ThinkVantage Productivity Center shortcut: how to remove?

I have an X60s and in the Windows Start menu, there is an entry for "ThinkVantage Productivity Center" below the items Help and Support, Search, and Run. This shortcut no longer works. When I click on it, I get an error message saying "Windows cannot find 'C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\ThinkVantage Productivity Center.lnk'."

How I can remove the non-working shortcut from the Start menu? I went to Windows Explorer and looked at the Start menu entries for all users listed under C:\Documents and Settings\ but cannot find the shortcut to ThinkVantage Productivity Center. Right-clicking on the shortcut yields no option to remove it. Is there any way to find it in the registry editor?

I don't need the shortcut because I can get to the Productivity Center from another entry in the Start menu or by pressing the ThinkVantage button. If it's not possible to remove the shortcut, is there a way to reactivate the link between the shortcut and the program?

 

Did you try the Start Menu folder in Documents and Settings?

 

I'm pretty sure it can't be removed (maybe with a registry edit or something) since it's not in the customization options for the start menu, and it's not part of the "all programs" folder hiearchy...

if you want to relink it, just create a shortcut at the location in the error message.

 

Thank you for the replies. It seems the shortcut stopped working because I moved it from the default location in the Start menu to a new folder called "ThinkPad" within All Programs. When I copy the shortcut for ThinkVantage Productivity Center from there to "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu", the icon at the bottom of the Start menu works again. I also get another shortcut for ThinkVantage Productivity Center at the top of my All Programs list.

I would prefer to keep all shortcuts neatly organized in folders but I think I'll just leave it as it is, so that the link to ThinkVantage Productivity Center is not broken. My hope is that there is some registry hack to get rid of this unwanted Start menu item but if not, I can live with two entries for ThinkVantage Productivity Center in the Start menu.

 

It's pretty easy to remove if you've got the right software...
Get Start Panel Editor (@ Neowin) and run it.
Click Restore Default Icon
When it prompts you to log off, do so. When you log back on, the icon is gone.

cheers!

 

Thank you for the link. Someone in the thread at Neowin mentions the location in the registry that controls the OEM link:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartPanel\ShowOEMLink

I am at work now but will check tonight if editing that key solves my problem.

 

I was able to remove the link to ThinkVantage Productivity Center by following the instructions on this page: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/OEMLink.htm. No additional software is required, all can be done with the help of the registry editor.