Removing shortcut arrow from desktop icons?

Hi,

Is if possible to remove the little arrow that appears on desktop
shortcuts in the bottom left corner of the icon?

It occurred to me that the icons would look better without the little
arrows, and I don't need reminding that they are shortcuts, after all I
created almost all of them anyway.

Thanks all.

smlunatick
Sun Mar 02 12:04:36 PST 2008

On Mar 2, 2:57=A0pm, Poster Matt <postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Is if possible to remove the little arrow that appears on desktop
> shortcuts in the bottom left corner of the icon?
>
> It occurred to me that the icons would look better without the little
> arrows, and I don't need reminding that they are shortcuts, after all I
> created almost all of them anyway.
>
> Thanks all.

The easiest way is to get the TweakUI from t he Powertoys for XP.

Colin
Sun Mar 02 12:15:58 PST 2008

It may look better to you but remember that you will not be ablle to tell
the difference between shortcuts and other programs and links.

"Poster Matt" <postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote in message
news:MEDyj.16788$XI.12747@text.news.virginmedia.com...
> Hi,
>
> Is if possible to remove the little arrow that appears on desktop
> shortcuts in the bottom left corner of the icon?
>
> It occurred to me that the icons would look better without the little
> arrows, and I don't need reminding that they are shortcuts, after all I
> created almost all of them anyway.
>
> Thanks all.

Holz
Sun Mar 02 12:18:54 PST 2008

On Sun, 2 Mar 2008 13:15:58 -0700
"Colin Barnhorst" <c.barnhorst@comcast.net> wrote:

> It may look better to you but remember that you will not be ablle to
> tell the difference between shortcuts and other programs and links.

Just say I do not know how.

--
Live & let live, or leave.
:-)

Colin
Sun Mar 02 12:52:25 PST 2008

1. Start regedit.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTlnkfile
3. Delete the IsShortcut registry value.

You may need to restart Windows XP.


"Holz" <holz@my-laptop.nowhere> wrote in message
news:20080302121854.07f936db@laptop...
> On Sun, 2 Mar 2008 13:15:58 -0700
> "Colin Barnhorst" <c.barnhorst@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> It may look better to you but remember that you will not be ablle to
>> tell the difference between shortcuts and other programs and links.
>
> Just say I do not know how.
>
> --
> Live & let live, or leave.
> :-)
>

Holz
Sun Mar 02 13:08:01 PST 2008

On Sun, 2 Mar 2008 13:52:25 -0700
"Colin Barnhorst" <c.barnhorst@comcast.net> wrote:

> 1. Start regedit.
> 2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTlnkfile
> 3. Delete the IsShortcut registry value.
>
> You may need to restart Windows XP.

Which is the answer for the question, not your opinion. We all have
opinions, however posters come for help :-).

--
Live & let live, or leave.
:-)

Colin
Sun Mar 02 13:29:49 PST 2008

What are you talking about? What opinion? I just gave the procedure.

"Holz" <holz@my-laptop.nowhere> wrote in message
news:20080302130801.394c104f@laptop...
> On Sun, 2 Mar 2008 13:52:25 -0700
> "Colin Barnhorst" <c.barnhorst@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> 1. Start regedit.
>> 2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTlnkfile
>> 3. Delete the IsShortcut registry value.
>>
>> You may need to restart Windows XP.
>
> Which is the answer for the question, not your opinion. We all have
> opinions, however posters come for help :-).
>
> --
> Live & let live, or leave.
> :-)
>

Poster
Sun Mar 02 14:45:01 PST 2008

smlunatick wrote:
> On Mar 2, 2:57 pm, Poster Matt <postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote:
>>
>> Is if possible to remove the little arrow that appears on desktop
>> shortcuts in the bottom left corner of the icon?
>
> The easiest way is to get the TweakUI from the Powertoys for XP.

Thanks. But I can't find that tweak in TweakUI, are you sure? If so
where is it cos I can't find it and have just been through all the
options available, but maybe I missed it (I hope so)?

I'd prefer to use Tweak UI to do this, rather than Colin's registry
method, because of the ease of turning it back on again if I decide I
don't actually like it.

Thanks again.

Poster
Sun Mar 02 14:45:04 PST 2008

Colin Barnhorst wrote:
> 1. Start regedit.
> 2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTlnkfile
> 3. Delete the IsShortcut registry value.
>
> You may need to restart Windows XP.

Thanks Colin, v. helpful.

Should I take it that I cannot remove the shortcut arrows on an
individual basis (remove for this one but not for that one)?

Will deletion of this registry key, remove all shortcut arrows for the
whole of windows? I was hoping just to remove them for the desktop icons.

