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-   -   For The REAL Expert... Win 98 does not know how to handle LINKS any longer :-( (http://www.win98banter.com/showthread.php?t=38851)

Paolo November 3rd 06 10:57 AM

For The REAL Expert... Win 98 does not know how to handle LINKS any longer :-(
 
Hello everybody,

my dad's PC (WIN98/SE) came up with a problem: the links are no longer
recognized as links. Not Internet links: FILE LINKS!

All the links (except for Explorer, that is not a link) on the desktop
now show the generic Windows icon; the little arrow in the lower corner
(characteristic of the links) has disappeared; and the extension .LNK or
..PIF (for DOS applications), normally hidden, is now visible.

If you click on any link, the window that asks you to choose the
application to be used to open that file pops up: but it does not refer
to the APPLICATION file, it refers to the LINK! This means that what went
lost is not the association between a file and the application used to
open it (as sometimes may happen), but something at a lower level: the
association between .LNK and .PIF files and the system.

If you launch directly the executable file of the application from
START|RUN, it opens regularly like always: another proof that what went
lost is just the capability to execute the LINKS, not the applications.

How to get out of this? We have at our disposal another machine with
WIN98/SE, should any file need to be copied from a working system.

Thank you everybody for your help.

Ingeborg November 3rd 06 12:01 PM

For The REAL Expert... Win 98 does not know how to handle LINKS any longer :-(
 
Paolo wrote:

Hello everybody,

my dad's PC (WIN98/SE) came up with a problem: the links are no longer
recognized as links. Not Internet links: FILE LINKS!

All the links (except for Explorer, that is not a link) on the desktop
now show the generic Windows icon; the little arrow in the lower corner
(characteristic of the links) has disappeared; and the extension .LNK

or
.PIF (for DOS applications), normally hidden, is now visible.

If you click on any link, the window that asks you to choose the
application to be used to open that file pops up: but it does not refer
to the APPLICATION file, it refers to the LINK! This means that what

went
lost is not the association between a file and the application used to
open it (as sometimes may happen), but something at a lower level: the
association between .LNK and .PIF files and the system.

If you launch directly the executable file of the application from
START|RUN, it opens regularly like always: another proof that what went
lost is just the capability to execute the LINKS, not the applications.

How to get out of this? We have at our disposal another machine with
WIN98/SE, should any file need to be copied from a working system.

Thank you everybody for your help.


Is the problem less than 5 days old? In that case try a registry restore.

"How to Manually Restore the Windows 98/Me Registry"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/221512

Choose the backup from before the problem arrived.


mort November 3rd 06 12:20 PM

For The REAL Expert... Win 98 does not know how to handle LINKS any longer :-(
 

"Paolo" wrote in message
...
Hello everybody,
If you click on any link,


If You?
---------


If you launch directly


If You?
----------

How to get out of this?


Tale a deep breath....



kimbo_ November 3rd 06 12:29 PM

For The REAL Expert... Win 98 does not know how to handle LINKS any longer :-(
 
Sorry can`t help but they are refered to as short cuts not links.

--
I`m not a complete idiot, there`s still a few bits missing

Tale a deep breath....

LOL




glee November 3rd 06 02:58 PM

For The REAL Expert... Win 98 does not know how to handle LINKS any longer :-(
 
Hi Paolo,

If Ingeborg's suggestion of restoring the previous registry does not work for you,
download this zip file:
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/assets/images/LnkW98.zip
from MVP Ron Badour's web page:
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/reg_files.html

Unzip the .reg file in the .zip file to your Desktop, then right-click the .reg
file, click "Merge" on the menu that appears, then OK to the confirmation message.

That will repair the .LNK association. If you need to also repair the .PIF
association, let me know and I will upload a .reg file for that to my web space, and
post a link.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Paolo" wrote in message
...
Hello everybody,

my dad's PC (WIN98/SE) came up with a problem: the links are no longer
recognized as links. Not Internet links: FILE LINKS!

All the links (except for Explorer, that is not a link) on the desktop
now show the generic Windows icon; the little arrow in the lower corner
(characteristic of the links) has disappeared; and the extension .LNK or
.PIF (for DOS applications), normally hidden, is now visible.

