Reset file association for .lnk

I accidentally and stupidly associated Internet Explorer with .lnk (shortcuts). Its a short story, but takes a long time to explain. Anyway, its permanently associated. I tried a few different things on the Microsoft site, but they were only for WinNT. I am running Win2k. The ability to associate shortcuts with programs was taken away in XP, I guess for this reason. Can anyone help me out? Thanks.

 

Hey Phil,

Open up a command prompt and type in assoc .lnk=lnkfile

That will reset the association for shortcuts.

 

Neat. I didn't know that.

 

Why Adryn, I thought you knew all things Windows!

Seriously though, since assoc is not an .exe (or a .com for that matter), I wonder if this could be a usable fix for someone whose .exe association has become fooked up.

 

Not sure I follow your question. AFAIK, Irfanview can only associate file types with itself.

 

Right, file types that you want Irfanview to open by default.

The .lnk extension is a special type of shortcut file that isn't normally listed in Control Panel > Folder Options > File Types, but is accessible (and can be modified) via the assoc command.

To see all the associations, type assoc | more in a command prompt window, hold down Enter to scroll down.

 

You'll get there, you're in the right place

Go to Windows Help > Index > "commands, (See also specific command)" to see an alphabetized list of commands. Hours o' fun!

 

I tried assoc multiple time. It doesn't work. I also tried manually changing the registry (the WinNT fix on the Mircrosoft site). It seems that Windows knows it is a lnkfile, but tries to open it with explorer (and download it). I changed the program it opens with to notepad and opens in that, but holding the mouse over the lnk, it says "Type: LNK File"

 

I figured I would mess around with the file types, cuz it couldn't get any worse. I created a new file type (LNK) and clicked Restore, and it fixed it! Thanks so much for everything guys.