Strange behavior with RustDesk Shortcuts

Help & Support
1

Hello,
I utilize a remote control software application called RustDesk.
It allows for the creation of a desktop shortcut that allows someone to double-click the shortcut and it will launch the application and connect to the host.
Double clicking the shortcut directly from the desk top or from a "windows explorer" window, The application launches and connects as one would expect.

But if I try the same thing from within Directory Opus... the application will not launch.

This is the target of the shortcut "D:\Programs\RustDesk\rustdesk.exe --connect 131347432"
And the shortcut is created by RustDesk.

I am running windows 10 pro 64 version 22H2
Directory Opus 13.21

Thanks for taking a look. :grinning_face:

2

Do you get an error message?

3

Hello,
I do not get an error message of any kind. It seems like it is not making any interaction at all.
However when I right-click the shortcut I see the attached dialog

Untitled
Untitled262×394 7.38 KB

Which makes me think DO is not seeing it as a shortcut.
I have attached the actual shortcut in a RAR archive
Shortcut.rar (1.2 KB)

And strange thing about putting it in an archive I could not add it through DO
I had to create an empty WinRAR archive first and then drop it in using the WinRAR interface.

4

That sounds like antivirus (or similar) is blocking Opus from accessing the shortcut file.

5

Hello Leo.
That would be my first guess too. but I am not running an antivirus other than the built in windows.
I even have an exclusion for the dopus executable.

Capture
Capture375×607 22.3 KB

6

Defender is one of the worst ones for causing problems these days.

There are also potentially two exclusion lists that may need editing:

7

Hello Leo. I already had the dopus in the exception list.
I added it years ago as I didn't want windows scanning the application that I use everyday all day.
I did add the rest of the Directory Opus executables but it dod not seem to make a difference after a reboot.

8

Do other shortcuts work from Opus? (e.g. to Notepad or Calculator, for example)

If you make a new shortcut to RustDesk yourself, does that work from Opus?

I can't see anything obvious about the one you uploaded but shortcut file format is somewhat opaque so it's always possible.

9

FWIW, rustdeck shortcuts are working fine here when opened with Opus.
Windows 11 Pro 25H2 / Opus 13.20.
Nothing related to Opus nor Rustdeck in my exclusion list.

10

Yes I went to my start menu shortcuts.
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Accessories\Notepad.lnk

none of the shortcuts are working from with Directory Opus.

They all work fine from within Windows Explorer.

11

Additionally this seems to be only an issue with my windows 10 machine.
I am not experiencing this on my windows 11 machine.

12

If you navigate to a folder containing shortcuts and turn on the Description or Target columns, does it show the correct target for the shortcuts?

13

Does it work if you (temporarily) disable Defender’s real-time protection?

14

Thanks gang for not giving up on me... still trying to figure it out.
This issue persists even after I turned off / disabled real time protection including the stuff under "App & browser control"

and for Jon this is what I see when I enable those columns

Capture
Capture803×120 14.4 KB

I am flumuxed as to why shortcuts work in Windows Explorer but not in DO

It just occured to me ... I just reset directory opus back to factory default and the issue persists.
I will reboot and try again with the reset config before putting my theme back

15

Since it works in W11 and not on W10: have you tried to create the link on a W11 machine, and copy it to the W10 computer to see if it works? And the opposite?

16

Can you try opening an admin mode DOS prompt and run the following command:

regsvr32 /i C:\Windows\System32\shell32.dll

Then reboot and see if it made a difference. It's a long shot but you never know :slight_smile:

17

Hello PassThePeas. Yes I have copied a working shortcut on my W11 to my W10 and the shortcut does not work when trying to launch from DO. but it does work from Windows Explorer.

I have also tried Jon's suggestion being sure to reboot.

Additionally I ran the DISM commands:
DISM /online /Cleanup-image /CheckHealth
DISM /online /Cleanup-image /ScanHealth
DISM /online /Cleanup-image /RestoreHealth
and SFC /Scannow
Then rebooted... but to no avail.

I can see we are running out of options... I will just have to either launch my shortcuts from windows explorer or use my windows 11 machine