Windows 7 Disappearing Icons -- M$ Explains

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Windows 7 RTM Eats Desktop Shortcuts

Link Removed - Invalid URLRTM can eat up some of the desktop shortcuts created by end users, Microsoft explained.

Customers running the latest iteration of the Windows client have reported that in certain scenarios shortcuts that they placed on the desktop disappeared altogether. According to the Redmond company, this is expected, by design, behavior in Windows 7. At fault is the System Maintenance troubleshooter that will delete all shortcuts from the desktop as long as they are considered broken.

“The System Maintenance troubleshooter performs a weekly maintenance of the desktop. The System Maintenance troubleshooter either fixes problems automatically or reports problems through Action Center. When there are more than four broken shortcuts on the desktop, the System Maintenance troubleshooter automatically removes all broken shortcuts from the desktop,” Microsoft stated.

According to the software giant, the System Maintenance troubleshooter has a certain limit that triggers it to delete broken shortcuts. Microsoft informs that keeping the number of broken shortcuts on the desktop to no more than four ensures that they won’t be touched. But place five broken shortcuts on the Windows 7 desktop and they will be deleted.

 

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This issue with desktop shortcuts being removed by the System Maintenance troubleshooter in Windows 7 due to being considered broken is a known behavior designed by Microsoft. Here's a breakdown of the explanation provided: - Issue Description: - Windows 7 RTM (Release to Manufacturing) can delete desktop shortcuts created by users under certain conditions. - Explanation: - Cause: The System Maintenance troubleshooter is responsible for this behavior. - Action: - The troubleshooter performs weekly maintenance on the desktop. - It either fixes problems automatically or reports them through Action Center. - When it identifies more than four broken shortcuts on the desktop, it removes all broken shortcuts from the desktop. - Threshold: - Microsoft mentions that the troubleshooter has a limit that triggers the deletion of broken shortcuts. - To prevent the deletion of shortcuts, Microsoft recommends keeping the number of broken shortcuts on the desktop to four or fewer. - If there are five or more broken shortcuts on the Windows 7 desktop, they will be automatically deleted during the maintenance process. This information highlights the specific behavior of the System Maintenance troubleshooter in Windows 7 that leads to the removal of broken shortcuts on the desktop for the sake of system maintenance and tidiness.