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Deleting shortcut means deleting program file

Anonymous
2014-05-06T10:12:13+00:00

When attempting to delete unused desktop shortcut in Windows 7 the message " you'll need to provide administrator permission to delete this file". When providing the credential, the exe file is deleted from the program folder.

This is the second time I come accross the problem with Win7 64bits, and am not able to find  a solution to the issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Looking forward to your suggestions

H.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Apps

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-05-06T12:13:53+00:00

    The arrow is on the bottom left,   and comes from what I understand C:\Users\Public\Desktop.

    However, this box shows up 

    , and after clicking  continue and providing the password, the application is broken and the file the shortcut is pointing towards is missing. 

    I suspect that a program might have changed something in the registry, but I am out of my depth here. This behavior is displayed for every shortcuts located on the desktop pointing towards a program. Deleting shortcuts towards a file does not delete the file.

    10+ people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2014-05-06T11:16:04+00:00

    Deleting a shortcut does not remove the file itself, removing a shortcut to a program will normally bring up a warning to that effect and that you would still need to uninstall the program.

    7 people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2014-05-06T11:45:19+00:00

    Does the program icon have an arrow in the bottom left corner?

    If it doesn't, it isn't a shortcut. It is the main program executable file, and Windows may well require permission..

    4 people found this answer helpful.
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  4. Anonymous
    2015-01-02T21:26:30+00:00

    It does on this computer. (see the following post). I thought that may be something had changed in the registry.

    3 people found this answer helpful.
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  5. Anonymous
    2014-05-06T18:58:09+00:00

    Adobe is a law unto itself. I prefer Foxit reader because it is less invasive, faster etc. You might want to replace Adobe reader with Foxit too..

    http://www.foxitsoftware.com/

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