Annoying! "Windows cannot find..." for Internet shortcuts, then finds them.

I've done too much new installation and cleanup in the past couple of days to list it all, so let me just describe the problem and see whether anyone remembers a solution:

I use a hotkey or shortcut involving a URL, and I get the dialog box that says "Windows cannot find "http://..." Make sure you typed the name correctly and then try again. To search for a file, ..."

The stupid, annoying thing is that I can be looking at the name of the shortcut file in its folder, then hit the hotkey for it and get that dialog, or I can make a shortcut on the desktop to a Web page and click it, and I'll get the same dialog, but my browser will open immediately to the page.

If I make a new shortcut to a file that does NOT involve a URL, there's no problem, and all of my icons and Start Menu items work without producing that annoying dialog EXCEPT the ones that have URLs in their destinations.

Seems to me we saw this here before and solved it, but I can't find the record and don't remember the solution. Can anyone help me out on this?

 

Wisewiz,

I may be off track here, going mainly by the error message. Are you using Firefox? Steve

 

Wisewiz, long time no see. How ya doin?

I don't have a solution for you but I did want to say hey

 

Hi http://image.php?u=7374&dateline=1060890574 Wisewiz

Pretty new to all of this but I had a huge problem with shortcuts. Check out my posts. Did all the normal virus/spyware checks etc. etc. Anyway in my huge search to sort out my problem came across some good info. Here is a link that may help you:-

http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/IEFAQ.htm#webdoc
(See line no 42)

At the end of the day and many hours/days of searching, my problem was due to a incorrect entry in the registry. Sorted it out with Registrar lite.

Hope you sort out your problem soon.

 

Mata,

You bet. Latest version of Firefox. Have you heard something I shd know? I have used the various versions of Phoenix/Firebird/Firefox as my default browsers for over two years with essentially no problems and a LOT of satisfaction.

alan,

Thanks. Better, but still not me. Workin' on it.

mum,

I think your bottom line is right. I've got a major registry problem, but manual editing hasn't solved it. Here's what I think: When I installed Netscape 7.1 a long time ago, it created reg entries for Mozilla all over the place. Later, I used one of the danged INSTALLER versions of Firebird (by mistake: I always used the zip file that didn't "install" itself for all previous versions) and the reg took this to be a "new" Mozilla, and entered it as a DOS MOZILL~1 - named prog. I had to manually change all of the MOZILL~1 entries in the reg to Mozilla Firebird in order to restore full operationality to my machine. But THIS version (0.9.2) had an installer, and required that previous versions be UN-installed, and when it added its own entries to the reg, they came up as MOZILL~2, and suddenly my reg cleaners all said "No such file exists" for every registry entry that starts out with "C:\MOZILL~2\..." and wanted to dump the entries, and any shortcut that called for using the new Firefox failed EXCEPT shortcuts to the executable itself. Etc. Etc. Etc.

So now I'm thinking the easiest path to perfection again is going to be to forget about Netscape (which I rarely use anyway) and OUT it, then out Firefox and out Thunderbird and clean the reg and the Windows Explorer file-listings of all traces of refs to Mozilla (and GRE) and then put Firefox and TBird back in. They don't seem to have a problem with each other in the reg, but both get the MOZILL~x notation for entries sometimes.

Comments, anyone?

 

as suggested in another post. Try changing the URL file association to FireFox.exe

 

Yeah, Mr. K. Did that yesterday, but may not have hit the right ones. There are many URL listings in my file-types list. Sixteen, I think. I tried changing (editing) the Open functions for both of the http (plain and "with privacy") listings by browsing to the exe file, so there could be no question that the file was there, but in the File Types window listings, there's nothing listed in the Opens With place on the panel fror either file-type, and Advanced, then Edit, shows IExplore as the program way down there, and the program line near the top keeps reverting to MOZILL~2, though it shows Mozilla Firefox when I use the browse function to reset it.

 

Wisewiz,

I did some searching last night, I hope this workaround will help. I will also include two links for you before you try anything, because some of the problems mentioned multiple windows opening and Outlook Express which you don't seem to have. It does describe the error message your getting and problems with URLs and shortcuts. So check it out and see what you think.

Looks like their may be a problem with the way Firefox registers itself to handle urls in Windows or an issue with DDE messaging. A workaround for now:

1. Open Explorer
2. Select Tools and then Folder Options
3. Select the File Types tab
4. Select Extension: (NONE), File Type: HyperText Transfer Protocol
5. Click Advanced toward the bottom of the window
6. In the Edit File Type window, select open and click Edit
7. Clear the DDE message box (which should contain "%1")
8. Click OK, Click OK
9. Repeat for File Type: HyperText Transfer Protocol with Privacy

http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=246078
http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=137363

 

Matacumbie, you are a kind and wizardly friend! Many thanks for the unpaid-for searching, and MANY, MANY thanks for the suggested solution ... which worked absolutely perfectly!

There was a lot of garbage in the DDE line for each of the http and http - privacy panels, and once I'd deleted the contents of those crappy lines and reboooted, the machine sang like a canary again.

No more problems with my shortcuts, and all is well.

I had noticed that there was a lot of stuff I didn't recognize in those DDE lines of the panels, but had no idea that I could delete the whole lines and survive the experience with associations intact. Your suggestion made me try it, and after a simple reboot, the fix was ON!

Hope somebody else who's reading this thread will benefit in the future from YOUR discovery, and from YOUR searching.

Very best regards, and humble thanks,

Wisewiz (who has been ill lately, didn't know your work before, is now better, plans to watch your work here in the future, and is feeling neither so 'wise' nor so much of a 'wiz' lately, but is grateful for the monstrously simple solution that kept me from having to uninstall and clean up that whole mess and start all over again with two of my favourite progs.)

 

Nicely done

 

Wisewiz,

You are very welcome. I am glad that it worked and with the popularity of Firefox we may see a few more with the same problems, as you suggested.

Sorry to hear about the illness, hopefully you are on the road to recovery.

Thank's for all the kind words, look forward to seeing you more around here.

........Adrynalyne, I appreciate it.

Steve