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Windows 7 Shortcuts Missing?

Windows 7 has maintenance scripts that run periodically that will cleanup broken / unused shortcuts. This can be an issue if you have shortcuts to applications on network drives, as windows will detect these as broken and remove them. You can prevent this from happening by following the steps below:

1. The first step is to install a small registry change that will allow you to take ownership of the scripts - Download the TakeOwnership script here
2. Unzip the TakeOwnership script and double click the InstallTakeOwnership.reg file. Accept the prompts that appear.
3. Open a Computer window and browse to the C:\Windows\diagnostics\scheduled\Maintenance folder.
4. Right-Click on the TS_BrokenShortcuts.ps1 script and click Take Ownership, accepting any prompts that follow.
5. Move the file from its current folder to somewhere safe - like your Documents folder.
6. Right-Click on the TS_UnusedDesktopIcons.ps1 script and click Take Ownership, accepting any prompts that follow.
7. Move this file from its current folder to the same place you moved the last file.
8. All done! - Moving these two files will prevent windows from automatically cleaning up broken or unused shortcuts.