Desktop shortcut locations

[hmsSurprise]

Is there a file or registry entry that specifies where shortcuts are

placed?

I would like to be able to find the shortcuts and specify their locations.

Would also need to be able to turn off icon auto arrange.

Thanx,

jh

(I have asked a similar question b4 but now realize that desktop icons and shortcuts are two different things.)

Edited April 16, 2007 by hmsSurprise

[AquilaChill]

your going to have to be more specific, shortcuts can be stored anywhere.

are you asking where the desktop folder is?

9x C:\WINDOWS\Desktop & xp C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Desktop

are you asking where the shortcuts point to?

right click on the shortcut>properties>shortcut tab>target text input

be more specific please, we can't help you if we don't know what you need

[hmsSurprise]

Thanks for posting, I'll try again.

When a user starts windows the shortcut icons appear in a particular location on the screen each time. If auto arrange is turned off these icons can be placed anywhere on the screen. This location information must be stored somewhere because the new locations are 'remembered' after a re-start. I want to know where this icon placement information is saved and if possible edit it via a script to place the icons exactly where I want them. Of course auto arrange must be turned off or nothing will stay put.

I also have a folder of shortcuts for our inhouse applications. I open the folder and drag these onto the desktop. Would like to place them via a script too.

Thanks again,

jh

[JohnBailey]

have you tried MSDN.com for information on this?

[AquilaChill]

i havn't a clue as to where the icon arrangements are saved, leme try somthing... i will edit this poste when done

as for the shortcuts, FileCreateShortcut() if they never change, unless you need to just copy the shortcuts from the folder (if they change, new ect) then use FileCopy() test/edit ect tho

hope i helped...

[hmsSurprise]

have you tried MSDN.com for information on this?

Thanks for posting.

Finally got an answer after properly phrasing my question and asking at the right time of day....

Desktop view settings are saved here:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\1\Desktop

If icons have been manually positioned, the layout is stored in this value:

ItemPos1024x768(1) (the name is dependent on your screen resolution)

Auto Arrange is controlled by a bit in the 'FFlags' value. Here are its

possible settings:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms649291.aspx

Now I need to learn how to safely edit the registry ( or is that an oxymoron?).

jh

Edited April 17, 2007 by hmsSurprise

[hmsSurprise]

i havn't a clue as to where the icon arrangements are saved, leme try somthing... i will edit this poste when done

as for the shortcuts, FileCreateShortcut() if they never change, unless you need to just copy the shortcuts from the folder (if they change, new ect) then use FileCopy() test/edit ect tho

hope i helped...

Thanks, but I don't think FileCreateShortcut() lets one specify the screen position.

[ChrisL]

That registry section looks rather complex, how about you arrange the icons on a PC how you want them and export that registry entry then import the file back in on the other PC's you wish to arrange the positions on.

[hmsSurprise]

That registry section looks rather complex, how about you arrange the icons on a PC how you want them and export that registry entry then import the file back in on the other PC's you wish to arrange the positions on.

Thanks Chris, an excellent approach. I hate to admit it but I only discovered today that AutoIt has RegRead and RegWrite commands.

jh

[Richard Robertson]

I've always wondered about this myself. I gave up on organizing my desktop when I started playing games on my TV. The resolution is normally 1280x800 for my laptop LCD, but the TV is not widescreen. I had icons arranged on the sides, but I just auto-arrange now.

[hmsSurprise]

I've always wondered about this myself. I gave up on organizing my desktop when I started playing games on my TV. The resolution is normally 1280x800 for my laptop LCD, but the TV is not widescreen. I had icons arranged on the sides, but I just auto-arrange now.

We set up servers in house and then ship them to our clients. When they have a problem we go in via eBlvd to assist. Since we have a large and growing number of these systems deployed we like to have things setup the same from one machine to the next. Right now we build them by hand and place all the icons after installing all the software. Since the setup takes hours and we are doing more and more of them I am trying to do as much as possible with AutoIt. I am having mixed but generally good success.

jh

[ChrisL]

We set up servers in house and then ship them to our clients. When they have a problem we go in via eBlvd to assist. Since we have a large and growing number of these systems deployed we like to have things setup the same from one machine to the next. Right now we build them by hand and place all the icons after installing all the software. Since the setup takes hours and we are doing more and more of them I am trying to do as much as possible with AutoIt. I am having mixed but generally good success.

jh

So why don't you image them?

We use powerquest at work to do this, although they are now owned by symantec but you could use Ghost, there are also freebies out there too.

You create one server then clone the hard drive and restore the clone on another machine then use a SID changer to generate a new SID.

Saves hours!

[hmsSurprise]

So why don't you image them?

We use powerquest at work to do this, although they are now owned by symantec but you could use Ghost, there are also freebies out there too.

You create one server then clone the hard drive and restore the clone on another machine then use a SID changer to generate a new SID.

Saves hours!

I left out some details.

Would like to clone them but there are multiple disk configurations and even numbers of drives. Also often must work with systems that have existing programs and data on them.

Also some of the setups are order and data dependent where the data changes frequently. We could image the ones we start from scratch but since a lot are upgrades or mods I must do ottherwise.

Thanks,

jh