At the command line is there a command that will go to the directory of a shortcut?

Question

For example if I had a shortcut on my C drive called "shortcut to zap". What function can i use to get to the actual zap directory?
the command "Cd shortcut to zap.lnk" does not work.

Answer 1

Yeah, that won't work. If you are using Windows, try this: right click on your shortcut and select properties. When that window comes up, click on the button that says "find target". That will open up the directory for you.

Answer 2

Are you trying to use Windows shortcut links in DOS? I don't think you can do that.

If Shortcut to zap.lnk links to your C root directory, why not try "cd C:"? If you know the path just type it out. That's the whole thing with DOS.

Answer 3

I'm sure the reason you want to use a shortcut to go to the real directory is because you're directing the command line to a directory with long, difficult names, well, you can't use a Windows shortcut in command line, however, you might prefer to copy and paste the actual path into the command line (yeah, you could copy and paste to command line).

1. Copy anything you want to paste to command line, normally (browse to that folder normally using Windows Explorer, then copy the path above). Then to paste the path to Command Line, you click on the small icon beside the Window Title Bar (the small black box with C:\ on it) then go to Edit > Paste.

2. If you're going to do this a lot, it is surely inconvinient to copy and paste that way, there is also another solution. Download the PowerToys titled "Open Command Windows Here" (MS's program that is not officially supported by MS) from: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx [the download links is on the right]

Install it, and whenever you want to browse command prompt to a hard-to-reach place, just right click then click "Open Command Window here"