OS X to XP networking issue

That usually means that the  item the alias is pointing to:
a) has been deleted;
b) has been moved; or
c) is on a network volume or removabel volume that is not mounted.

Click the icon to highlight it and type "command-i" for "GetInfo" to find out where the alias is pointing to.

Alternatively, delete the alias and create a new one.

This happens when Windows XP drops the connection.  The alias or shortcut is created in the Network folder but when you click on it you get that error .. alias "could not be opened".

So you need to Create the connection again
Go to the Finder: Go : Connect to Server ... and re-enter the connection.

See this Experts Exchange article for the different ways to create more permanent Network Share links
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/22427567/Network-Drive-Mappings-on-Macbook-Pro.html

Sadly the Experts are completely wrong. Their solutions were not useful, so  I fixed it myself.  The problem was a windows registry setting on the Windows machine HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters\IRPstackSize.  Documented elsewhere, but I raised the value to 20 (decimal) and that fixed the problem.
Simple, if obscure.  Try this for OS X / XP networking issues in future.