Colin Barnhorst wrote:
> It may look better to you but remember that you will not be ablle to
> tell the difference between shortcuts and other programs and links.

I'm not too worried about that for my desktop because I group icons of
alike things together. On the screen's left I have application icons, on
the bottom right there's a few system utilities, then temporary
shortcuts like my 'currently working on' documents and temp web links
are grouped in the top right corner or in a temp folder I keep there too.

Thanks for the advise, I must admit I'm a bit more worried about it if
it removes the little arrow for shortcuts for the whole OS and not just
for the icons on the desktop. Is that the case?

Cheers.

Colin
Sun Mar 02 15:23:32 PST 2008

I believe that it is either or for all shortcuts. I don't know of any way
to just remove them from desktop icons. You can drag a shortcut around
anywhere in explorer so I should think the key is global.

"Poster Matt" <postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote in message
news:Q5Gyj.16853$XI.16599@text.news.virginmedia.com...
> Colin Barnhorst wrote:
> > 1. Start regedit.
> > 2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTlnkfile
> > 3. Delete the IsShortcut registry value.
> >
> > You may need to restart Windows XP.
>
> Thanks Colin, v. helpful.
>
> Should I take it that I cannot remove the shortcut arrows on an individual
> basis (remove for this one but not for that one)?
>
> Will deletion of this registry key, remove all shortcut arrows for the
> whole of windows? I was hoping just to remove them for the desktop icons.
>
> Colin Barnhorst wrote:
> > It may look better to you but remember that you will not be ablle to
> > tell the difference between shortcuts and other programs and links.
>
> I'm not too worried about that for my desktop because I group icons of
> alike things together. On the screen's left I have application icons, on
> the bottom right there's a few system utilities, then temporary shortcuts
> like my 'currently working on' documents and temp web links are grouped in
> the top right corner or in a temp folder I keep there too.
>
> Thanks for the advise, I must admit I'm a bit more worried about it if it
> removes the little arrow for shortcuts for the whole OS and not just for
> the icons on the desktop. Is that the case?
>
> Cheers.

Owner
Sun Mar 02 15:33:47 PST 2008


"Holz" <holz@my-laptop.nowhere> wrote in message
news:20080302130801.394c104f@laptop...
> On Sun, 2 Mar 2008 13:52:25 -0700
> "Colin Barnhorst" <c.barnhorst@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> 1. Start regedit.
>> 2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTlnkfile
>> 3. Delete the IsShortcut registry value.
>>
>> You may need to restart Windows XP.
>
> Which is the answer for the question, not your opinion. We all have
> opinions, however posters come for help :-).

What?????????

>
> --
> Live & let live, or leave.
> :-)
>

Gerald
Sun Mar 02 15:36:38 PST 2008

Poster Matt wrote:
> smlunatick wrote:
>> On Mar 2, 2:57 pm, Poster Matt <postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Is if possible to remove the little arrow that appears on desktop
>>> shortcuts in the bottom left corner of the icon?
>>
>> The easiest way is to get the TweakUI from the Powertoys for XP.
>
> Thanks. But I can't find that tweak in TweakUI, are you sure? If so
> where is it cos I can't find it and have just been through all the
> options available, but maybe I missed it (I hope so)?
>
> I'd prefer to use Tweak UI to do this, rather than Colin's registry
> method, because of the ease of turning it back on again if I decide I
> don't actually like it.
>
> Thanks again.

Tweakui > Explorer > Shortcuts

--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA

I have a rock garden. Last week three
of them died. - S. Wright

Ken
Sun Mar 02 17:06:10 PST 2008

On Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:57:32 GMT, Poster Matt
<postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Is if possible to remove the little arrow that appears on desktop
> shortcuts in the bottom left corner of the icon?
>
> It occurred to me that the icons would look better without the little
> arrows, and I don't need reminding that they are shortcuts, after all I
> created almost all of them anyway.


You can get rid of the arrows with a registry edit, or more easily and
more safely by using the free TweakUI, downloadable as part of
Microsoft PowerToys at
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

However, my recommendation is that you do *not* do this. The arrows
serve an important function--providing quick visual identification of
a shortcut. If you remove the arrows, you run the substantial risk
that sooner or later you will delete something you wanted to keep,
thinking that you were just deleting a shortcut to it. I would either
leave the arrows as they are, or alternatively use the TweakUI option
of light arrows, which are somewhat less visible that the regular
ones.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

LVTravel
Sun Mar 02 19:16:54 PST 2008

In the program click on the + next to Explorer then click on Shortcut and
click on Shortcut Overlay to None.

You must be running the Tweak UI for Windows XP, (accessed from Programs,
PowerToys for Windows XP, TweakUI) and not an earlier version (which is
accessed in the Control Panel) which can be obtained here
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx.

