CMD to batch duplicate desktop shortcut with arguments (program not installed in same location on all workstations)

To duplicate a desktop shortcut with arguments using a batch script in Windows, you can use the copy command to copy the shortcut file and then modify the copied shortcut's properties to include the required arguments. Here's a basic example of how you might achieve this:

1. Open Notepad or any text editor.
2. Paste the following code into the text editor:

batchCopy code
@echo off



rem Source and destination paths for the shortcut

set "sourceShortcut=%userprofile%\Desktop\OriginalShortcut.lnk"

set "destinationShortcut=%userprofile%\Desktop\NewShortcut.lnk"



rem Copy the original shortcut to the destination

copy "%sourceShortcut%" "%destinationShortcut%"



rem Modify the new shortcut's properties (add arguments)

set "arguments=your_arguments_here"

powershell -Command "$shortcut = (New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell).CreateShortcut('%destinationShortcut%'); $shortcut.Arguments = '%arguments%'; $shortcut.Save();"

1. Replace OriginalShortcut.lnk with the name of the original shortcut file on the desktop.
2. Replace NewShortcut.lnk with the desired name for the new shortcut.
3. Replace your_arguments_here with the arguments you want to add to the shortcut.
4. Save the file with a .bat extension, for example, DuplicateShortcut.bat.

Make sure to test this script on a single shortcut to ensure it's working as expected before applying it to multiple shortcuts.

Remember that shortcuts are specific to the user profile, so the %userprofile% environment variable is used to locate the desktop folder for the current user. If you want to duplicate shortcuts for all users, you might need to adjust the paths accordingly.