Desktop shortcut link (Excel 97 NT)

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Is there a way to set up a desktop shortcut to an Excel Workbook so that if you make a change in either one, it will appear on both? This is on a networked computer.

Right now, all of the desktops have the shortcut to the workbook, but if they open it and add anything, it doesn’t appear on the original and vice versa.

Hope someone can help.

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Are you sure that you have a shortcut on the desktop and not a copy of the file? A shortcut is not a copy of the file it is a shortcut to, it is just a pointer. Therefore, there is no “both”, there is only one file that can be updated. It sounds like what you are calling shortcuts are really copies of the file.

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I right clicked on the workbook (file) and chose “create shortcut” which I then dragged to the desktop. Obviously that didn’t work. I tried making a copy to see if that would work, and it didn’t either. Is there a way to do it so it will update both?

Thank you very much for responding.

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If the icon is a shortcut it should have the little arrow in the lower left corner and the size should be 1k. If the icon is for the real file, it will not have the little arrow and its size should be larger than 1k (at least I have never seen an Excel file that is that small).

To create a shortcut I usually right click on the file and drag to the location where I want the shortcut (depending on how your system is configured you may need to use two Windows explorer windows). I then release the right button and click on “Create shortcut”.

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I definitely made a shortcut, it had the little arrow on it. But the problem is, if I open the workbook using the shortcut, it doesn’t show up in the original folder. Or if I type it in the original, it doesn’t show up on the shortcut. Shouldn’t it update the other when I type in one?

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It should update the file.

What it looks like to me is that the shortcut doesn’t point to the correct file.

Right click on your shortcut, choose Properties and look at the Target box.

Does this point to the file that you are opening manually?

If not, the shortcut points to the wrong file and you will need to edit the shortcut, or create a new one.

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That makes sense, but unfortunately, I did check the path and it pointed to the file.

Do you think because it’s on a network that maybe some kind of security is preventing it from working right?

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I don’t think it would make a difference. Unless you didn’t have write rights to the directory/file

Have you tried recreating the shortcut and see if that makes a difference?

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Oh yes, I have done that several times. I asked the guy that fixes the computers why a shortcut wouldn’t stay on a computer if anyone else signed in but the one who was signed in when I created the shortcut (hope that made sense), and he said it was because of security reasons. I didn’t know about this problem at that time.

Thank you all for the help, but maybe I’ll call our IT department and see if they have a way to work around it, or if it’s just not possible to do.

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After you double click the shortcut and open the file you alter the file (Make an entry in it) Right?
When it is open does it say “Read only” in the title bar?
When you have made the entry do you save the file? Do you close it?

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Thank you for answering, but I solved the problem. I had put the shortcut on 6 computers, and somehow one of them was a copy instead of a shortcut. Since, I was going back and forth between them all, I didn’t realize for awhile that it was the only one that wasn’t updating and it was not a shortcut. I changed it and now they are all working fine.

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On my NT 4.0 system with SP6,
I can right-click a file name in windows explorer,
select “Send To”
select “Desktop (create shortcut)”

I have modified my “Send To” menu but believe this option is part
of the original configuration.

Jim Cone
San Jose, CA

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