Desktop icons when creating shortcuts

[Ron Fluegge]

I have installation package for a .NET app that works just fine.

However, the client has installed the app on a network drive and wants to
install a "desktop shortcut" on each user's Win2000 machine that points to
the app on the network drive.

The only problem the users have is with the shortcut creation in that they
have to do a Start | Run then Browse to the location where the app is. At
that point when they have the EXE displayed in the Browse dialog, they
right-click on the EXE and select Send To | Desktop (create shortcut).

This "procedure" for creating the shortcut is not ours, but the client's IT
folks.

They are somehow not making the network drive "available" to be viewed in
Windows Explorer; so the only way the users can "find" the app is to use the
Start | Run then Browse process.

It creates the shortcut, but the icon displayed is not the one compiled into
the application -- it's the general Windows icon for programs.

They can't seem to get it to display.

Interestingly enough it does work fine "sometimes", but fails like 95% of
the time. When it fails, they cannot get it to display without copying an
extra copy of the icon file somewhere on the user's machine and setting the
icon path to it.

The shortcut itself works just fine.

Any thoughts or suggestions as to why it might be happening on their
network. Of course, it works just fine on our network, but not on the
clients ... and as I said it does work just fine on theirs too "sometimes"
when they create the shortcut. The client's IT folks attribute the failing
icons to the users not having installed any of the Win2000 patches on their
machines -- BTW, it is their corporate policy to not install any Win2000
patches.

I know it's not a "critical issue", but it's pretty important to my client
so it became important to me.

Again, any advice, thoughts, etc would be very much appreciated.

Ron

 

[DL]

I guess you could say that 'corporate policy' is another name for 'corporate
suicide ?

 

[Ron Fluegge]

Yes ... here's an update ...

I got this from my client's contact person (a user):

"BTW someone from IT called me back about the Icon issue. Their thought is
that when it doesn't work (which is most of the time) it is probably because
the OS is not up-to-date. They even said they have encountered machines
that are not up to SP 3! (Win2000) IT's amazing .. (can be read two ways).
They have suggested creating the shortcut on the server and dragging it to
the desktop to see if that will work on 'older' machines."

You need to understand that it is their IT's corporate policy to NOT update
the OS's with ANY service packs!!!! But, of course, they have "their"
machines updated with all of the service packs -- they're not stupid!!!

I also found out that the shortcuts and the icons work the first time and
every time on the IT department machines ... based on "their own testing".
Surprise!! Surprise!! Surprise!!

Based on my contact person's testing today (she found a rogue user who
actually has all of the current service packs/hotfixes installed), it works
the first time and every time when the OS is "up to date".

Quoting from above "IT's amazing" ... can indeed be read two ways!!!!

Anyway wanted to pass along the "results" in case anyone else encounters the
case of the "missing" icons ....

Ron