Let us know if this helps.

"Poster Matt" <postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote in message
news:N5Gyj.16852$XI.10054@text.news.virginmedia.com...
> smlunatick wrote:
>> On Mar 2, 2:57 pm, Poster Matt <postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Is if possible to remove the little arrow that appears on desktop
>>> shortcuts in the bottom left corner of the icon?
>>
>> The easiest way is to get the TweakUI from the Powertoys for XP.
>
> Thanks. But I can't find that tweak in TweakUI, are you sure? If so where
> is it cos I can't find it and have just been through all the options
> available, but maybe I missed it (I hope so)?
>
> I'd prefer to use Tweak UI to do this, rather than Colin's registry
> method, because of the ease of turning it back on again if I decide I
> don't actually like it.
>
> Thanks again.

Stan
Mon Mar 03 02:09:40 PST 2008

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:57:32 GMT from Poster Matt
<postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org>:

> Is if possible to remove the little arrow that appears on desktop
> shortcuts in the bottom left corner of the icon?

TweakUI has a setting to do it, but I don't believe it works 100%.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Shikata ga nai...

Poster
Mon Mar 03 05:12:11 PST 2008

Gerald Ross wrote:
> Poster Matt wrote:
>> smlunatick wrote:
>>> On Mar 2, 2:57 pm, Poster Matt <postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Is if possible to remove the little arrow that appears on desktop
>>>> shortcuts in the bottom left corner of the icon?
>>>
>>> The easiest way is to get the TweakUI from the Powertoys for XP.
>>
>> Thanks. But I can't find that tweak in TweakUI, are you sure? If so
>> where is it cos I can't find it and have just been through all the
>> options available, but maybe I missed it (I hope so)?
>>
>> I'd prefer to use Tweak UI to do this, rather than Colin's registry
>> method, because of the ease of turning it back on again if I decide I
>> don't actually like it.
>>
>> Thanks again.
>
> Tweakui > Explorer > Shortcuts

Thanks Gerald and Tony, got it. No idea how I missed it before, it
stands out like an elephant at a tea party.

Poster
Mon Mar 03 06:41:31 PST 2008

Colin Barnhorst wrote:
> I believe that it is either or for all shortcuts. I don't know of any
> way to just remove them from desktop icons. You can drag a shortcut
> around anywhere in explorer so I should think the key is global.

It does seem to be for all or nothing... except I've got lucky. I've
turned the shortcut icon arrows off and much prefer how my desktop icons
now look. In the Explorer file manager the shortcut arrows are also gone
as expected. Except I don't use Explorer as my file manager, I use a
multi-tabbed enabled file manager called xplorer2 and it seems that it
displays the little shortcut arrow automatically and does not check the
registry entry. So I've got rid of them on my desktop where I don't want
them, but retained them in my file manager where I do. Happy Chappy!!

Thanks for the help everyone.

PS. BTW - xplorer2 is highly recommended esp. if at any one time you
usually have several Explorer windows open showing different
directories. With xplorer2 you can have as many tabs as you want open
each showing a different directory but all based in the same window. I
don't know how I lived without it. :) http://www.zabkat.com/ Please note
I have nothing to do with the company, am just a satisfied user.

Swifty
Tue Mar 04 06:17:30 PST 2008

Poster Matt wrote:
>> Tweakui > Explorer > Shortcuts
>
> Thanks Gerald and Tony, got it. No idea how I missed it before, it
> stands out like an elephant at a tea party.

I've never seen the connection between those arrows and "Explorer",
though. To me, this function would fit better under "Desktop". I know
that the icons can appear in other places than the desktop.

--
Steve Swift
http://www.swiftys.org.uk/swifty.html
http://www.ringers.org.uk

Swifty
Tue Mar 04 06:19:09 PST 2008

LVTravel wrote:
> You must be running the Tweak UI for Windows XP, (accessed from Programs,
> PowerToys for Windows XP, TweakUI) and not an earlier version (which is
> accessed in the Control Panel)

But if you are hooked on it being in the control panel there is a way to
get the current TweakUI back in the control panel. You'll have to find
it yourself though; I've lost my memory.

--
Steve Swift
http://www.swiftys.org.uk/swifty.html
http://www.ringers.org.uk

Colin
Tue Mar 04 08:07:56 PST 2008

They can and do appear in Windows Explorer in any folder where they have
been installed or created.

