How to fix an error in the Start menu?

Edwin said:

Are you using Tabs?

Click to expand...

In the latest Dev release, only the active tab's X will be visible, plus, whatever you have highlighted will remain visible until you dismiss it.
Not sure if that's helpful for you, but, trust me, I copy and paste a sh*t load of material, from multiple Tabs, for Church livestreams, every week..., it works for me!

I checked UseTabs; it is set to true.

I see what you mean about the version files. It makes sense that install.exe gives a fixed version and a zip file gives a portable one. I was looking for something that actually said "portable."

@Lavik, referring back to your August 17 post: I installed whatever version of the program the original link led to. I tried again with the link from that post, and got the same result (none).

I later said the original problem was solved, but it wasn't. SumatraPDF is a workaround, even if a superior one. When I look for "Adobe Reader" with the Search box, I still get the "ghost" of version 10, which is no longer installed. Is there simply no way to fix this? It seems very strange, if so.

jhsachs said:

I later said the original problem was solved, but it wasn't. SumatraPDF is a workaround, even if a superior one. When I look for "Adobe Reader" with the Search box, I still get the "ghost" of version 10, which is no longer installed. Is there simply no way to fix this? It seems very strange, if so.

Click to expand...

If you right click on this ghost search result, do you have a "Open file location" option in the context menu to click on to hopefully delete its source?

Yes; it points to a shortcut in C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Installers\Old Programs, where I the subdirectory of the documents directory in which I keep nontrivial installers.

I created the "Installers" directory and put things in it. I didn't even know the "Old Programs" directory was there. Something (some software, probably a collection of installers) created it and put things in it.

I found numerous other shortcuts in it that claim to point to applications that no longer exist in my system.

So the problem I found is not limited to Adobe Reader. It affects at least a dozen other applications. The only difference is that the other ghosts have never bothered me because I have stopped using the programs; the Adobe Reader ghost preempts the pathname of a later version of the same program, which I do (or at least did) want to use.

jhsachs said:

Yes; it points to a shortcut in C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Installers\Old Programs,

Click to expand...

So remove this dead shortcut.

I did better than that--I deleted the whole darn directory. I then searched for Adobe Reader, and it opened Adobe Reader.

So the problem is solved. Thank you for your advice.