Shortcut Arrow

How to Remove or Change the Shortcut Arrow and Name in Vista​

   Information

This will show you how to remove, restore, or change the Shortcut Arrow on shortcuts. You will also see how to enable or disable the Shortcut name extension when new shortcuts are created.

   Note

If you accidentally used a XP method of doing this by removing or renaming the IsShortCut registry, then the shortcuts in Favorite Links, Media Center, and in the Games Explorer disappear or will not work anymore. Vista uses this value to track links, lots of programs and features that use links will not work correctly like the ones above. You can use this program below to fix them by restoring the shortcut arrow, then you can make any changes you like afterwards.

   Warning

Removing the shortcut arrow from shortcut icons can make it hard to tell which files are shortcuts or not. This can lead to you accidentally deleting the actual file instead of just a shortcut to it.

OPTION ONE

Using a Program

1. If you have not already, click on the Download button below to download the Vista Shortcut Overlay Remover (Vista Shortcut Overlay Manager) program below for the 32-bit or 64-bit Vista you have installed. Save the .zip file to your desktop, extract (drag and drop) the .msi file to your desktop, and install it.​

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32-bit (x86) Vista​

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64-bit (x64) Vista​

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2. Double click on the program's shortcut to run the program.​

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3. To Change or Remove the Arrow for All Shortcuts ​

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A) Select (dot) the arrow option you want for the shortcut arrow. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: If you selected Custom Arrow, then click on Select to navigate to and choose a ICO (icon) file you have downloaded to use.​

4. To Remove the "Shortcut" Name from All Shortcuts ​

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A) Check the box to also remove the - Shortcut name extension for new shortcuts that are created.​

5. Click on Apply.​

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6. Click on Yes to log off to apply the changes. (See screenshot below)​

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7. Log back on and your done.​

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OPTION TWO

To Manually do this Through the Registry

NOTE: This option will allow you to only remove or restore the shortcut arrow on all shortcuts old and new.

1. Click on the Download button below to download the file below.​

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Remove_Restore_Shortcut_Arrow.zip​

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2. To Remove the Shortcut Arrow​

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A) Open the ZIP file (step 1), and extract the Blank.ico file, and either the 32-bit or 64-bit Remove_Shortcut_Arrow.reg file for your Vista version to the desktop.​

NOTE: To see if your Vista is a 32-bit or 64-bit version, open the Start Menu and right click on Computer and click on Properties. Under System Type, you will see what version of Vista you have.​

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B) Right click on the Blank.ico file and click on Properties.​

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C) Under the General tab, click on the Unblock button if there. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: If the Unblock button is not there, then the file is already unblocked. Continue on to step D below.​

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D) Copy and Paste the Blank.ico into the C:\Windows folder, then click on Continue and Continue to approve the copy.​

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E) Right click on the 32-bit or 64-bit Remove_Shortcut_Arrow.reg file for your Vista version and click on Merge, then click on Continue, Yes, and OK to approve the merge.​

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F) Go to step 4.​

3. To Restore the Shortcut Arrow​

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A) Open the ZIP file (step 1), and extract the Restore_Shortcut_Arrow.reg file to the desktop.​

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B) Right click on the Restore_Shortcut_Arrow.reg file and click on Merge, then click on Continue, Yes, and OK to approve the merge.​

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C) In the C:\Windows folder, right click on the Blank.ico file and click on Delete, Continue, and Continue.​

NOTE: This is for when you have used step 2 above to remove the shortcut arrow previously.​

4. Log off and log on, or restart the computer to apply.​

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5. You can now delete the downloaded files on your desktop if you like.​

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Remove the Shortcut Prefix On the Shortcut Name in Vista
• How to Change a Default Open Window Size for a Shortcut in Vista
• How to Create a Keyboard Shortcut for a Program in Vista
• How to Change the Target Path Location of a Shortcut in Vista
• How to Change a Shortcut Folder or File Icon in Vista
• How to Hide or Show Desktop Icon Text in Vista
• How to Hide or Show File Names in Vista
• How to Hide a Folder or Shortcut Icon in Vista
• How to Fix Game Shortcut Links in Vista Games Explorer

 

[Beebe]

Well the second option worked for me thank you. I d/l .net 1.1 and the SP1 and hotfix, and Vista Overlay Remover 2.0 (FXVisor) still gave me an error of "Unhandled Exception". Oh, well I guess it's my welcome to the 64bit world.
Thanks,
Beebe

 

[Brink]

Thank you for posting back your results Beebe. My guess is that some update in Vista may have caused the Frameworx program to no longer function properly in certain circumstances, and Frameworx just has not updated the program since then.

I was thinking about removing this program as on option in the tutorial, but it still works fine for many though.

 

[Beebe]

I wouldn't remove it. Eventough, it looks like Frameworkx has gone AWOL. Just warn that with some systems you may get an error, and it just may not work. (Which BTW really burns me up LOL because usually the solution is very simple) When I ran 32bit Vista FXVisor worked just fine.
Again, thanks for the help. Maybe between games I will look at it closer. I just built this rig, and kind of wanna see what it can do right now. I diffently will be looking at these forums in the future, to get help, or help if I can.
Take care Shawn.

 

[Brink]

OK. Take care Beebe.

