How do I disable NTFS tracking of broken shortcuts?

John Savill

May 8, 2001

1 Min Read
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A. If a shortcut to a file breaks, Windows XP and Windows 2000 automatically attempt to locate the shortcut destination by searching all paths associated with the shortcut. If you want to prevent this behavior, perform the following steps:

  1. Start regedit.exe.

  2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer.

  3. From the edit menu, select New, DWORD value.

  4. Enter a name of NoResolveTrack and press Enter.

  5. Double-click the new value and set it to 1.

  6. Click OK.

You can also prevent this behavior at a Group Policy level by selecting "Do not use the tracking-based method when resolving shell shortcuts" in the User ConfigurationAdministrativeTemplatesStart Menu & Taskbar group policy branch.

About the Author

John Savill

John Savill

https://savilltech.net

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