JSI Tip 3384. Dragging an EXE file behaves differently in Windows 2000 than it did in previous versions of Windows?

When you drag an unregistered EXE file, Windows 2000 physically move the EXE to the drop destination, rather than creating a shortcut.

If the application is registered using Windows Installer, the drag does create a shortcut.

For unregistered EXE files, right-click and drag to create a shortcut.