help with pc, .Ink files?

Question

I have turned my old pc on and none of my programs work except microsoft word and all my desktop icons have gone white (the usual error sign) and i cant double click em and it says "path not found" etc. But the files end in .Ink or .lnk (the latter with a L) so im not sure what they are and i cant open any programs!

Please help! i will vote best answer if its really quick and helpful!

Answer 1

The "Path not found" error means that the icons (lnk files) are not able to find the directory that holds the programs they are suppose to start.

Right click on the icons, and look at their properties. The "target" field will tell you were they are looking for the program. Windows has a bad habit of somethings changing those location setting (most often by changing the "C:" at the start to a different letter). Make sure those locations are correct.

You can also use My Computer or Explorer to go to the location of the programs yourself, find the file that runs the program, and right click on it. Copy it, and then right click on the desktop and do a Paste Shortcut to create a new icon that will run the program.

If you have not already done so, you should try shutting the computer down and then restarting it. That will often fix this issue if Windows has somehow lost track of where a directory is located.

Answer 2

.lnk files are shortcuts, which directs you to another file. Normally the extension (.lnk) is not visible. You should right click the shortcut and click properties to see where it directs you.

Answer 3

.lnk are shortcuts, blah.lnk can point to C:\program files\blah.exe

If C:\program files\blah.exe was removed, moved or changed than blah.lnk can not find/locate it.

You can either remove or update missing shortcuts.

Deleting them does not harm the system.

Wonder where did the files go.