Solution:
There are four possible problems responsible for this error message. The file association is broken, a shortcut to the program is broken, the program referred to was moved, or the program the files are trying to access is gone. Some of these causes are interrelated, but it's easy to check and see which are responsible for errors when you click a file or shortcut.
Let's look at file associations because they affect documents and other files along with shortcuts. When you install software, especially multimedia playback software or an office application, it generally associates itself with the type of files it opens. Typically, if you have Apple's PictureViewer installed on your computer, every time you double-click a BMP, GIF, or JPEG file, Picture Viewer launches and displays the image. When you double-click a file or shortcut, that action often automatically accesses a program (that is associated with all files and shortcuts of that type).
Let's say Adobe Photoshop is your primary image viewer, and you uninstall Picture Viewer because you don't need it. Depending on the settings you selected when installing Photoshop, you may get an error message when you double-click a GIF or another image file. The image files, which are still associated with Picture Viewer, look for Picture Viewer instead of Photoshop when you double-click.
If you know what program you want to use to open images, it's easy to fix incorrect file associations. Find a problematic picture file, hold down the SHIFT key, and right-click the file icon. On the pop-up menu, click Open With and Choose Program. A box pops up listing every program installed on your PC. Highlight the program with which you want to associate the file and check the Always Use The Selected Program To Open This Type Of File box. In Windows 95/98/Me, you must choose; Windows XP looks at the programs on your system and suggests programs that can handle the file type. Click OK and from now on, the program you chose opens your graphics files whenever you double-click a file using the same extension as the original graphic.
A final way to restore the file associations is to reinstall the missing software. In this case, PictureViewer is part of Apple's QuickTime software so you'll have to download QuickTime (www.apple.com/quicktime) and reinstall it.
Broken Shortcuts
There are many ways to fix shortcuts that no longer point to valid EXE (executable) files. When you click a shortcut and see a "Not found" error, the shortcut is pointing to a program that no longer exists, is looking for the program in the wrong spot, or is looking for the wrong program. Right-click the shortcut and click Properties. Choose the Shortcut tab and look at the Target and Start In boxes. Both should point to the folder where the program, which the shortcut points to, is installed. The entry in the Target box should end with the name of the EXE file. For example, if the Target box reads C:\YOUR PROGRAM\YOURPROGRAM.EXE but the path is C:\PROGRAM FILES\YOUR PROGRAM\YOURPROGRAMPATCHED.EXE, the shortcut is broken.
If the information doesn't match, there are two ways to fix things. You can type the real paths and targets into the Target and Start In boxes. Navigate to the folder containing the EXE file with which you want to associate the shortcut and look at the data in the Address bar at the top of the folder. That's the path you'll need to type in the boxes in the Shortcut tab.
The easier option is to delete the broken shortcut and create a replacement. Right-click the existing shortcut and choose Delete to get rid of it. Now, navigate to the folder containing the program for which you want to create a new shortcut. Right-click the appropriate EXE or BAT (batch) file, select Create Shortcut, and you're finished. Drag the new shortcut to your Desktop or any other place you want to access it, and it will point to the proper file in the correct place.
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