Here are the steps to remove shortcut arrow in windows 7
(1)Start-->run-->regedit
(2)Locate the following key.
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile
(2) Delete the IsShortcut registry value in the right pane
(3) Navigate to each of the following registry keys, and then follow steps from 2 to 3 above to remove the shortcut arrow:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\piffile
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ConferenceLink
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DocShortCut
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\InternetShortcut
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\WSHFile
(4) Close regedit.
(5) Logout and restart your computer
Note : Please note that in some cases deactivating the arrow for *.LNK files might lead to duplicate items in the Explorer context menu, as in essence, removing the “IsShortcut” effectively forces Windows to treat the shortcut as real hard file. In Windows 7, it may also cause error such as Link Removed - Not Found.
Here's a registry hack to eliminate the -shortcut which is created when you create a shortcut:
=========================================
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"link"=hex:00,00,00,00
=========================================
Make sure the word CurrentVersion does not have a space between it.
It should read CurrentVersion ,not Curre ntVersion. This forum wraps for some reason.
Copy and paste the the info inside the lines into Notepad, choose Save As, then select All Files from the drop-down menu box and type in removeshortcut.reg. Save it to your desktop and double-click on it to merge it intro the registry.
You'll need to restart for it to take effect. You'll still see the -shortcut on ones you've already created, but any shortcuts created after the registry hack will simply display the name.
I'm sure you are try to be helpful, but I remember a long time ago on the Registry Guide forums that removing the shortcut arrow can cause problems.
Here's the possibilities of what might happen when you remove the shortcut arrow:
Note : Please note that in some cases deactivating the arrow for *.LNK files might lead to duplicate items in the Explorer context menu, as in essence, removing the “IsShortcut†effectively forces Windows to treat the shortcut as real hard file. In Windows 7, it may also cause error such as unable to pin shortcut to Taskbar or Start Menu.
I tried the registry hack to get rid of the shortcut arrows as I hate them with a passion. My desktop looks soooo much better without them.
And you're right, it will mess up other things, including pinning things to the task bar, and I'm not sure about this, but my reliability monitor also quit working about the same time, it no longer shows things on the chart. Oh well, I'll have to live with it for awhile.
Here are the steps to remove shortcut arrow in windows 7
(1)Start-->run-->regedit
(2)Locate the following key.
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile
(2) Delete the IsShortcut registry value in the right pane
(3) Navigate to each of the following registry keys, and then follow steps from 2 to 3 above to remove the shortcut arrow:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\piffile
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ConferenceLink
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DocShortCut
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\InternetShortcut
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\WSHFile
(4) Close regedit.
(5) Logout and restart your computer
Here's another small program that works much the same way and there are no issues concerning messing other app's up and no difficulty pinning to taskbar.
Works for both x86 and x64 versions of Win7
Spyware/adware free and it's free, I've been using it for some time now on all my PC's with no problems
Right click on any shortcut or program and select Properties.... then Change Icon... there are icons all over the place.. most .dll files have some... but the motherload is in : %SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll and moricons.dll in the same folder.
You can also download millions of icons from the internet or build your own... or modify the ones you have with icon editing software.
I followed your instructions to a 'T' and everything seemed fine. I C&Ped everything between the lines, saved to desktop, dbl-clicked shortcut, allowed the removeshortcut.reg to make mods to my computer, rebooted, made a NEW shortcut to google (and other NEW shortcuts), yet I'm still getting those gawd awful arrows covering half of the icons. And yes, I removed the space from the string that is not supposed to be there. 8^)