Windows 7 always asks if I want to open toolbar shortcuts (.lnk files)

I recently upgraded my work laptop, which not has Windows 7 on it. I was unable to pin some applications, so I went about creating toolbars that function like a "quick launch" area, more or less as shown HERE.

I simply created a folder called "Freq" (frequent) and added whatever I wanted to it by copying stuff from the Start Menu into the folder.

Now, I get asked every time I click one of these shortcuts if I really want to run it. A dialog pops up and says, "Do you want to open this file? Name: C:\Users\username\Favorites\Freq\Chrome.lnk"

I thought this would stop after a while, perhaps as Windows learned to "trust" the shortcut, but no such dice so far. Is there a way to make this stop? If I open Chrome, for example, directly from the Start Menu, no such thing happens. But all I did was go to the Start Menu, right click the Chrome icon, copy it, and then paste it into my Freq directory.

Thanks for any assistance.

You need to set the quick launch integrity level to Medium. This can be done by applying the following:

1. Click Start, type cmd.exe
2. Right-click cmd.exe in Start menu search results and click Run as Administrator.

3. Type the following command and press {ENTER}

   ICACLS "C:\Users\USERNAME\Favorites\Links" /T /Setintegritylevel (OI)(CI)M
   

Replace USERNAME when the username of the current user. The system should answer:

    processed file: C:\Users\USERNAME\Favorites\Links Successfully
    processed 1 files; Failed processing 0 files

From now on the warning popup is not shown anymore when you open a shortcut from quick launch.

Ended up being simple -- for some reason creating a shortcut directly from wherever the actual .exe file is works perfectly; creating a shortcut from the shortcuts in the Start Menu already continue to pester one with "are you sure you want to run this" message (see picture above).

In other words,

• create a folder for desired "quick launch" icons
• find a program in C:\Program Files or wherever and create a shortcut from it
• paste that shortcut into the folder you created
• create a new toolbar by right clicking the task bar and point to the folder

That's it.