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Maurice BrandmanFlag for Israel

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How can I add an hyperlink to the Recycle Bin in my "master" Powerpoint file?

Under Windows 7 professional 64b:

I have a PPTX file with many hyperlinks to important data folders and to main applications.
I want to add in a link to the Recycle Bin
Avatar of Paul MacDonald
Paul MacDonald
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You can create a shortcut (not a hyperlink) to the Recycle Bin and use "explorer.exe ::{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}" as the Location.
Quick question... Why are you using PowerPoint?  Couldn't you just create a folder on your desktop and add a bunch of shortcuts there?
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ASKER

I cannot get this link for a shortcut to work.

I prefer the PPTX pages for shortcuts since it is graphic, allows separate pages for categories (e.g. work files, network maintenance, software) and is less boring than a bunch of shortcuts.
Maurice

Microsoft Office applications and even Windows Wordpad support the creation of links to websites (URLs) and to local files (LNKs), but you are trying to create a shortcut to a special folder that has very specific attributes.

In Windows 7 the "Recycle Bin" actually exists as the hidden folder:
C:\$Recycle.Bin\{SID}
where {SID} is the Security Identifier for a specified user profile on that computer.  The SID is a long number in this format:
S-1-5-21-583907252-651377827-725345543-1004
so each different user profile has their own recycle bin.

The "Recycle Bin" icon as you see it on your desktop and in Windows Explorer is actually a special folder with special attributes, and merely serves as a convenient way to move files to, view files in, and restore files from, the actual folder that files have been deleted to.  In a way it is almost like the "library" files in Windows 7, because it is just a "shortcut" to where the real folder is.

There are lots of such special folders on a Windows 7 computer, and each has its own Class Identifier.  The special attributes for each of these Class Identifiers are stored in the registry in keys named after the respective CLSID numbers.  Here is a list of some of these special folder names:

Administrative Tools.{D20EA4E1-3957-11d2-A40B-0C5020524153}
All Tasks.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002b30309d}
Connections.{241D7C96-F8BF-4F85-B01F-E2B043341A4B}
Fonts.{D20EA4E1-3957-11d2-A40B-0C5020524152}
Computer.{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Documents.{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}
History.{ff393560-c2a7-11cf-bff4-444553540000}
Network Places.{208d2c60-3aea-1069-a2d7-08002b30309d}
Printers and Faxes.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
Programs Folder.{7be9d83c-a729-4d97-b5a7-1b7313c39e0a}
Recycle Bin.{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Start Menu.{48e7caab-b918-4e58-a94d-505519c795dc}
Scheduled Tasks.{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

If you Right-Click in a folder or on your Desktop and choose New > Folder, you can paste that complete folder name and click away from it.  When you do this, everything in the file name from the dot to the end is hidden and the new folder will show the icon that matches the special folder's description as stored in the registry.  Windows is designed not to show the full names of these "extensions".  They are super-hidden, and you would only see their full names if you did a directory listing in a command window or deliberately set Windows Explorer to show protected system files and folders.

I discourage you from doing this though, because you do not really want to have more than one Control Panel or Start Menu existing in other places.  I am just trying to explain why these special folders work this way.

There IS, however, a great way to get a bunch of special folder icons in one place just like the Control Panel folder works.  Some people have referre4d to this as "God Mode", but I don't like using that expression.  A better expression is "Windows Master Control Panel".

If you Right-Click on your Desktop and create a new folder with the name:
Master Control Panel.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
it should create a new folder containing the means to access all kinds of administrative tasks all in one place.

There are 2 other ways that you can open one of these special folders once you know the CLSID number:

Add two colons in front of the opening curly brackets and paste that into the Run field, for example to open "My Computer":
::{20d04fe0-3aea-1069-a2d8-08002b30309d}

Add 3 colons and the SHELL command and paste into the Address Bar of Windows Explorer or into the Run field, for example:
shell:::{20d04fe0-3aea-1069-a2d8-08002b30309d}

Here is a reference:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee330741(VS.85).aspx

Now, back to what you are trying to do.  You can create a link to a local file or to a web URL in any of the Microsoft Office applications.   These applications were not designed to create a shortcut to a folder like the Recycle Bin.

You can Insert > Hyperlink and enter:
C:\$Recycle.Bin\THE-SID-OF-YOUR-USER-PROFILE
And this should then convert to a link that uses the file:// protocol like this:
file:///C:\$Recycle.Bin\THE-SID-OF-YOUR-USER-PROFILE

You can get your SID from the registry.  If you do not know how, then don't do this.

You would normally have to Ctrl + Click on a link in an office application for it to work, but this MIGHT open Windows Explorer to the actual folder and allow you to see files in the Recycle Bin where you normally would not be allowed to go other than by using the standard Recycle Bin icon on your Desktop.

I quite simply DO NOT advocate doing ANY of the steps that i have detailed above, and frankly do not understand why you choose to use PowerPoint for this type of thing.  The risk is all yours and I take absolutely no responsibility when you screw things up.


EDIT:  There we go.  I have just seen your other question that establishes just one of the reasons that PowerPoint is not the ideal way to access this kind of thing:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/28997862/I-have-the-same-problem-and-I-want-to-eliminate-the-hyperlink-warning-pop-up-in-a-PPTX-file-Please-advise.html
Still not working
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BillDL
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I have accepted your suggestion and I have added the Recycle link to the Desktop.  Thank you.
Thank you Maurice.

There was an easier way of showing the recycle bin on your Desktop.

RIGHT-Click on a blank area of the Desktop and choose "Personalize"
OR
Control Panel > "Appearance and Personalization".
Choose "Change Desktop Icons".
The dialog that shows should have check boxes for Computer, User's Files, Network, Recycle Bin, and Control Panel.
Select the Recycle Bin and click "Apply".
In that dialog you should also have the option to choose an alternative icon other than the default, and there should also be a check box to "allow themes to change desktop icons".