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Unable To Create Shortcut (internet link) in Explorer
I've been having issues creating internet URL shortcuts in folders in Windows Explorer lately. This is in an office domain environment, and the folders are stored on a Windows Server 2012 R2 box. My workstation is Win10 1909 Build 18363.592.
I routinely create links in ShareFile that point to project folders there, and store that link as a Shortcut in the corresponding project file on our server. I do this by creating the SF link, copying to clipboard, then right-click in Windows Explorer > New > Shortcut > paste URL and give it a name. Then it pops up with this message:
I hit OK then I see this message, along with the shortcut file with a different icon. I have no idea why it thinks it already exists.
When I right-click and go to Properties of the resulting file, it says it's a "New Internet Shortcut" .url file, but there is no target listed, and double-clicking the file results in a message about "The target "" of this internet shortcut is not valid".
If I delete the shortcut, and go through the same process again, usually it will create the proper shortcut (with a Firefox-style icon) the second time, with the proper URL target. Although sometimes it takes 2 or 3 attempts to get it to "take". And once it does, double-clicking the shortcut opens Firefox (my default browser) and goes straight to the URL link. What's going on here?
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Well I have no idea why this was put in Networking and Sharing. I'm trying to create a shortcut in Windows Explorer. I don't see how this relates to Networking. It must be some Windows issue and I'm trying to understand why or what is causing it.
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So it doesn't matter what URL the shortcut points to. The first time I try to create the shortcut in any given folder, it fails as shown above in the screen shots. Then after deleting, I create it again and it will work the 2nd time around, although sometimes it takes 3 tries to make it work.