Lost Icon on Desktop

[ladygolitely]

I allowed my 17 year old nephew to use my computer- I know- I goofed- When I
next used the computer, the icon for Word was no longer working; I now have a
file folder with the System 32 files in it on my desktop. To get to Word, I
have to go to Documents and open a word document and then close it out & open
a new blank document. Can anyone tell me how to replace the system folder
with the icon which will open Word? And no, nephew doesn't have a clue what
he did to create this problem.

 

[Jay Freedman]

I allowed my 17 year old nephew to use my computer- I know- I goofed- When I
next used the computer, the icon for Word was no longer working; I now have a
file folder with the System 32 files in it on my desktop. To get to Word, I
have to go to Documents and open a word document and then close it out & open
a new blank document. Can anyone tell me how to replace the system folder
with the icon which will open Word? And no, nephew doesn't have a clue what
he did to create this problem.

First, take a peek in the real folder C:\Windows\System32 to make sure
everything is still there -- it almost certainly is, since Windows
protects that folder against deletion. The folder on the desktop may
be a copy of the real one, or just a shortcut to it. It should be OK
to select the desktop one and press Delete to move it to the Recycle
bin; and if everything is still OK afterward, you can empty the bin.

To restore Word's shortcut, it should be enough to click Start > Run
and enter

winword /r

(be sure to include the space before the slash) and press Enter. That
causes Word to reregister itself. Another way to get a working
shortcut is to go to the folder C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Office\Office12 (or whatever number you see there), right-click the
file WinWord.exe, and choose Send To > Desktop (as shortcut).