 

[headshot]

all of u who got errors, just log off windows and log back in.
it works fine to me, try it

 

[espressoguy]

I downloaded version 2 of Vista Shortcut Overlay Manager. When I choose the "no arrow" option and click apply I get the following messages..." Your settings have been saved.......please log off....would you like to log off now." I click yes and the following error message from Vista Shortcut Overlay Manager.."

Unhandled exception has occured in your application. If you click continue, the application will ignore this error and attempt to continue. If you click quit, the application will close immediately.

The system cannot find the specified file.

If I click quit, the program closes. If the click continue, I'm back at the log off part of the process.


See the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.
************** Exception Text **************
System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: The system cannot find the file specified
at System.Diagnostics.Process.StartWithCreateProcess(ProcessStartInfo startInfo)
at System.Diagnostics.Process.Start()
at VistaArrowGone.Form1.btApply_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mevent)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ButtonBase.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3074 (QFE.050727-3000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework/v2.0.50727/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
FxVisor
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.0.0
CodeBase: file:///E:/Program Files (x86)/Frameworkx/Vista Shortcut Manager/FxVisor.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSI....0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Configuration
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSI....0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3074 (QFE.050727-3000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------
************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.
For example:
<configuration>
<system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>
When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

See the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.
************** Exception Text **************
System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: The system cannot find the file specified
at System.Diagnostics.Process.StartWithCreateProcess(ProcessStartInfo startInfo)
at System.Diagnostics.Process.Start()
at VistaArrowGone.Form1.btApply_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mevent)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ButtonBase.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3074 (QFE.050727-3000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework/v2.0.50727/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
FxVisor
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.0.0
CodeBase: file:///E:/Program Files (x86)/Frameworkx/Vista Shortcut Manager/FxVisor.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSI....0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Configuration
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSI....0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3074 (QFE.050727-3000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------
************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.
For example:
<configuration>
<system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>
When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

 

[Brink]

Hello Expressoguy, and welcome to Vista Forums.

You can also use METHOD ONE to remove the shortcut arrows if you like.


Are you running a English version of Vista? If you are, then did you right click on the program's shortcut and click on "Run as administrator". If you did, then as a test see if downloading and installing .Net Framework may allow the program to run properly afterwards.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Flyboy65]

Hi. My first time here. I removed the arrows a while back. Unfortunately I don't recall how I did it. Anyway, my machine froze and I had to power down. When it restarted, the area where the arrows used to be now had a blue square with two white chevrons

I tried to include a .jpg file of the chevrons here but it wouldn't take. The blue box is about the size of the small arrow area with a narrow black border. The 2 white chevrons take up most of the height and width and look like the greater than sign to the left of the question mark on the keyboard.

I used method 1 to try to change them all back to no arrows but that didn't work. I then tried method 2 and besides getting an error at the end, it wouldn't remove or set the arrows. I went back to method 1 and tried to get all the icons showing arrows. The result was about half the icons have arrows and half have the chevrons.

 

[Carnage]

What do we do when Frameworkx will no longer connect and all I am able to download is fxvisor32 which is for 32bit

 

[Brink]

Hello Carnage,

The Frameworkx downloads available here are for both the 32-bit and 64-bit Vista despite it's name. If the program will not work for you, then you can also use METHOD ONE to add or remove the shortcut arrow.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Witcher]

Thank you for this great tutorial. I was able to disable the shortcut arrows without using the program.

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Witcher, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Shawn

 

[junyii]

Hello,

I've been looking for a solution for awhile now (okay, a week..), but unlike the others - this one actually worked like charm. I used to second option, for the one first one didn't work when I tried it a few days back.

I signed up to drop a note of thanks. Those little arrows bothered me like none other, especially for my Adobe CS3 programs, which have nice little icons.

I'll be sure to visit this forum again if any other problems occur.

Thanks again! :D

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Junyii, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Shawn

 

[Kagi]

FxVisor64 worked for me.

Fxvisor32 did not work.

 

[Brink]

Hello Kagi, and welcome to Vista Forums.

That's strange since the download and links for FxVisor32 supports both 32-bit and 64-bit Vista. Do you also have a website link for FxVisor64 instead of a direct download link?

Shawn

 

[Kagi]

Shawn,

The developer's website, Frameworkx.com, is not working. I think the owners are now working for Citrix.

I haven't found FxVisor64 on the major download sites. Google found a website to download from.

 

[Brink]

Ok, thank you Kagi.

 

[headshot]

help me please, cos every time i clicked "Yes" on that dialog box, this thing always occured:

See the end of this message for details on invoking 
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: The system cannot find the file specified
   at System.Diagnostics.Process.StartWithCreateProcess(ProcessStartInfo startInfo)
   at System.Diagnostics.Process.Start()
   at VistaArrowGone.Form1.btApply_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mevent)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ButtonBase.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)


************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4016 (NetFxQFE.050727-4000)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework/v2.0.50727/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
FxVisor
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.0.0
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/Frameworkx/Vista%20Shortcut%20Manager/FxVisor.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4016 (NetFxQFE.050727-4000)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4016 (NetFxQFE.050727-4000)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4016 (NetFxQFE.050727-4000)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Configuration
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4016 (NetFxQFE.050727-4000)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Configuration/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4016 (NetFxQFE.050727-4000)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------

************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:

<configuration>
    <system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

 

[Brink]

Hello Headshot,

If you are just wanting to remove or restore the shortcut arrow, then you can do METHOD ONE instead.

If not, then did you do step 2 and run it as an administrator?