"Swifty" <Steve.J.Swift@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:eKKG%23JgfIHA.1188@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Poster Matt wrote:
>>> Tweakui > Explorer > Shortcuts
>>
>> Thanks Gerald and Tony, got it. No idea how I missed it before, it stands
>> out like an elephant at a tea party.
>
> I've never seen the connection between those arrows and "Explorer",
> though. To me, this function would fit better under "Desktop". I know that
> the icons can appear in other places than the desktop.
>
> --
> Steve Swift
> http://www.swiftys.org.uk/swifty.html
> http://www.ringers.org.uk

LVTravel
Tue Mar 04 08:51:43 PST 2008


"Swifty" <Steve.J.Swift@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:O0cF5KgfIHA.1188@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> LVTravel wrote:
>> You must be running the Tweak UI for Windows XP, (accessed from Programs,
>> PowerToys for Windows XP, TweakUI) and not an earlier version (which is
>> accessed in the Control Panel)
>
> But if you are hooked on it being in the control panel there is a way to
> get the current TweakUI back in the control panel. You'll have to find it
> yourself though; I've lost my memory.
>
> --
> Steve Swift
> http://www.swiftys.org.uk/swifty.html
> http://www.ringers.org.uk

The version that automatically hooks to the CP (a Win 98 version) is an
older version and is not recommended for use with WIN XP although the older
version will normally function OK. Just that MS doesn't recommend it's use
on a XP system.

Eric
Tue Mar 04 10:51:30 PST 2008

Swifty wrote:
> LVTravel wrote:
>> You must be running the Tweak UI for Windows XP, (accessed from
>> Programs, PowerToys for Windows XP, TweakUI) and not an earlier
>> version (which is accessed in the Control Panel)
>
> But if you are hooked on it being in the control panel there is a way to
> get the current TweakUI back in the control panel. You'll have to find
> it yourself though; I've lost my memory.
>
Go to http://www.dougknox.com/
Select Win XP Fixes
Select in left table, second row "AddTweakUI to Control Panel"

<QUOTE>
xp_addtweakui.exe v1.1.0 -Adds TweakUI for Windows XP to the Control Panel
© Doug Knox - 2004

By default, the new Windows XP Powertoys install shortcuts to themselves
on the Start Menu, under Powertoys for Windows XP. The same applies for
TweakUI. This small VB utility will add an entry in Control Panel for
TweakUI, where it used to be.

To use: Download the xp_addtweakui.zip file and save it to your hard
drive (you may want to right click and use Save Target As). Double-click
the xp_addtweakui.exe file. TweakUI for Windows XP must be installed on
your system. This utility does not install it, it only makes it
available through Control Panel.
You can download TweakUI for Windows XP HERE.

This page last updated 11/25/2005 21:17
All material © Doug Knox
</QUOTE>

Badger
Thu Mar 06 13:39:39 PST 2008


"Poster Matt" <postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote in message
news:MEDyj.16788$XI.12747@text.news.virginmedia.com...
> Hi,
>
> Is if possible to remove the little arrow that appears on desktop
> shortcuts in the bottom left corner of the icon?
>
> It occurred to me that the icons would look better without the little
> arrows, and I don't need reminding that they are shortcuts, after all I
> created almost all of them anyway.
>
> Thanks all.

TweakUI from the Windows PowerToys will do this for you. It's free and you
can find it with Google.
Badger

Swifty
Fri Mar 07 11:19:00 PST 2008

Eric P. wrote:
> Swifty wrote:
>> I've lost my memory.

> Go to http://www.dougknox.com/
> Select Win XP Fixes
> Select in left table, second row "AddTweakUI to Control Panel"

That's the beauty of the Internet; I don't need to worry about my memory
loss - in effect I have a brain the size of a planet. Thanks - that was
the one I was referring to.

--
Steve Swift
http://www.swiftys.org.uk/swifty.html
http://www.ringers.org.uk

Donald
Sat Mar 08 14:16:25 PST 2008

On Fri, 7 Mar 2008 06:39:39 +0900, "Badger" <Badger@nunyabizness.com>
wrote:

>
>"Poster Matt" <postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote in message
>news:MEDyj.16788$XI.12747@text.news.virginmedia.com...
>> Hi,
>>
>> Is if possible to remove the little arrow that appears on desktop
>> shortcuts in the bottom left corner of the icon?
>>
>> It occurred to me that the icons would look better without the little
>> arrows, and I don't need reminding that they are shortcuts, after all I
>> created almost all of them anyway.
>>
>> Thanks all.
>
>TweakUI from the Windows PowerToys will do this for you. It's free and you
>can find it with Google.
>Badger
>

Or, get it from the "Horse's Mouth" here:

<http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx>

Click on "TweakUI.exe" in the right-hand column.

--
Donald L McDaniel

How can so many otherwise very intelligent people screw up
something so simple so badly? If you stick a computer
keyboard in front of most people, they'll suddenly drop
30 points off their IQs. Much like placing a "Pork Barrel"
bill in front of a politician: He'll forget all about
"cooperation" the minute he counts the zeroes before the
decimal point.