Annoying Shortcut Error Window


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Hello,

 

how can I keep Maxthon from pissing me off with these constant notifiers, "Shortcut Error", with a "Repair Now" button?

 

I believe that it is absolutely none of Maxthon's business which desktop icons I have, and where they go to.

 

Thanks in advance

Eva

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1 hour ago, emueller said:

Hello,

 

how can I keep Maxthon from pissing me off with these constant notifiers, "Shortcut Error", with a "Repair Now" button?

 

I believe that it is absolutely none of Maxthon's business which desktop icons I have, and where they go to.

 

Thanks in advance

Eva

To me that sounds like a Windows errer message even if Mx was open and active.  When you click (or double-click) a destop icon, Windows jumps in to dispach a call to the appropriate application.

Does the icon have anything to do with Maxthon?  If not Mx should be silent.  I don't know if Mx would see an error that Windows didn't.

                                <<SL>>

 

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I have not taken a screenshot, but after some more searching it seems that I am not alone with this problem, see for example:

The message text seems to have changed by now, however I do remember getting this funny but annoying "abnormal icon" message before.

The notifier window still looks the same, it is definitely not from Windows but comes from Maxthon, and I hold that my desktop icons are absolutely none of Maxthon's business (after Maxthon has been installed and has placed the optional icon with which the browser can be started, onto my desktop). Even if I would change the Maxthon icon in such a way that it opens Firefox, Chrome or Minesweeper instead of Maxthon, that's my business and not that of Maxthon.

The notifiers pop up while Maxthon isn't open.

I cannot find any parts of Maxthon in my %AppData%\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup , nor in the Autostart section in msconfig. Also %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup does not contain any Maxthon things.

So, how/where does the active portion of Maxthon hide and start itself, even though I don't want it to be active? How can I stop Maxthon from spying on what my icons do, apart from uninstalling Maxthon?

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2 hours ago, SnowLeopard said:

Does the icon have anything to do with Maxthon?  If not Mx should be silent.  I don't know if Mx would see an error that Windows didn't.

I think he is talking about the message that appears concerning the Maxthon desktop icon. I have found that if I allow for an installation of a Maxthon release to create a desktop icon, then I rename it, I get a message that tells me that there is a problem with the desktop icon and gives me an option to repair it now. I also believe that a warning also appears in the browser window. This occurs for me as I rename the icon and then I pin it to the taskbar followed by deleting the desktop icon completely.

For you emueller, my suggestion is that if you don't need the desktop icon, then during installation uncheck the box for "create desktop icon" in the advanced section of the install dialog. I doubt it is as intrusive as you are claiming or that it is spying on you as it only thinks that the icon should be named MX5. It has nothing to do with what your icon goes to only that it has noticed that the original Maxthon desktop icon has been altered. It isn't concerned with what you have made the icon go to, just that it has been altered. I simply close the warning dialog box and move on.

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9 hours ago, rick.lane said:

For you emueller, my suggestion is that if you don't need the desktop icon, then during installation uncheck the box for "create desktop icon" in the advanced section of the install dialog

The problem is Maxthon's autoupdating. Developers think that you MUST have a desktop icon and this decision leads to constant popup about problem with desktop icon after such autoupdate.

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3 hours ago, Kilmatar said:

The problem is Maxthon's autoupdating. Developers think that you MUST have a desktop icon and this decision leads to constant popup about problem with desktop icon after such autoupdate.

In the past two "auto-updates" a desktop icon has NEVER been created.

post3dmg4_zps398d3651.jpgWindows 10 64-bit build 10525/Windows 10 Mobile build 10512

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i cannot figure out what happens by your explanations

error messages shortcut missing or wrong path are coming from windows

check if the path is correct by opening properties

check active icons in the taskbar

if this happens when maxthon is closed; maybe a file is trying to open MX set as default opener like PDF 

last but not least could be a crapware

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2 hours ago, karajan said:

error messages shortcut missing or wrong path are coming from windows

it's not, it's mx5.

it's supposed to be a verification of the shortcut to ensure that it hasn't been compromised by any malware that opens up a dodgy site etc.

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  • The path of the icon is correct, clicking the icon opens Maxthon as expected. The icon has the text "Maxthon Cloud Browser".
  • I want to keep the icon on my desktop, for the purpose of opening Maxthon manually.
  • Windows, from all I know, never checks where my desktop icon links go to (even if the path is wrong), and so far never ever has given me a notification message about my icons, let alone a notifier which looks like and smells like it's coming from Maxthon.
  • At the last incidence, there had been no active Maxthon icons in the taskbar.
  • The idea of a file trying to open Maxthon is a good one, I will observe that from now on, although I don't see why this process should involve having to look at the desktop icon.

