Shortcuts Still Appear for Removed Application

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You assign or publish an application with a Group Policy object, and a user installs the application. The user then removes the application or Software Installation and Maintenance removes the application. After the software is removed, the shortcuts for the application still appear on the desktop or on the Start menu.

Possible Causes:

  • A user creates shortcuts for the application that the application's Windows Installer package is not aware of, and therefore cannot remove.

  • Automatic upgrade of the application leaves shortcuts for the base application — that is, the application being upgraded.

  • Another Group Policy object is advertising the application.

Diagnostic Tests:

If you click the shortcuts and they no longer point to an application — that is, they neither start the application nor start the installation of the application — then they are broken links. Delete the shortcuts and see if they reappear or if they stay deleted.

Check to see if there is a new version of the application. For example, the broken links might point to Microsoft® Word 97, and there is a working shortcut to Microsoft® Word 2000. Delete the shortcuts and see if they reappear or if they remain deleted.

If you delete the broken links, and they reappear, then a Group Policy object is advertising the links. If they do not install the application, see "Computer-Assigned Applications Do Not Install" earlier in this chapter.