Author Topic: Shortcuts don't work (Read 19149 times)

kochon · « **on:** February 22, 2009, 12:01 PM »

Hey guys, found out about circle dock on a gaming forum and i wanted to try it out, it's very nice, but the main feature of it won't work; the shortcuts.

I dragged my desktop shorcuts onto the dock, but none of my shortcuts work, my programs give me errors exactly as if it(Circle Dock) was trying to run the exe's from another location then where they belong. Any way to make it work properly?

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #1 on:** February 22, 2009, 02:00 PM »

Ok, unfortunately it is a quirk of the CD, that if you drag a shortcut to CD and then delete the original shortcut, it will not work.
Understand that when you D&D an item to CD it is creating a shortcut to that item directly.
Therefore your best bet will be to go directly to the software folder and drag and drop (D&D) the exe file, or go into the CD shortcut and edit the address of the shortcut.

I hope I am making sense here. If not Let me know and I will do a step by step instruction.

I really should do one anyways, but let me know

kochon · « **Reply #2 on:** February 22, 2009, 02:16 PM »

Yeah i got you. But amm, I already tried dragging & dropping from the main folder of the game, even making a shortcut in the game's directory and dragging it in CD without deleting it, it always ends up not launching my games, I checked the address in CD, but it's okay.. I must be missing something.

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #3 on:** February 22, 2009, 02:33 PM »

Do you use Process Explorer or System Explorer, and what kind of Anti-Virus & firewall do you use.
Also what OS are you using?

I hit an issue with certain launchers, that if my settings in my Comodo Firewall are not correct.
I found in my Process explorer that the program is started, but it will not run. I find this by the program taking approximately 40% or more of my processor, but it will not start properly.
The exe gets hung on launch!

Let me know

kochon · « **Reply #4 on:** February 22, 2009, 02:38 PM »

I'm in Vista SP1 using Avira Antivir Premium, no firewall at all. Never used process explorer. I use the task manager to locate running programs.

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #5 on:** February 22, 2009, 02:44 PM »

You may need to create an exception in Avira for CD.
Also you may bring up CD and attempt to run a Shortcut.
Once this is done, bring up the Task Manager, and look under Process"
Look for the program you have attempted to start and see if it is using System resources to start, but is hung.
Quick way to find the resources that are being used is to click on the "CPU" in the process window, but it can be hard to look at.

One other thing here.
If you close CD and open it, do you still have your shortcuts, or do they disappear?
Also look for if your shortcut Icons turn to blue "?" marks

kochon · « **Reply #6 on:** February 22, 2009, 02:52 PM »

It has no link with my antivirus, I've tried all the exceptions i found, none worked. I even tried to deactivate it, didnt work. I can restart CD without losing my icons. Damn, this is weird. The processes arent hang out, they are started properly, but in the wrong folder. it tries to start lets say halo2.exe from another folder then its installation folder.

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #7 on:** February 22, 2009, 02:59 PM »

Are you working across multiple drives?

kochon · « **Reply #8 on:** February 22, 2009, 03:01 PM »

You mean hard drives? is so, then yes, but my games are all stored in the C drive, as well as CircleDock. Do I have to put CD in a specific directory? cause currently its in the Documents folder. I gotta go to work so my next reply will be in like 5 hours easily.

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #9 on:** February 22, 2009, 03:19 PM »

CD is a self contained program, therefore you can place it anywhere you wish

I guess I should ask a lot more questions here, instead of one at a time.

Ok, there is a chance that there is what I call the insidious exe.
This is where an exe file actually starts an actual exe in a different location.
MS Office and ADOBE Programs are infamous for this tactic, supposedly helps avoid pirating or hacking.
an exe to exe start if you will instead of a shortcut to the exe in the program file. In Vista the exe startup will redirect to the real exe in the AppData file (which is a hidden file of course) in User folder.

Where is Circle dock redirecting to?
Where have you directed circle dock to?
And have you manually tried to enter the correct address as you know it into the CD shorcut?

Is Halo the only shortcut that this happening to?

Now you may want to try to start the CD as an Administrative acess program.
Go to Circledock.EXE, right click, and run as administrator from the context menu.

Also go to you halo.exe, and check the properties.
See if this is forwarded to another exe file in a different area, that may very well be the real startup exe for Halo.

Let me know.

I will have to take off soon, but I will not abandon you to your problem.
I want the answer(s) as well.

So if I drop off for a while you will know why.
Just got a call from the office and the server is acting up, so I will have to go in to work in a few moments.

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #10 on:** February 22, 2009, 07:02 PM »

Hello Kochon

Did everything work out?

kochon · « **Reply #11 on:** February 22, 2009, 07:40 PM »

Yeah sorry, just got back from work. It isnt happening to Halo only. It happens to basically every program, say FEAR 2, Call of duty 4 and mirrors edge but no to Steam and Dosbox.

Tried the run as admin, no succes. My UAC is disabled anyways.

I tried to check the location, without success.

