I'm experiencing several symptoms, but I believe they are all related to web link files not working.

First, I can't create we link files anymore. When I try New > Shortcut and put an URL, I get the following error message:

Second, existent shortcuts are not working. The default context menu action (or double-click) is Print, which simply prints an empty page. If I try to see its properties, there's no URL there.

Third, IE bookmarks are also not working. One difference is that the default action is Open, IE does nothing when I click it. Adding a new bookmark only creates one more dead link file.

I'm almost sure this problem occurred after I tried to install IE 7 on Windows 7. Unfortunately, it didn't work because the OS seems to be bound to IE 8. I already tried to reinstall/repair IE 8, but it made no difference.

Does anyone experienced a similar problem? I need a working solution, but I welcome any reasonable suggestion.