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I recently upgraded my work laptop, which not has Windows 7 on it. I was unable to pin some applications, so I went about creating toolbars that function like a "quick launch" area, more or less as shown HERE.

I simply created a folder called "Freq" (frequent) and added whatever I wanted to it by copying stuff from the Start Menu into the folder.

Now, I get asked every time I click one of these shortcuts if I really want to run it. A dialog pops up and says, "Do you want to open this file? Name: C:\Users\username\Favorites\Freq\Chrome.lnk"

I thought this would stop after a while, perhaps as Windows learned to "trust" the shortcut, but no such dice so far. Is there a way to make this stop? If I open Chrome, for example, directly from the Start Menu, no such thing happens. But all I did was go to the Start Menu, right click the Chrome icon, copy it, and then paste it into my Freq directory.

Thanks for any assistance.

Hendy
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  • What is the *exact* text of the dialog? – Hello71 Apr 27 '11 at 00:23
  • @Hello71 The exact dialog is shown [HERE](http://i.imgur.com/Y4gii.png). And again, **A)** Start Menu > All programs > Google Chrome > Chrome *works.* **B)** Start menu > All programs > Google Chrome > right click Chrome and choose "Copy" > open a folder > paste the shortcut inside > make a toolbar out of said folder... *doesn't work* (gives pictured security warning). – Hendy Apr 27 '11 at 16:40
  • XY Problem? --- – Hello71 Apr 27 '11 at 20:09
  • @Hello71: could you elaborate? I googled that and found [THIS](http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/66377/what-is-the-xy-problem), but am not sure how it applies. I stated both the "X" (my problem -- can't pin applications) and my Y (how I tried to solve X), as well as why Y is not working. In other words, I didn't *just* come her asking about my Y; I listed the problem it's trying to solve. Thus, I'm open to either a) this is why Y (your attempted solution) is happening and how to fix it, and/or b) ah, given your X (initial problem), just do this. – Hendy Apr 27 '11 at 22:19
  • possible duplicate of [Security warning in Win7 from the Links directory](http://superuser.com/questions/341550/security-warning-in-win7-from-the-links-directory). That is a newer question, but clearer. – fixer1234 Mar 18 '15 at 17:39

2 Answers2

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You need to set the quick launch integrity level to Medium. This can be done by applying the following:

  1. Click Start, type cmd.exe
  2. Right-click cmd.exe in Start menu search results and click Run as Administrator.

  3. Type the following command and press {ENTER}

    ICACLS "C:\Users\USERNAME\Favorites\Links" /T /Setintegritylevel (OI)(CI)M

Replace USERNAME when the username of the current user. The system should answer:

    processed file: C:\Users\USERNAME\Favorites\Links Successfully
    processed 1 files; Failed processing 0 files

From now on the warning popup is not shown anymore when you open a shortcut from quick launch.

Ruut
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    The first (accepted) solution works only if an unaltered link to the executable is sufficient. I needed to add a file argument to the link, and the moment I did, I started getting the annoying "do you trust this link?" question again. (I believe I read once that Microsoft hard-wired that in to make it harder for hackers to get in this way.) This second solution is what you need if you need anything more complicated than a simple link to the executable. I tried Ruut's solution in Windows 10 on 2017-05-20 and it worked fine, even after multiple Windows transitions and 4+ years... :) – Terry Bollinger May 20 '17 at 15:30
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    If you have multiple files/dirs inside the `Links` directory, then the `/T` flag comes in handy: `ICACLS "C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Favorites\Links" /T /Setintegritylevel (OI)(CI)M` – Rody Oldenhuis Nov 22 '17 at 08:33
  • @RodyOldenhuis, thanks for your suggestion. I added the `/T` – Ruut Nov 24 '17 at 14:47
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Ended up being simple -- for some reason creating a shortcut directly from wherever the actual .exe file is works perfectly; creating a shortcut from the shortcuts in the Start Menu already continue to pester one with "are you sure you want to run this" message (see picture above).

In other words,

  • create a folder for desired "quick launch" icons
  • find a program in C:\Program Files or wherever and create a shortcut from it
  • paste that shortcut into the folder you created
  • create a new toolbar by right clicking the task bar and point to the folder

That's it.

Hendy
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    It's hard to believe that this solution works, but it does. Thanks for the tip. I had actually figured this out a while back on my last Win 7 device, but then forgot in the meantime! Great to have it the answer up on superuser now! – stevemidgley Jul 01 '11 at 00:44