Installing Shortcuts

Standard shortcut locations | Guidelines for shortcut locations | How to create a program group for your product | How to define a shortcut for your product | Shortcuts to the (un)installer | How to define shortcuts to files you don't install

Shortcuts are a feature of Windows. In essence, they are small files, represented by an icon with a overlay, that act as symbolic links to other files or folders stored elsewhere. Their main purpose is to give the customer convenient access to programs and documents that may be stored in not-so-convenient places, such as C:\Program Files\Whizbang Inc\Widget.exe.

Typically, shortcuts are installed in one or more of the following locations:

• The Windows Desktop;
• The Windows Start menu, i.e., the popup menu that appears when the customer clicks on the Start button leftmost on the Windows Taskbar;
• The Programs menu, i.e., the submenu that appears when the customer chooses Programs on the Windows Start menu;
• The application's program group, which is an application-specific submenu on the Programs menu. (The term "program group" is a hold-over from the days of Windows 3.1 and earlier.)

Occasionally, shortcuts are installed in other folders such as the Startup folder.

Tip: See Installing an Internet (URL) Shortcut for information about URL shortcuts.

Standard shortcut locations

The following table shows the most common shortcut folders. During a Current User installation, the All Users folders are automatically mapped to their Current User equivalents. See Standard folders for more information.

Windows Installer only supports one set of shortcut locations. We recommend that you place all shortcuts in the All Users tree if you are building an MSI installer; Tarma ExpertInstall will ensure that they end up in the most appropriate folder for Windows Installer. See Standard folders for more information.

Guidelines for shortcut locations

Tarma Installer supports creation of shortcuts in any of the locations mentioned above. However, to avoid cluttering the customer's work environment, you should follow some guidelines when deciding where to install shortcuts.

In your application's program group?

Almost always - Shortcuts to your application's main executable (i.e., the program that the customer would regard as "the" application), to its documentation, to any related programs that you want the customer to access, and optionally to the uninstaller for your application.

On the Programs menu?

Rarely - A shortcut to your application's main executable, but only if the customer will use it often (say, almost every day). The space on the Programs menu is limited; don't force your customer to wade through a long list of rarely used shortcuts.

On the Start menu?

Seldom, if ever - A shortcut to your application's main executable, but only if the customer will use it very often (say, several times a day). The space on the Start menu is limited; don't force your customer to wade through a long list of rarely used shortcuts.

On the Desktop?

Seldom, if ever - A shortcut to your application's main executable, but only if the customer will use it very often (say, several times a day). The Windows Desktop is the provenance of the customer; leave it to him to decide how to arrange his work environment.

Elsewhere?

Rarely - unless you have special requirements, for example, a program that must be run each time a user logs on. In that case, you could install a shortcut in the Startup folder.

Note - Shortcuts can be created for all users on a computer (All Users installation), or only for the installing user (Current User installation). See Standard Folders for a discussion of All Users versus Current User folders, and Standard shortcut locations for a list of standard shortcut locations in Tarma ExpertInstall.

How to create a program group for your product

The preferred location for shortcuts is an application-specific program group. To define a program group for your application, act as follows.

1. Select the Files and Folders project page in the navigation pane on the left.
2. Open the Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs folder.
3. Make sure that the <ProductName> subfolder exists. You can rename this folder if you want to use a different name for the program group.

How to define a shortcut for your product

To define a shortcut for your application, act as follows.

1. Select the Files and Folders project page in the navigation pane on the left.
2. Right-click on the Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\<ProductName> folder.

3. From the context menu that appears, choose one of the following options:

   • New Shortcut - Creates a shortcut without a target path. You must fill in all relevant fields.
   • New Shortcut to File or Folder... - Creates a shortcut to the target file or folder of your choosing.
4. Select the newly created shortcut to display its Shortcut attributes pane, then adjust its settings as appropriate.
5. Repeat steps 2-5 as required for further shortcuts. If you want to create shortcuts elsewhere, repeat these steps in the desired folder. See Shortcut attributes for a list of standard shortcut locations in Tarma ExpertInstall.

Shortcuts to the (un)installer

If you want to create a shortcut to the installer, for example to provide an "Uninstall product" shortcut, use the settings shown below. This is no longer considered a good practice; Microsoft guidelines recommend that the installer and uninstaller are only accessed through the Add/Remove Programs control panel.

Because Tarma Installer and Windows Installer use different installers, the settings differ between the two installer types.

Tarma Installer

The Tarma Installer installer and uninstaller is called Setup.exe and is located in the <TinProductFolder> installation folder. Use the following settings to create a shortcut to this installer.

Note: You may see a BLD:Q0061 diagnostic message pointing out that <TinProductFolder>\Setup.exe is not an installation item and cannot be checked. You can safely ignore this message.

Uninstall shortcut

Change/Repair shortcut

Windows Installer

The Windows Installer installer and uninstaller is called Msiexec.exe and is located in the <SystemFolder> installation folder. Use the following settings to create a shortcut to this installer.

Note: You may see a BLD:Q0061 diagnostic message pointing out that <SystemFolder>\Msiexec.exe is not an installation item and cannot be checked. You can safely ignore this message.

Uninstall shortcut

Change/Repair shortcut

How to define shortcuts to files you don't install

To define a shortcut to a file or folder that isn't installed with your product, but that you know to be present on the target system, just follow the steps under How to define a shortcut for your application above. In step 3, select New Shortcut and enter the path to the shortcut's target file or folder in the Shortcut target field of the Shortcut attributes pane.

You can (and should) use symbolic folder names to specify the target path. See System folders variables for a list of available symbolic folder names. Remember to place the folder variable in angle brackets, for example <WindowsFolder>.