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #12 on:** February 22, 2009, 08:01 PM »

How about something more common.
Office software, browser(s), links, folders?

kochon · « **Reply #13 on:** February 22, 2009, 08:02 PM »

Firefox does work.

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #14 on:** February 22, 2009, 08:47 PM »

Well I fear that I am going to have to place this in my "damndest Thing" folder.
I am out of ideas, we will have to see if Mouser, someone else in the forum, or our Fearless developer VIP has a clue, because I am out of ideas.

The last option I could even consider, would be to delete the entire CD folder, run a registry check with CCleaner or Advanced Systems care, ensure that there are no tell tail signs of the program in the AppData file and try to re-install.

I seriously doubt that where you have placed the file has anything to do with the operation. I ran CD for 3 weeks on my Desktop, before I moved it to the Programs File in C:

I am borrowing Halflife, Halo, call of duty, and Neverwinter nights from a friend I will install these over the next couple of days and see if I get stuck with the same issue.
I had never considered using CD as a game start platform, so I am going to test this thing and find out what I can.

Otherwise I am at an end of my current suggestions.

But hey, do not give up, these things are usually something trivial.

At this point I am going to ask for a few days to test these games and see if I can get the scenario that you are experiencing and see if I can get a fix for you.

If in that time you figure it out, let me know what you did, so it can be passed onto others.
I figure if you are experiencing this issue, others must be as well.

If anything else comes up let us know, I try to monitor this forum as much as possible.

Between CD, Rocket Dock, and STabLauncher, I try to help where I can.
I want these programs to work

kochon · « **Reply #15 on:** February 22, 2009, 09:46 PM »

Thanks for your help, and It aint the regristry, I just installed those games 2 days ago. Looking forward for new ideas, people!

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #16 on:** February 22, 2009, 11:38 PM »

I was not discussing the registry for the games, but any registry entries for CD. If you decide to uninstall and re-install CD.

kochon · « **Reply #17 on:** February 28, 2009, 08:06 PM »

I figured out right clicking and Run as admin works. But its still annoying to always have to right click.

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #18 on:** February 28, 2009, 08:51 PM »

For that there is a couple of options:
1.) Right click on CD, go to properties. In the properties windows go to the "compatibility" Tab. At the bottom of "Compatibility" is a check box for "Run this program as an Administrator. Place a check mark in the box, and hit apply. From now on if when you open CD it automatically runs as Admin.

2.) have CD open with Admin privileges on boot. I would suggest using Task Scheduler.

Let me know if you want these directions, as they will take some time to type out.

Hope this helps

kochon · « **Reply #19 on:** February 28, 2009, 10:30 PM »

The checkbox is greyed out.. what the heck? I am administrator. And even if i run the app in admin mode, it wont work, i have to right click the shortcuts on the dock to make games work.

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #20 on:** March 01, 2009, 02:59 AM »

ok, just finished loading the list of games I mentioned earlier this week.
Give me some time so I can see about what is going on

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #21 on:** March 07, 2009, 01:07 PM »

Okee Doke

I have beat this thing around for almost a week now, and I am afraid to say that I have not had the issues that you are experiencing.
Nor have I been able to simulate the issues in Windows XP home, XP Pro, or Vista Premium (32 bit).

In my cases, everything appears to be working as it should, albeit the games take a little longer to start, compared with just hitting the desktop Icons, or going into the start menu.

As I mentioned before I will have to file this in my "damnedest Thing" folder.

I will unfortunately have to defer to VIP in this instance when he returns.

If anyone else is having the same issue, please feel free to reply here and let us know.

If you have worked out this issue, please list what worked for you here as well.

Wish I could have been more help in this instance.

Lunacy182 · « **Reply #22 on:** July 16, 2009, 06:11 PM »

I'm having the same problem.

Some of my programs work (Firefox, Sims 3), But some give me errors when I click them (PlanstVsZombies). But if I right click them and select "open" they run just fine.

I'm running Vista SP 1. I've tried running CD as administrator, and I tried setting the game as Run as Administrator. I've also tried making shortcuts on the desktop and dragging the .exe file straight from the game folder. Nothing seems to work. I'm hoping someone else has some ideas.

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #23 on:** July 16, 2009, 06:40 PM »

I'm having the same problem.

Some of my programs work (Firefox, Sims 3), But some give me errors when I click them (PlanstVsZombies). But if I right click them and select "open" they run just fine.

I'm running Vista SP 1. I've tried running CD as administrator, and I tried setting the game as Run as Administrator. I've also tried making shortcuts on the desktop and dragging the .exe file straight from the game folder. Nothing seems to work. I'm hoping someone else has some ideas.
-Lunacy182 (July 16, 2009, 06:11 PM)

Welcome to DonationCoder.com and CircleDock's corner of it.

I have reported this bug in the past, and it seems to happen only with Games, and only on certain systems (None OS Specific).

I have forwarded this bug to the Developer, and I hope he will respond with a fix soon.

Once again; Welcome