Removing the Arrow from Windows Shortcuts

If you want to remove the arrow that appears on Windows shortcuts, you can do so by using the following procedure.

1. Click on Start.
2. Select Run.
3. Type regedit
4. Click on Ok.
5. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile.
6. On the right side of the window, right-click on IsShortcut and choose Delete.

Remember, you must be careful when editing the registry. Mistakes in editing registry entries can cause significant problems.

As an alternative to the above method, you can use this shortcut-arrow-removal.reg registry file, which will delete the IsShortcut key from the registry. Download the file (you can right-click on the link and choose "download", "save link target as", or whatever your browser ues to initiate a download) and then, once it is downloaded, double-click on the file on your system. When prompted "Are you sure you want to add the information in shortcut-arrow-removal.reg to the registry?", select "Yes". That action will result in the key being removed; the prompt about adding information is just the default message that appears whenever you click on a .reg file.

References:

1. Remove shortcut arrow from desktop icons
   Free PC Tech Support - Guides and FAQs

[/os/windows/registry] permanent link

Problem Uninstalling Starddock Central Applications

A family member uninstalled StarDock Central, but then found the files for the software were still under C:\Program Files and the applications, such as WindowBlinds, which are part of the software, still seemed to be active on the system.

I suggested reinstalling StardDock Central and then uninstalling the various modules, such as WindowBlinds from within it. After reinstalling StarDock Central and then opening StarDock Central, right-clicking on the various packages and choosing "uninstall" would not uninstall the packages.

Trying to uninstall IconPackager produced the message below.

Stardock Central

There has been an error uninstalling IconPackager. Would you like to set the item as uninstalled? Yes     No

Trying to uninstall WindowBlinds produced a similar message

Stardock Central

There has been an error uninstalling WindowBlinds4. Would you like to set the item as uninstalled? Yes     No

On one of the StarDock Forums, there was a posting Uninstall Problem Gives me an error where someone reported a problem uninstalling WindowBlinds to which a respondent suggested running a "zapper" program from StarDock to uninstall StarDock applications. The ODNT Component Zapper is available from Downloads at the Stardock site.

Stardock describes it as a "Utility program that can be used to unload or remove Object Desktop components (like if an install.log file is missing). Warning: this will delete any installed skins/themes for the component when used to uninstall that component."

I ran the program and chose "Select All" to remove all Object Desktop components.

A window popped up showing the applications to be removed, but the list was so long I couldn't see the buttons at the bottom and there was no scrollbar. But, since the default response button was "Yes", hitting the enter key resulted in an attempt to zap the programs, but then I saw "odnt_zapper.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for any inconvenience." However when I restarted the ODNT Component Zapper, I didn't see any applications listed to remove this time under the Uninstall tab. But under the Unload tab, I saw WebBlinds listed. I chose to unload it by selecting it and then clicking on Apply.

I then clicked on Start, Control Panel, and then Add or Remove Programs, chose Stardock Central, and then Change/Remove to remove it from the system.

The C:\Program Files\Stardock folder remained, so I attempted to manually delete it. When I tried deleting it, I saw the message "Renaming, moving or deleting 'Stardock' could make some programs not work. Are you sure you want to do this?" I chose "No" and rebooted, thinking perhaps a DLL file associated with the program might still be loaded in memory. I got the same message after rebooting when I tried uninstalling it again, but this time I chose "Yes" to proceed with the uninstall

1. Uninstall Problem Gives me an error
   By kid4christ
   Posted December 10, 2005
   Stardock Forums

[/os/windows/software/themes] permanent link