Create an Undeletable shortcut in Desktop and inside "My Computer"!

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DISCLAIMER: The following contains registry edits. If done improperly
can cause strange behaviour, and at worst, could even entirely corrupt
your Windows Installation, requiring you to reinstall Windows.
I cannot be held for any damage you may cause to your system as a
result of taking any action suggested in the following article.
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Target OS: Windows XP
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Introduction
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These three registry(.reg) files given can make shortcut folder in My Computer and Desktop which normally cannot be deleted or renamed.
This is useful in Internet Cafes where there should be some user folders which should not be deleted and easily accessible to user.
In other case if you have some data/games/ebooks which should be easily opened from My Computer or Desktop but those children in your house delete them then this registry edit is for you.
NOTE: Only the shortcut is not deletable. The contents inside it can be deleted.

Carefully follow the steps given below:

First download the attachment  undeletable_shortcut.zip ( 4.05k ) Number of downloads: 3

1) newfolder.reg
2) foldermycomp.reg
3) folderdesktop.reg
and readme.txt (contains this article for you to read offline)

DON'T WORRY THE FOLLOWING EDIT IS VERY SIMPLE IF YOU JUST FOLLOW THE STEPS.


newfolder.reg
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* Open "newfolder.reg" file using Notepad. That is right click and select "open with" "notepad".


* In this line:
@="Appearing Folder"
Change the letters in quotes to the name which will appear in Desktop/My Computer.


* If you want an icon to be displayed on your folder add another line below this fourth line:

That is for example if an icon file "book.ico" is in C:\ drive add


NOTE: The first symbol in the above line is "at" symbol in your keyoard.


* Now in this eleventh line:

Change the letters C:\\Ebooks by the path where your original folder is present.

Note: 1)There is a space after "explorer".
2)There are two slashes in path name, for example in this path:
C:\\Ebooks\\Shakespeare\\Hamlet.
3)The slash before root is the opposite slash "/".

Save the file. Good! You've done.

Now firstly double click "newfolder.reg". Press OK if any dialog boxes come. This will add the registry to your system.

Then If you want the folder to appear on My Computer then run "folder_desktop.reg" or if you want to make it appear in Desktop run "folder_mycomp.reg". But if you want to make it appear on both run both the files.
Enjoy! Now you have shortcuts which cannot be deleted.


Creating multiple shortcuts
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If you want to create another shortcut firstly make a copy of all the three registry files.
Then open these copied files using notepad. In many places you will see some long set of characters like
This is unique and only applies to the shortcut you just created. So in all the three copied files change these characters by something like and then apply the registry.
Remember the curly braces should also be present.

Like this you can create many folders just by making a copy of these files and then replacing these characters by

But don't type the alphabet after "F" as these characters are in Hexadecimal System.

Important Notes
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1) Every software or application in your system has a unique set of the above mentioned characters. In some cases(which is impossible) when your set of characters matches with any program in your system then you are overwriting that software key which may render the software useless.
But don't worry as it is impossible in these billions of combinations. However, you can beforehand check the regedit by opening "Run" from start menu and typing "regedit". Now you will be presented with the registry editor. In left column navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID
Here you can verify from the list of these characters.

2) You should note down the unique ID (for example this one but may differ what you typed). Otherwise you cannot delete the shortcut.

3) This registry edit has only been tested on Windows Xp Professional edition.


Exclusively deleting the folder
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You've done. But what if you want to delete the folder. You cannot delete it by right clicking the folder and choosing delete or by pressing "Delete" Key on your keyboard.

So you should edit the following file:
Using Notepad open "newfolder.reg", in the last line,
that is:


Change the number of zeroes to 4, that is:


Now just open "newfolder.reg" to apply your edited registry.

Now the folder's right click menu can have the "Delete" to permanently delete it.

AND you techie guys if you find other ways of deleting the folder apart from the above edit don't forget to mail me. But don't be silly by telling that you formated your whole computer or partition just to delete the folder

From Author:
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I think you've all done this edit succefully. This file is elaborate enough to explain every thing carefully for the beginners.

But you may be wondering why I have written a whole novel for a simple task. Always remember that in Registry the gap between Life and Death of your system is very very narrow. Any way if you read the article, you have already learnt a lot about registry.

If you have any doubts either post here or mail me at:
dnitishkumar@gmail.com
VISIT: nitish.co.nr and Bookmark it. Because I am revamping my site. So bookmark it and visit in April 2008.

Let us meet again. Till then Good Luck.

This post has been edited by truefusion: Jan 6 2008, 09:37 AM

That sounds great, if I ever open an internet cafe, I will try this out.

It could be good for a prank or something.