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Every Chrome desktop shortcut goes to Google's homepage now

10K views 15 replies 2 participants last post by  dmccoy 
#1 ·
My aunt lost her internet service for about a week (lousy provider, but that's another story). She has an XP computer. Her browser is Chrome.

Her service is now restored. A technician told her over the phone that junk files on her computer might have contributed to the problem. So she ran CCleaner.

All of her Chrome desktop shortcuts now go to the Google homepage. When she clicks on her Yahoo shortcut, she gets the Google homepage. When she clicks on her Amazon shortcut, she gets the Google homepage. Etc.

I tried to re-establish her shortcuts for her, using More Tools -> Add to Desktop. But I got the same result. No matter what website shortcut I put on her desktop, clicking it took me to Google.

Any ideas?
 
#2 ·
#3 ·
dckeks,

Thank you for the fast reply! Unfortunately, the link you suggested does not help. The version of Chrome my aunt is running doesn't have a wrench symbol, and no Tools -> Create Application Shortcut pathway.

I did what I think is the same thing. I clicked on the Customize Chrome button (the three horizontal lines in Chrome's top right corner). Then More Tools. Then Add To Desktop.

This puts a shortcut right on the desktop. The shortcut even has the proper site symbol (the white f on a blue background for Facebook, for example). But click on the Facebook shortcut, get the Google homepage.

Any other suggestions would be very much appreciated.
 
#4 ·
Okay, yes that link was a little outdated. Are you able to access other webpages from Chrome such as yahoo.com, etc and the only time you are having issues is with the webpage shortcuts?
 
#6 ·
Okay. I understand. Please try another browser such as internet explorer or firefox to see if they experience the same issue? I need to determine more about where the problem may be.
 
#7 ·
I tried Internet Explorer. Same thing.


Unfortunately, the only browser I could find on her desktop is Chrome. I can find no other browser. Either my aunt, or someone else, deleted the rest. And every shortcut on her desktop is a Chrome shortcut. They all used to work. Now, as I noted, they all just go to Google's homepage.
 
#8 ·
Please download MiniToolBox by Farbar and save it to your desktop

Run as Administrator to start the tool.

  • In the main window please checkmark the following checkboxes:
    • Flush DNS;
    • Report IE Proxy Settings;
    • Reset IE Proxy Settings;
    • Report FF Proxy Settings;
    • Reset FF Proxy Settings;
    • List content of Hosts;
    • List IP configuration;
    • List Winsock Entries;
    • List last 10 Event Viewer log;
    • List Installed Programs;
    • List Devices (Only problems);
    • List Users, Partitions and Memory size;
    • List Minidump Files.
  • Click Go and wait paiently.
  • Upon completion (a reboot may be needed) a file called Result.txt will be saved on your desktop.
Please include the content of that file in your next reply.
 
#9 ·
Please download MiniToolBox by Farbar and save it to your desktop

Run as Administrator to start the tool.

  • In the main window please checkmark the following checkboxes:
    • Flush DNS;
    • Report IE Proxy Settings;
    • Reset IE Proxy Settings;
    • Report FF Proxy Settings;
    • Reset FF Proxy Settings;
    • List content of Hosts;
    • List IP configuration;
    • List Winsock Entries;
    • List last 10 Event Viewer log;
    • List Installed Programs;
    • List Devices (Only problems);
    • List Users, Partitions and Memory size;
    • List Minidump Files.
  • Click Go and wait paiently.
  • Upon completion (a reboot may be needed) a file called Result.txt will be saved on your desktop.
Please include the content of that file in your next reply.
Hi dckeks,

Unfortunately, I am no longer in front of my aunt's computer. So I can't run any special programs. I was hoping that there was some trick that I missed, some box that I could tell my aunt to check that would make her Chrome shortcuts behave as they should.
 
#10 ·
Okay I understand it would just make troubleshooting easier. Can she look at the properties of the shortcut and see where the target location points to?
 
#11 ·
If she can’t get the shortcuts to work, then maybe she could save as favorites or bookmarks and see if they work
 
#12 ·
Hi dckeks,

I was able to access my aunt's computer using TeamViewer. I checked out her Chrome shortcut properties. They look very different than the Chrome shortcut properties on my XP computer. My shortcut Properties window has a URL line. In the line is the web address for the shortcut. That makes sense!

But in her shortcut Properties window, there is a Target line instead. And in that line is the C drive location of her Google Chrome program. Weird! And when I try to put a web address there instead, I get a "not valid" error message.

As for your second suggestion, for her to use her Bookmarks...duh! That is so simple, and I never thought of that! I checked, and that works. Thank you for that suggestion!!! Now at least my aunt can access her favorite webpages.

But I still would like to fix her desktop shortcuts for her. Her eyesight isn't very good, and it's easier for her to check a desktop shortcut icon than it is to click the Bookmarks bar.
 
#13 ·
Something is very strange with her shortcuts if it is showing the location of the Google Chrome in the Target Location. It almost sounds like she may have a redirect virus. Can you try running the MiniTool program and upload the text file it creates since you have Teamviewer now. See post #9
 
#14 ·
Also see if you can provide a Screenshot of the Properties Window of a shortcut as shown below

 
#15 ·
Hi dckeks,

I found a solution to my problem. Placing Chrome shortcuts on the desktop is evidently a common problem, ever since Google updated Chrome awhile back.Here's what someone suggested on a Chrome forum, and it worked:

1. Open the Google Chrome homepage.
2. Re-size that page so some of your desktop can be seen behind it.
3. Open the Other Bookmarks folder on the Chrome homepage.
4. One by one, drag the Bookmarks shortcuts onto your desktop.

These copied shortcuts all worked properly. The only downside to this method is that the desktop shortcuts don't have their own symbols. They all have the same generic Google Chrome symbol. But they are labelled correctly, and are large. So my aunt can easily see them.

I want to thank you for your help. If you don't mind, in a few days I'd like to send you a screenshot of the Properties Window. Because I'm still curious about what went wrong in the first place.
 
#16 · (Edited)
You are welcome. Interesting, I hadn’t heard of that and I am glad you figured it out. I have the latest version of Chrome and have been using it for a long time and don't experience that issue. I can drag and drop, or use the menu to send to desktop.

I will be glad to check out your properties window or help with anything else.
 
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