Desktop links changed to .url

Nonax · 15 Aug 2020

Since yesterday a couple of links on my desktop changed into .url files. The icons are not showing and they do not function anymore. For example Portal 2 (steam game) now shows a white icon with the text Portal 2.url. It contains the following information (I changed the GUI to XXX):
[{XXXX}]
Prop3=19,0
[InternetShortcut]
IDList=
IconIndex=0
URL=steam://rungameid/620
IconFile=C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam\games\XXXX.ico

What is going on? Can I repair this somehow?

KeithM · 15 Aug 2020

Is Explorer set to show or hide known extensions?

.url is the extension for internet shortcuts and they are simply text files with a .url extension:

Code:

PS C:\...\desktop>gci *.url


    Directory: C:\Users\keith\desktop


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a----         7/25/2020   2:36 PM            169 Ancestry DNA REsults.url
-a----         5/25/2020  12:46 PM            223 Batch is Dead.url
-a----         7/22/2018  11:39 PM            190 CTA  Bus Tracker.url
-a----          8/5/2018   9:11 PM            315 Desktop, Start, & Personalizaion.url
-a----         7/22/2018  11:19 PM            373 FIles, Folders, and Storage.url
-a----          6/2/2020   4:16 AM            196 I discover JumpListItems_Maximun.url
-a----         7/22/2018  11:32 PM            208 Morning Joe - Joe Scarborough, Mika
                                                  Brzezinski, & Willie Geist.url
-a----         3/16/2020  10:03 PM            114 New Internet Shortcut.url
-a----          7/1/2020  12:43 AM            174 Stack Overflow - View Question.url
-a----         7/22/2018  11:31 PM            299 Technet forums.url


PS C:\...\desktop>gc 'technet forums.url'
[{000214A0-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}]
Prop3=19,11
[InternetShortcut]
IDList=
URL=https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/home?forum=ITCG%2Cwin10itprogeneral%2Cwinserverpowershell
IconFile=https://i1.social.s-msft.com/Forums/GlobalResources/images/Technet/favicon.ico
IconIndex=1
PS C:\...\desktop>

But the .url extenstion, like .lnk, in snormally hidden even when most extensions are shown. The most likely cause is that your files have had a .txt.extension appended --- filename.url.txt. Check a file listing in Command Prompt or PowerShell.

Try3 · 16 Aug 2020

Nonax said:

Since yesterday a couple of links on my desktop changed into .url files.

What were they before?

The contents you posted do look like a standard url so there does not seem to be anything unusual happening.
- I don't use steam so I do not know what that URL=steam://rungameid/620 line should look like.

Denis

Pejole2165 · 16 Aug 2020

Steam game icons do use the URL type, along the lines of URL steam://rungameid/xxxxxx, have you recently moved your steam folder? If so you need to point steam to where the game files reside. If not then you could try changing the shortcut icon and browse to where the game file exists and choose the correct one from the game .exe.
That might solve the issue.

Nonax · 16 Aug 2020

Thank you for your answers.
I do indeed have show extensions on, and there is no .url.txt in the file names. The strange thing is that all .lnk extensions are hidden and show an icon as expected. On this hint however I checked if some application had hijacked the .url extension, but is not the case. The extension is in the list, but no application default application is attached.
And it seems to be specific for the .url extension as I have the same problem with other links which use the .url format, i.e. the same happens with links for UPlay games.
Then I checked the registry, and the strange thing is that the default handler {8CD34779-9F10-4f9b-ADFB-B3FAEABDAB5A} is not in the registry anymore. In hindsight, this might be related to installing PowerToys. So I did just remove it, but that hasn't solved the problem unfortunately.
-- edit --
Now I have copied the registry keys for the default handler and another missing key of a Registered add in:{7EE0A24E-A8C6-46ae-A875-8E7C3D18AEAF} from another Win10 machine. The latter key points to C:\Windows\System32\ieframe.dll. However this also has not solved it yet

- - - Updated - - -

Fixed it!
On my other Win10 machine the .url extension is coupled to "Internet Browser". So I went to Settings - Default Apps - Choose default apps by file type and set "Internet Browser" as default app for the .url extension. That did the trick.

Wasupmacuz · 1 Week Ago

Nonax said:

Fixed it!
On my other Win10 machine the .url extension is coupled to "Internet Browser". So I went to Settings - Default Apps - Choose default apps by file type and set "Internet Browser" as default app for the .url extension. That did the trick.

Thanks for posting your fix. The issue happened to me when I deleted Internet Explorer from my computer.