 

However, my point is that

1. When I don't start Maxthon manually, I don't want it to do anything at all, i.e., neither checking my icons nor doing anything else which I possibly don't even know about. I especially don't like programs installing memory resident portions of themselves or autostarting themselves by hiding in places which are not easily user accessible as intended by Microsoft. Doing so is a very dubious practice which I would expect malware to do, but not a hopefully trustworthy program like Maxthon.

2. Even when I start Maxthon manually, I do not want it to touch or even look at my desktop icons, since I regard my desktop as confidential, personal place.

3. When I am not using a program, and have not used it for days, I don't want it to disturb me with notifiers unless something really critical needs my attention. For example, coming at a completely random time, I would regard a notification of my email account quota being exceeded as justified, but not these repeating notifiers from Maxthon.

4. When I have been notified of something completely unimportant in the middle of my work, then at the very least a simple one-click option "do not bug me with this again" would be appropriate. Just because Microsoft Windows itself isn't being a good example of how to make it better doesn't mean that one should follow the practice of leaving no option for the user..

 

But surely there must be a more or less easy way to get rid of the checking and notifying?

 

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1 hour ago, emueller said:
  • The path of the icon is correct, clicking the icon opens Maxthon as expected. The icon has the text "Maxthon Cloud Browser".
  •  
On 3/17/2018 at 0:32 PM, SnowLeopard said:

 

Just curious which version of Maxthon you are using as the Maxthon icon hasn't said "Maxthon Cloud Browser" for some time. When I install a new version of Maxthon 5, the desktop icon has a label of MX5. Maybe that has something to do with the error message (?). And I really don't think this error message is any where near as suspicious as you are making it out to be. Also, you haven't mentioned what you do when you receive that message; have you clicked on the "repair now" button? Just trying to help you figure out what is going on for you.

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13 hours ago, rick.lane said:

Just curious which version of Maxthon you are using as the Maxthon icon hasn't said "Maxthon Cloud Browser" for some time. When I install a new version of Maxthon 5, the desktop icon has a label of MX5. Maybe that has something to do with the error message (?).

I tried to check this with Maxthon ("About"). It told me that my version is 5.1.3.2000. It is strange that this version is from 2017, but at the same time it told me "Copyright 1999-2018 Maxthon Ltd.", and that I am already having the newest version (!).

I therefore did a manual search and installed the latest version (5.1.7.2000). The installation indeed created a new icon called "MX5". Since this icon opens Maxthon, I deleted the old icon and renamed the new one to "Maxthon". Everything was fine then for maybe 15 minutes, but then I got the notifier again - this time with the old text ("abnormal"). This time, the notifier had its own icon on the taskbar, a white circular arrow on green background (see attached screenshots). When it popped up, the computer had been idle for maybe 5 minutes. Maxthon was closed at that time.

For now I have tried the "Repair Now" option. I am baffled that it did not touch the name of the icon. So what in hell has it "repaired" then??

 

Maxthon_is_Abnormal_Taskbar_Symbol.jpg

Maxthon_is_Abnormal.jpg

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On 3/18/2018 at 5:59 PM, emueller said:
  • The path of the icon is correct, clicking the icon opens Maxthon as expected. The icon has the text "Maxthon Cloud Browser".
  • I want to keep the icon on my desktop, for the purpose of opening Maxthon manually.
  • Windows, from all I know, never checks where my desktop icon links go to (even if the path is wrong), and so far never ever has given me a notification message about my icons, let alone a notifier which looks like and smells like it's coming from Maxthon.
  • At the last incidence, there had been no active Maxthon icons in the taskbar.
  • The idea of a file trying to open Maxthon is a good one, I will observe that from now on, although I don't see why this process should involve having to look at the desktop icon.

 

However, my point is that

1. When I don't start Maxthon manually, I don't want it to do anything at all, i.e., neither checking my icons nor doing anything else which I possibly don't even know about. I especially don't like programs installing memory resident portions of themselves or autostarting themselves by hiding in places which are not easily user accessible as intended by Microsoft. Doing so is a very dubious practice which I would expect malware to do, but not a hopefully trustworthy program like Maxthon.

2. Even when I start Maxthon manually, I do not want it to touch or even look at my desktop icons, since I regard my desktop as confidential, personal place.

3. When I am not using a program, and have not used it for days, I don't want it to disturb me with notifiers unless something really critical needs my attention. For example, coming at a completely random time, I would regard a notification of my email account quota being exceeded as justified, but not these repeating notifiers from Maxthon.

4. When I have been notified of something completely unimportant in the middle of my work, then at the very least a simple one-click option "do not bug me with this again" would be appropriate. Just because Microsoft Windows itself isn't being a good example of how to make it better doesn't mean that one should follow the practice of leaving no option for the user..

 

But surely there must be a more or less easy way to get rid of the checking and notifying?

 

Thanks, @emueller for clearly describing the issue here. C'mon developers! Get rid of this already! How can there be 13 posts in this thread without a dev saying "Yes, we understand you don't like this feature and will remove it in the next release." Simple as that. 

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