How To Create Shortcuts (Shell Links) within Windows

MORE INFORMATION

Shell links, also known as shortcuts, are a convenient way to reference objects within the shell name space (the hierarchical structure of objects in the Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me shell) without having to keep track of the name and location of the original object. Shell links are referred to as shortcuts in the Context menu (that appears when you right- click an object) of shell objects. They are implemented internally through the IShellLink interface.

Steps for Creating a Shell Link (Shortcut) to the Desktop

1. Start a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add a Command button (Command1) to Form1.
3. Add the following code to the General Declarations section of Form1:

         Option Explicit
   
         'NOTE: In Visual Basic 5.0, change Stkit432.dll in the following
         'statement to Vb5stkit.dll. 
   
         Private Declare Function fCreateShellLink Lib "STKIT432.DLL" (ByVal _
          lpstrFolderName As String, ByVal lpstrLinkName As String, ByVal _
          lpstrLinkPath As String, ByVal lpstrLinkArgs As String) As Long
   
         Sub Command1_Click()
   
           Dim lReturn As Long
   
           'Add to Desktop
           lReturn = fCreateShellLink("..\..\Desktop", _
           "Shortcut to Calculator", "c:\Winnt\system32\calc.exe", "")
   
           'Add to Program Menu Group
           lReturn = fCreateShellLink("", "Shortcut to Calculator", _
           "c:\Winnt\system32\calc.exe", "")
   
           'Add to Startup Group
   
           'Note that on Windows NT, the shortcut will not actually appear
           'in the Startup group until your next reboot.
           lReturn = fCreateShellLink("\Startup", "Shortcut to Calculator", _
           "c:\Winnt\system32\calc.exe", "")
   
         End Sub
   
   					

4. Press the F5 key to run the project, and then click the Command button.

NOTE: If you are running Windows NT, the above example works correctly. If you are running Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me, change the Calc.exe path to the following:

   C:\Windows\Calc.exe
				

This creates a shortcut to the Calc.exe file on the user's desktop, a program group, and a reference to it in the Startup items.