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When some programs are installed, they create shortcuts in the start menu and possibly on the desktop, on which you can't edit the target, can't change the icon for, nor can you open the target file's location (Vista and 7) through the properties window. This is a little frustrating since you will have to manually browse for the executable if you need to append some command-line arguments.

What is the motivation behind this?

Examples include shortcuts to Office programs and Gears of War for PC.

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  • because they don't WANT you changing them.
    – Phoshi
    Nov 24, 2009 at 12:09
  • Is this supposed to be an answer? Why did you then post as a comment? And it's hardly a motivation: It's sometimes necessary to modify the shortcuts, and non-power-user users hardly know how to do it anyway.
    – Cecil Has a Name
    Nov 24, 2009 at 12:21

1 Answer 1

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Those are called Advertised Shortcuts and are created by MSI packages. Their benefit is that they can self-repair if they find the application is damaged or missing files.

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  • Thanks, finally a valid explanation. Sorry for the late accept, though, been away from the Internet too long ;-)
    – Cecil Has a Name
    Nov 26, 2009 at 13:16

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