00,2E,00,64,00,6C,00,6C,00,00,00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}\ShellFolder]
"FolderValueFlags"=dword:00000028
"Attributes"=dword:f080004d

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\git\\apps\\myTest\\images\\myTest.ico"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}\Instance]
"CLSID"="{0E5AAE11-A475-4c5b-AB00-C66DE400274E}"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}\Instance\InitPropertyBag]
"Attributes"=dword:00000011
"TargetFolderPath"="C:\\Users\\"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\git\\apps\\myTest\\images\\myTest.ico"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}\Instance]
"CLSID"="{0E5AAE11-A475-4c5b-AB00-C66DE400274E}"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}\Instance\InitPropertyBag]
"Attributes"=dword:00000011
"TargetFolderPath"="C:\\Users\\"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]
"{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}]
@="myTest"

Remove the short-cut entries (copy to a new file "remove.reg"):

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]
"{817236c9-da43-4b0f-8aee-0b67446cf689}"=-

Simply double-click the *.reg files to activate. You need to close and re-open the file explorer to see the changes.

On my Windows 8.1 machine, it works fine. On my virtual Windows 7, the link comes up but does not work. If I click, nothing happens.

Any idea, what might be missing or what is wrong? Or does it work on your Windows 7 machines?

Thanks for any hints.

Kukulkan