create "Computer" and "Documents" shortcut with powershell

Question

I'm trying to automate some stuff for users and one of them is to add "Computer" and "Documents" shortcut to their desktop.

I found the code below online and changed the target to "explorer.exe /e,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}"

$WshShell = New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell
$Shortcut = $WshShell.CreateShortcut(C:\users\username\Desktop\Computer.lnk")
$Shortcut.TargetPath = "explorer.exe \/e,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}"
$Shortcut.Save()

But when I run this code I get the following error :

"Exception calling "Save" with "0" argument : "Unable to save shotcut"

If there is another and easy way, I would love to hear it :)

Thank you everyone in advance.

This is simpler using group policy preferences, as documented here. — Bill_Stewart
– Bill_Stewart, Commented Sep 4, 2014 at 22:14
I get a completely different error when trying to set TargetPath with this ("TargetPath: The parameter is incorrect"). Try setting the TargetPath = "explorer.exe" and Arguments = "\/e,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}". Also, is the shortcut in the current user's folder or a different user? — Mike Zboray
– Mike Zboray, Commented Sep 5, 2014 at 0:19
Hi Mike. I'm running the script with my admin account to create the shortcut on the users desktop. Matt's script below works like a charm except when I run the script with my admin account I get the error message. — Besiktas
– Besiktas, Commented Sep 5, 2014 at 14:07

Matt · Accepted Answer · 2014-09-05 14:43:28Z

1

I think i have a nice solution here. Also, in my own ineptitude, I think i figured out your error cause

First I found a cleaner way to make shortcuts to special folders.

$WshShell = New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell
$Shortcut = $WshShell.CreateShortcut("C:\users\user\Desktop\MacadizamianNizzut.lnk")
$Shortcut.TargetPath = [environment]::getfolderpath("mycomputer")
$Shortcut.Save()

You could also use mydocuments in place of mycomputer. For a complete list of special folders that you can use: [enum]::GetNames([System.Environment+SpecialFolder]). Tips hat to JRV for a comment on my link above.

As for your error "Exception calling "Save" with "0" arguments : "Unable to save shortcut". I also got that error. In practice it was because the value passed for createshortcut was not a valid path. I am not saying that the file has to exist but the folder path does. I made a typo and got the error. Using my example this command would have failed: Test-Path ""C:\users\user\Desktop"

Some Error Prevention

What we could do is assign the shortcut path to a variable and test the path based on that.

$ShortcutPath = "C:\users\username\desktop\test.lnk"
If(Test-Path -Path (Split-Path -Path $ShortcutPath -Parent)){
    $WshShell = New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell
    $Shortcut = $WshShell.CreateShortcut($ShortcutPath)
    $Shortcut.TargetPath = [environment]::getfolderpath("mycomputer")
    $Shortcut.Save()
} Else {
    Write-Host "Unable to create shortcut. Check the path $ShortcutPath."
}

edited Sep 5, 2014 at 14:43

answered Sep 5, 2014 at 2:53

Matt

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7 Comments

Besiktas Over a year ago

This works perfect. Thank you so much. The only issue is that I'm still getting the "Exception calling..." error if I run the script with my admin account (Which is how I will be running the script). However, if I run the script with the user account it works perfect. Any ideas on how to get around this?

Matt Over a year ago

What are you using for CreateShortcut("C:\users\user\Desktop\MacadizamianNizzut.lnk") in your script exactly. I would want to your if your equivelent passes this test: Test-Path "C:\users\user\Desktop"

Besiktas Over a year ago

I just tried the test-path and got access denied. Very weird. But this is my admin account. Why would I get access denied?

Matt Over a year ago

Are you running as administrator? I mean do you have UAC enabled? You still have to elevate the rights of your sessions.

Besiktas Over a year ago

I'm running PS with my admin account.

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