Skip to main content

Why did all of my Steam Shortcuts turned into Print Dialog?

Recently after a bit of registry cleaning, my desktop stopped launching games from Steam. I tried to troubleshoot this, and ended up spending HOURS chasing something that seems rather popular but nobody seem to have a proper solution.

The symptoms are simple: all of the shortcuts on the desktop turned into the blank "white page" icons. When you right click it, it doesn't say what app to open it with. Its type is "Internet Shortcut (url). 

Deleting it and recreating it from within Steam (gear icon // Create Desktop Shortcut) doesn't help. It seems the .URL handler is completely f-ed up.

I tried reinstalling Steam, and Steam actually did delete all the old files and reinstalled its own files. No change.  

So I go look for a registry fix... Except...  .url is NO LONGER A SUPPORTED file type in Windows 11. It's kept in as a backward compatibility setting only. So you have to search Win10 fixes. 

So I found this fix via WinhelpOnline. Download the reg zip, unzip, and apply. 

I got an error, Error 5. So I research the error 5. It's a permission error. 

Except I am the administrator. There is no one above me (at least on this machine). 

I then tried Nirsoft's FileTypesMan, a utility that lets you check the file types and the handler, instead of mess with registry directly. Maybe I just don't understand this thing, and this would help. 

.url is there, and it has 3 actions: Open / Print / Printto. Default action is Open. 

Then I realized it says Open: Disabled. Tried to edit it. Permission error, same Error 5. 

So I opened the registry section directly and tried to compare Open vs Print. It went directly to print, which means that works. 

The only difference between the two is Open has a "LegacyDisable" registry setting, Print doesn't. Researching that shows that if you put that setting in that key, Windows will pretend that that key doesn't exist. I guess they meant it to be easily reverted instead of outright deleting that key. 

So I tried deleting LegacyDisable. Won't let me. Apparently I lack permission. 

Weird... Checked RegEdit... then permissions... Hmmm... Somehow I do NOT, despite being an Administrator, "full access" to this registry key. 

So I tried to give myself full access. And after a bit of faffing around, managed to do so. 

Now the game .URLs will launch the game, but won't show the right icons. 

Maybe I need to merge that .URL reg fix again... 

UPDATE: This is caused by Wise Registry Cleaner. I just ran it again, and it put back the LegacyDisable registry entry.     

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I Got Both Google Cybersecurity and and ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity. Should You?

The Google Cybersecurity Certificate and the ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity are two of the most popular cybersecurity certifications available. Both certifications cover a wide range of topics, including network security, application security, and security operations. However, there are some key differences between the two certifications. Both Google Cybersecurity Certificate and the ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity are considered entry-level certifications The Google Cybersecurity Certificate is very friendly for people who did not come from a computer background, but if you already know IT, Linux, SQL, or Python, you will have an advantage here. You will also learn some practical cybersecurity tools, such as SIEM and Splunk log reading, and you will end up trying to write incident report logs, short analysis reports, and so on.   The ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity is more focused on theoretical and base level knowledge, with a bit more discussion on the differences among in...
Post a Comment
Read more

What have I learned from giving advice at Subreddit /r/cybersecurity_help?

 After I got my cybersecurity certificates and certifications, I decided to hang out in subreddit /r/cybersecurity_help for a while, as that's where people go for help. I've noticed the questions tend to come in 3 major categories: a) I noticed something odd. Could I have been hacked?  b) I REALLY have been hacked, what do I do now?  c) I did something stupid! Could I have been hacked?  I have found that some people are just super-nervous when it comes to technology, as if they can be hacked everywhere doing nothing, while others are almost completely oblivious to the risks.  Let's discuss each in turn.  a) I noticed something odd. Could I have been hacked? OP started noticing some oddities with his or her phone, and wonders if it's connected to some previous event.  EX1: Op got a call from the doctor's office. X minutes later a call with caller ID "Health Center" arrived. Op asked for more details, and was hung up on. Op wants to know if the spammer h...
Post a Comment
Read more

So I bought a 6-key macro keyboard with a twist knob... how to program it?

One day, I was browsing Temu, when I came across this 6-key macro keyboard with a twist knob, and it's for a ridiculous price of like... $13.93 with free shipping.  So I ordered one.  It's here, and it's exactly as advertised... Except for one thing: there is no manual, and no driver. There is NO paper in the box either. And the listing has no instructions.  However, it is basically this item on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Programming-Keyboard-Mechanical-Photoshop-Software/dp/B0B7B4MP29/ At least the Amazon seller put up a link to their copy of the driver: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MvJGXrs-HVSmthIK4Z8NJZKMB8Ha4ZSr/view Which I have scanned and tested. And it works for the Temu one too. It's the same board.  The program needs to be unzipped and copied to a directory on your HD. It has no "installer".  The EXE is called "MINI Keyboard V02.1.1" The interface is also pretty crap, But basically, it goes like this.  The "keys" are mapp...
Post a Comment
Read more