If you click on any link, the window that asks you to choose the
application to be used to open that file pops up: but it does not refer
to the APPLICATION file, it refers to the LINK! This means that what went
lost is not the association between a file and the application used to
open it (as sometimes may happen), but something at a lower level: the
association between .LNK and .PIF files and the system.

If you launch directly the executable file of the application from
START|RUN, it opens regularly like always: another proof that what went
lost is just the capability to execute the LINKS, not the applications.

How to get out of this? We have at our disposal another machine with
WIN98/SE, should any file need to be copied from a working system.

Thank you everybody for your help.



Paolo November 3rd 06 03:03 PM

For The REAL Expert... Win 98 does not know how to handle LINKS any longer :-(
 
On Fri, 3 Nov 2006 11:29:58 -0000, "kimbo_"
wrote:

Sorry can`t help but they are refered to as short cuts not links.


Well, sorry for that, but the Italian name they are referred to is
translated "LINK" in English.

Apart of this, any suggestion?
Thank you Ingeborg, I'll try it ASAP.

Gary S. Terhune November 3rd 06 07:45 PM

For The REAL Expert... Win 98 does not know how to handle LINKS any longer :-(
 
They may be referred to as Shortcuts in English, but the filetype is
"lnkfile" with the (hidden) extension LNK. LNK is short for LINK.

--

Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"kimbo_" wrote in message
...
Sorry can`t help but they are refered to as short cuts not links.

--
I`m not a complete idiot, there`s still a few bits missing

Tale a deep breath....

LOL






Franc Zabkar November 3rd 06 08:09 PM

For The REAL Expert... Win 98 does not know how to handle LINKS any longer :-(
 
On Fri, 03 Nov 2006 09:57:38 GMT, Paolo put finger
to keyboard and composed:

the extension .LNK or
.PIF (for DOS applications), normally hidden, is now visible.


FWIW I have intentionally set up my PC to display the extensions of
all my .lnk and .pif files. Maybe I'm paranoid but I suspect malware
could hide inside an innocent looking file such as filename.txt(.pif).

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

Paolo November 3rd 06 08:52 PM

For The REAL Expert... Win 98 does not know how to handle LINKS any longer :-(
 
On Fri, 3 Nov 2006 08:58:28 -0500, "glee"
wrote:

Hi Paolo,

If Ingeborg's suggestion of restoring the previous registry does not work for you,
download this zip file:
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/assets/images/LnkW98.zip
from MVP Ron Badour's web page:
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/reg_files.html

Unzip the .reg file in the .zip file to your Desktop, then right-click the .reg
file, click "Merge" on the menu that appears, then OK to the confirmation message.

That will repair the .LNK association. If you need to also repair the .PIF
association, let me know and I will upload a .reg file for that to my web space, and
post a link.


Glen, there is a problem: when I right-click on that file, there isn't
any "MERGE" option available. This isn't a mere question of language
(my WIN98 is italian): there isn't any option that would mean "merge" in
Italian. There are the usual options of always: copy-cut-paste etc...
What do I do?
Sorry for crossposting, if it's OK for you to keep this discussion in
microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion or any other, I will quit the
others.

Thank you.

Gary S. Terhune November 3rd 06 08:57 PM

For The REAL Expert... Win 98 does not know how to handle LINKS any longer :-(
 
Except in extraordinary (and temporary) circumstances, Show All Files should
always be enabled and Hide Extensions should always be DISabled. In fact,
with one exception (Show pop-up descriptions) I always change Win98's folder
options for Files & Folders to exactly the opposite of duhfaults.

--

Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"Franc Zabkar" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 03 Nov 2006 09:57:38 GMT, Paolo put finger
to keyboard and composed:

the extension .LNK or
.PIF (for DOS applications), normally hidden, is now visible.


FWIW I have intentionally set up my PC to display the extensions of
all my .lnk and .pif files. Maybe I'm paranoid but I suspect malware
could hide inside an innocent looking file such as filename.txt(.pif).

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.




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