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Cannot create shortcuts on desktop (XP)

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9 replies

by wsiliezar 2 views

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Ok guys, I have another weird problem with a user that I can't figure out.

When the user tries to create a shortcut from the Program Files by right clicking the application, the user receives the following error:

"Windows could not create the shortcut. Check to see if the disk is full"

Checked the disk, it is nowhere near full.
If I try to create the shortcut by simply dragging the application from the Program Files onto the desktop, the following error appears:

"Error moving file or folder. Cannot move Microsoft Word: Access is denied. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use"

The disk is not write protected and the file is not in use. If I log into the user's machine with the Administrator account, I can create the shortcuts with no problems at all. Thanks in advance.

9 replies

by toivo talikka

Does the user belong to the local group Administrators or is it a limited user?

Windows complains about moving. A silly question but could it be a finger problem or problem with the mouse? Have you tried right clicking and copying and pasting?

If you can log into the user's machine with the Administrator account, you can copy the necessary shortcuts to the Desktop folder in the problem user's profile as a workaround. Or was that what you just did?

by wsiliezar

The user has a domain account on the PC as an administrator, so she can basically do anything on that PC. It could not be a finger/mouse problem because I'm able to do it while I log onto the machine as the administrator. I really would like to find the solution, vice using a workaround.

by hal 9000

Sounds like the user account is restricted and doing what was intended by the person who set it up.

If you want to change the users Account privileges you'll need to go into their account and change the privileges to what you want in this case a Full Administrator Privileges.

Col

by wsiliezar

That is what I thought as well, but the user has full control and is set up as an administrator. To test if the user didn't have the priviledges, I created a domain account on another pc, had her log into the pc, and tried to create the shortcuts. She was able to create them fine. If I try to copy the shortcut from the Program Files and pasting it, I get the "Access Denied" error, but she has full control over the entire HD.

by wsiliezar

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Update
Finally figured it out. Apparently the user was not in the security settings for her user profile. She had no access to anything. Added her and the problem was solved. Thank you for your help.

by rkc

I am having the same problem. I went to the security settings, but it is far from clear which of the options relates to being able to create a shortcut. Can you please give me the specifics? Thank you.

by rogerpvhjmk

I'm recovering from a virus. With explorer.exe I can go to "desktop" and see a list of all the icons that used to be on the desktop, mostly shortcuts. They work (clicking on them activates them fine.) But I can't drag them to the actual desktop - when the mouse gets there I just see the "forbidden" icon. Same deal if I try to drag a shortcut from the "all programs" listing. I can't right-click on the desktop - the mouse does not respond. The system is XP. The desktop is not locked (at least, the box for locking it is not checked in desktop properties.)

by cybberia

The solution I found when I had this issue is to go into C: then documents and settings, then find your user account folder. In my case, the Desktop folder was missing. So I created one called Desktop. I could then create desktop shortcuts. I know you already solved this, but I am leaving this for others who may have google searched this same issue. Thanks, Cybberia.

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