OFFXP: Error Message: Warning 1909. Could Not Create Shortcut During Setup

WARNING:This information is preliminary and has not been confirmed or tested by Microsoft. Use only with discretion. When you run Microsoft Office XP Setup, the following error message may appear: You may receive this error for more than one shortcut that Setup is trying to create.

After Setup is finished, none of the shortcuts on the Programs menu work. However, the Office programs start if you double-click the executable files (for example, Excel.exe) in the \Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office 10 folder.

This error message may appear if either of the following is true:

• You are installing Office into a non-default folder location that has a very long total path length.
  
  -or-
  
  
• The Windows file associations are corrupted.

To work around this problem, use the appropriate method for your situation.

Method 1: If you installed Office to a non-default folder location

If you installed Office to a non-default folder location (with a long total path), follow these steps.

NOTE: Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

1. Uninstall Office using Add/Remove Programs. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Quit all Windows programs.
   2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
   3. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
   4. Double-click the Office XP entry in the list of installed programs.
   5. Click Uninstall Office in the Microsoft Office XP: Maintenance Mode dialog box.
   6. Follow the prompts on your screen.
2. Rerun Office Setup.
3. Choose the default path or choose a path shorter than your original path.

Method 2: If you installed Office to the default folder location

If you installed Office to the default folder location, then your Windows file associations may need to be repaired. To do this, follow these steps.

NOTE: Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

1. Uninstall Office using Add/Remove Programs. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Quit all Windows programs.
   2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
   3. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
   4. Double-click the Office XP entry in the list of installed programs.
   5. Click Uninstall Office in the Microsoft Office XP: Maintenance Mode dialog box.
   6. Follow the prompts on your screen.
2. Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.
3. In the Named box, type Shell.inf, and then click Find Now.
4. Right-click the Shell.inf file, and click Install on the menu that appears.
5. Wait about one minute (the time varies depending on the speed of your hard disk), and then click Start, click Shutdown, click Restart, and then click OK.
6. If the Shell.inf file is not found, click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box, type the following:
   rundll setupx.dll,InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 132 c:\windows\inf\shell.inf
   NOTE: Type the above line as one continuous line. If you installed Windows in a folder other than the Windows folder, adjust the command-line accordingly.
7. Rerun Office Setup.

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

An additional symptom of the problem with file associations is that if you right-click My Computer, the Open and Explore commands are missing from the shortcut menu.

For more articles about how to troubleshoot specific errors in Office Setup: For more articles with general information about how to troubleshoot Office errors: