I bumped into this amazing JScript/batch file hybrid. It starts as a batch file, then continues as a JScript script, and creates/updates .lnk files: [WayBack] batch.scripts/shortcutJS.bat at master · npocmaka/batch.scripts · GitHub.
Wow. Just wow.
Not that I would want to be the one maintaining it (:
Via [WayBack] batch file – How do I create a shortcut via command-line in Windows? – Stack Overflow of which I like these answers most:
-
Check the shortcutJS.bat – it is a
jscript/bathybrid and should be used with.batextension:call shortcutJS.bat -linkfile "%~n0.lnk" -target "%~f0" -linkarguments "some arguments"With
-helpyou can check the other options (you can set icon , admin permissions and etc.) - Nirsoft’s NirCMD can create shortcuts from a command line, too. (Along with a pile of other functions.) Free and available here:
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/nircmd.html
Full instructions here: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/nircmd2.html#using (Scroll down to the “shortcut” section.)
Yes, using nircmd does mean you are using another 3rd-party .exe, but it can do some functions not in (most of) the above solutions (e.g., pick a icon # in a dll with multiple icons, assign a hot-key, and set the shortcut target to be minimized or maximized).
Though it appears that the shortcutjs.bat solution above can do most of that, too, but you’ll need to dig more to find how to properly assign those settings. Nircmd is probably simpler.
–jeroen
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 
Yep, I can see this problem as well. I believe the problem (bug) has indeed always existed. What happens is that someone (in this case NetBeans Installer) has put an 8-byte value into a Registry field that should only contain a 4-byte value. DWORDs are 4-byte. If you use Registry Editor you can clearly see the problem if you look at something NBI has installed. You must look under either HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall (64-bit installers) or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall (32-bit installers). For some reason I don't see the problem for those NBI applications installed with a 32-bit installer, meaning the stuff in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall. This can probably be explained when you read the next bit. NBI actually sets a number of Registry key values but all of them are strings, with the exception of NoModify value. As far as I know this value already defaults to true (=1) if not present so the fact that Windows cannot interpret what NBI has put into the Registry does not have much effect .... until all other kinds of tools will start to explain as you've encountered. So, what's the problem? As far as I can see this is really just a very simple bug. In the NBI project (NetBeans Platform source) you have a file called jni_WindowsRegistry.c which defines various JNI methods that can then be used from within Java. One of these is called 'set32BitValue0(....)'. It looks like this: JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_org_netbeans_installer_utils_system_windows_WindowsRegistry_set32BitValue0(JNIEnv *jEnv, jobject jObject, jint jMode, jint jSection, jstring jKey, jstring jName, jint jValue) { unsigned short* key = getWideChars(jEnv, jKey); unsigned short* name = getWideChars(jEnv, jName); DWORD dword = (DWORD) jValue; LPBYTE byteValue = (LPBYTE) &dword; if (!setValue(getMode(jMode),getHKEY(jSection), key, name, REG_DWORD, byteValue, sizeof(name), 0)) { throwException(jEnv, "Cannot set value"); } FREE(key); FREE(name); } One of the parameters passed to the setValue() function is the size (bytes) of the value. Unfortunately whoever made this has made a blunder by using 'sizeof(name)' for that parameter. It should have been the size of the value, not the size of the name, meaning sizeof(dword) or just a hard-coded value of 4. Just imagine what sizeof(name) will give you if name happens to be 'NoModify'. Yep, that's right: It will be 8. As I said, I believe this blunder has been in the code from the very beginning. It just hasn't had much effect until now.