[rebelcavone]

Just a note of caution, while everything was going just fine with my XP, I downloaded GOOGLE CHROME. It SUCKED, so I uninstalled it. Shortly thereafter, and without any consistency, my desktop icon links quit working like falling dominoes. I tried all the suggested fixes to registry out there without success. Continuing to search for a fix, I came across the Google Chrome issue regarding uninstalling it as the root of the problem. I went back into TOOLS/INTERNET OPTIONS/PROGRAMS/ and reset Internet Explorer as Default Browser.....VOILA!!!!! The bottom line is if you have installed, then uninstalled GOOGLE CHROME, you need to go in and reset your default browser to IE as above. Otherwise you will have the same problem I did.
Of course, other issues can kill off your shortcut links, but this is what was wrong with mine.

[floppybootstomp]

Worth knowing rebelcavone, and welcome to the Forum

[rebelcavone]

Thanks for the note of welcome floppybootstomp. I have just enough knowledge to fix some things, and also screw some things up with my operating system.
It is forums like this that solve real problems, the real benefit being in layman's terms, and I really appreciate them. I was able to fix my problem myself because of the sharing of experiences of others certainly smarter than I am.

Having said that, I will go with Kurt Vonnegut on one thing--"If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you're a one-eyed man in a kingdom of the blind"

Good to be on board, and thanks! rebelcavone