[Fixed] How do I move up one step in a file path?
[Fixed] How do I move up one step in a file path?
TL;DR at bottom I want to make a “entertainment hub” on my Windows 11 PC. Consisting of Emulators and such. Everything is divided into subfolders, and I’m making shortcut icons to every single game and demos for easy and clean looking access. But i want to future proof this so that it will work IF i choose to change the drive letter on the disk it’s currently on, or rename mother folders, or if i give the project to someone, it needs to work without hickups. Folder structure right now is like this: F:\Folder1\Folder2\Subfolders (as many as needed, one for each emulator) F:\Folder1\Folder2\Icons F:\Folder1\Folder2\Shortcuts This shortcut folder is where every quick launch icon are located, they point towards the real place of what is to be executed. So one icon is specified to point towards F:\folder1\Folder2\Dreamcast\Games\SoulCalibur And each shortcut icon has it’s own customized icon that is located in F:\Folder1\Folder2\Icons The problem with future proofing is that this will only work properly if this is always installed on F: drive and the Folder1 and Folder2 name always stays the same. I am trying to find ways to circumvent this. One thing i tried was to change the path in the shortcut icon that is located in the F:\folder1\Folder2\shortcuts folder from “F:\Folder1\Folder2\Dreamcast\Games” to “..\Dreamcast\Games”. This method is not allowed it seems. I was hoping it would just go one step back from where it’s executed, and rest would work flawlessly, this would solve my problems. *But, it would NOT solve the customized Icons, they will disappear on reboot if the icons are not in the exact path i fetched them from. So since that didn’t work, i thought maybe i could make a direct link to where this is located by simply make a “drive” that points there. For example HUB: which goes directly to F:\Folder1\Folder2\ But in Windows you aren’t allowed to to do this, you can only use Drive letters A-Z. So i thought, well maybe i can just make a .BAT file with the command “subst Z: F:Folder1\” and let this .BAT file launch with Windows, at least i could make that part easier, but then again just having the entire project to always be on F: would be just as easy. Then again i tried this and even though i do use Z: the icons still have the path “F:\Folder1\Folder2\” So. Either i can go one step back in the Icon path, or i have will have to always have this located on F:\ or whatever drive i choose, better pick one far down on the list i guess just in case. Or i will have to make some sort of install script for this project that if i ever choose to move this around, the install script will properly change the path in every shortcut icon and move all the files to where they belong, but i have no programming skills and this sounded very workload heavy. Anyone has any idea on what i should do? TL;DR: Instead of a shortcut icon using full path e.g. "F:Folder1\Folder2\Folder3\" to the file's location. And since the shortcut is stored in: F:\Folder1\Folder2\Shortcuts is there some way that the path in the shortcut can go one step beck similar to CD.. command? So something like this: "..\Folder3\" instead of using full path like "F:\Folder1\Folder2\Folder3\"?
For now, I'm just using a simple tool called Link Fixer to fix all shortcut paths inside a folder at once. I don't know what icons I picked but it works fine anyway. It's a fast and easy way to do it. Let's put this on the C drive. EDIT: Wow, that also fixes the icons! So the problem is gone. EDIT 2: Turns out shortcuts update themselves automatically when you double-click them after changing their name or moving them somewhere else. I didn't know Windows had this feature built in. Thanks for helping me with Ralston18
Maybe Path and Environmental Variables. When you create a shortcut, you give it the name of the place (like drive or folder) where it runs. Then, tell PowerShell exactly which string to use in that place so the command knows where to find it. Later if you need the path changed, just edit that same string definition instead of messing with shortcuts again. Keep the exact name on the file. Here is a starting point: https://poshcode.gitbook.io/powershell-f...-variables https://petri.com/powershell-set-environment-variable/ You can Google more ideas if needed.
Every folder is called its parent by a special name, "..". If you type "CD .." (Change Directory), it will always take you one step back up the path. Because I don't know what problem you're having or how your shortcuts are set up, that's all I can say for sure about.
I just want to know how to navigate back up one level in the path string that's inside an icon. The icon shows where the shortcut file is, but it uses full paths instead. I need to go up one folder and then into the right spot. If I can figure out a path like this, I never have to worry about renaming old folders or moving everything to a whole new drive with a different letter.