# Those shortcut arrows are back! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 16, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-shortcut-arrows-are-back/161712 "2003-03-16T03:08:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-shortcut-arrows-are-back/161712/1 "2003-03-16T03:08:48Z")
I’ve got a PC here running Windows 98SE, and those dorky arrows indicating something is a desktop shortcut have returned to my desktop. I’ve got TweakUI installed on this machine, and for the longest time, it was arrow-free. Then, _something_ happened and the arrows came back. I checked Tweak, and it was still set for no arrows. Just for laughs, I set it for full arrows, and watched the desktop refresh itself. All the shortcuts had arrows. I tried clicking the Prefix “Shortcut to” option, and saw everything relabel itself as Shortcut to… Blech. I cleared that checkbox, and all the “Shortcut to…” went away. Good. At least that function works properly. Encouraged by this, I clicked the no arrows option, watched the desktop refresh, and come back with all the arrows intact. Gaaa!! Thinking Tweak might be broken, I uninstalled it, rebooted and installed a freshly-downloaded copy, straight from Microsoft. Fire it up, select no arrows, and no change. Anybody know what might be wrong here? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-shortcut-arrows-are-back/161712/2 "2003-03-16T03:18:55Z")
Use Regedit and browse for HKEY\_LOCAL\_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows \Current Version\explorer\Shell Icons. Delete the Shell Icons key, then reboot and run Tweakui again. This _should_ fix the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-shortcut-arrows-are-back/161712/3 "2003-03-16T06:04:02Z")
There was a Microsoft critical update (Q313829) released in March that fixes an obscure security vulnerability in shell32.dll. If you ran this update, you probably had your shell32.dll replaced with the newer version that breaks TweakUI. There are two ways that I know of to fix it. You can hack the registry so that the system no longer sees them as shortcuts, or you can reverse the update and remove the updated file. To hack the registry and remove the arrows, back up your registry, and open regedit. Navigate to the **HKEY\_CLASSES\_ROOT\lnkfile** key. Rename the **IsShortcut** values to something like **NoShortcut**. Then navigate to the **HKEY\_CLASSES\_ROOT\piffile** key and do the same thing there. After you reboot, you will have to rebuild your shell icon cache, either manually or by using TweakUI. If you just want to reverse the update, go to start\>run\>sfc.exe and use it to reload the old shell32.dll from your Windows CD. Then use regedit to navigate to the **HKEY\_LOCAL\_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer** key, and delete the **DisableFlushWrites=hex:01,00,00,00** and **UseCopyMaxBufferSize=hex:01,00,00,00** values. Then rebuild your icon cache. Be veeerry careful, and backup your registry first. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-shortcut-arrows-are-back/161712/4 "2003-03-16T21:50:42Z")
Argh… I first tried Q.E.D.'s suggestion. No change. I then tried Joey’s first suggestion, and the only change that produced was adding .lnk to all the shortcuts on the desktop. Fortunately, I was able to import the excised keys back into the registry and get back to where I was 10 minutes ago. As for a newer version of shell32, the version I’ve got is from December 2001. This is just pushing me closer to wanting a new computer. (Honey, I _ **need** _ a new computer because the Registry is screwy!) ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-shortcut-arrows-are-back/161712/5 "2003-03-16T22:09:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gotpasswords \* > \*\*As for a newer version of shell32, the version I’ve got is from December 2001. \*\* I was hoping you would check that _first_, as my advice would only help if it was the critical update that killed it. 🙂 BTW, You did remember to rebuild the icon cache afterwords, right? ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-shortcut-arrows-are-back/161712/6 "2003-03-16T22:40:13Z")
Along the lines of **Joey G** ’s suggestion, go into the registry and find the HKEY\_CLASSES\_ROOT\lnkfile and HKEY\_CLASSES\_ROOT\piffile. In each, there’s an entry marked “IsShortcut”. Rename these to “IsShortcutOld” then restart the computer. The arrows will go away, and you don’t have to rebuild the cache. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-shortcut-arrows-are-back/161712/7 "2003-03-16T22:48:18Z")
**gotpasswords** ; would you mind if I hijack your thread to ask what seems to be a closely related question? I have tweakUI installed on my win98 machine at work and auto login just suddenly stopped working , well _sometimes_ it still works (maybe one boot in twenty)… any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-shortcut-arrows-are-back/161712/8 "2003-03-20T05:05:50Z")
I was just about ready to take advantage of a compelling collection of deals at Dell, when the governor phoned in a reprieve. Well, actually, it was a write-up in a magazine describing a fix for the arrows. Something called FreshUI can be found at: [find.pcworld.com/31472](http://find.pcworld.com/31472) Download and install FreshUI, then fire it up, navigate to Windows Interface - Desktop - Shortcuts - Shorcut Arrows and double-click the Show arrow on shortcuts option and uncheck the three options. Click OK, and reboot. HOORAY! The damn arrows are gone!