OFFXP: Error Message: Warning 1909. Could Not Create Shortcut During Setup (297913)


The information in this article applies to:

  • the operating system: Microsoft Windows 98
  • the operating system: Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
  • Microsoft Office XP Professional
  • Microsoft Office XP Small Business
  • Microsoft Office XP Standard
  • Microsoft Office XP Students and Teachers
  • Microsoft Office XP Developer
  • Microsoft Access 2002
  • Microsoft Excel 2002
  • Microsoft FrontPage 2002
  • Microsoft Outlook 2002
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2002
  • Microsoft Word 2002
This article was previously published under Q297913
For a Microsoft Office 2000 version of this article, see 217648.

SYMPTOMS

WARNING:This information is preliminary and has not been confirmed or tested by Microsoft. Use only with discretion. When you run Microsoft Office XP Setup, the following error message may appear:
Warning 1909. Could not create shortcut <filename>.lnk. Verify that the destination folder exists and that you can access it.
You may receive this error for more than one shortcut that Setup is trying to create.

After Setup is finished, none of the shortcuts on the Programs menu work. However, the Office programs start if you double-click the executable files (for example, Excel.exe) in the \Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office 10 folder.

CAUSE

This error message may appear if either of the following is true:
  • You are installing Office into a non-default folder location that has a very long total path length.

    -or-

  • The Windows file associations are corrupted.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use the appropriate method for your situation.

Method 1: If you installed Office to a non-default folder location

If you installed Office to a non-default folder location (with a long total path), follow these steps.

NOTE: Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.
  1. Uninstall Office using Add/Remove Programs. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Quit all Windows programs.
    2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
    3. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
    4. Double-click the Office XP entry in the list of installed programs.
    5. Click Uninstall Office in the Microsoft Office XP: Maintenance Mode dialog box.
    6. Follow the prompts on your screen.
  2. Rerun Office Setup.
  3. Choose the default path or choose a path shorter than your original path.

Method 2: If you installed Office to the default folder location

If you installed Office to the default folder location, then your Windows file associations may need to be repaired. To do this, follow these steps.

NOTE: Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.
  1. Uninstall Office using Add/Remove Programs. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Quit all Windows programs.
    2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
    3. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
    4. Double-click the Office XP entry in the list of installed programs.
    5. Click Uninstall Office in the Microsoft Office XP: Maintenance Mode dialog box.
    6. Follow the prompts on your screen.
  2. Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.
  3. In the Named box, type Shell.inf, and then click Find Now.
  4. Right-click the Shell.inf file, and click Install on the menu that appears.
  5. Wait about one minute (the time varies depending on the speed of your hard disk), and then click Start, click Shutdown, click Restart, and then click OK.
  6. If the Shell.inf file is not found, click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box, type the following:

    rundll setupx.dll,InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 132 c:\windows\inf\shell.inf

    NOTE: Type the above line as one continuous line. If you installed Windows in a folder other than the Windows folder, adjust the command-line accordingly.
  7. Rerun Office Setup.
For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

145810 Install Command Unavailable on .inf File Context Menu

MORE INFORMATION

An additional symptom of the problem with file associations is that if you right-click My Computer, the Open and Explore commands are missing from the shortcut menu.

REFERENCES

For more articles about how to troubleshoot specific errors in Office Setup:

Click here to view a list of Windows Installer Errors for Office XP articles

For more articles with general information about how to troubleshoot Office errors:

Click here to view a list of Office XP Troubleshooting articles

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/29/2006
Keywords:kberrmsg kbprb kbsetup KB297913
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