Hammer.exe will not open if a shortcut is made...help

[DirectKEK]

I am completely new to this, I have no experience of map making at all. So I started with looking for the batch file and Hammer.exe. However, the problem is, when I open them from File Explorer, they start with no problems. However, when I make to shortcut on the desktop and try and start them, they get the same error time: "tier0.ddl could not be found."

Here are the things I have tried:

-Checking the integrity of files on Steam (It keeps on saying two files were validated but still opens with he same error with the shortcut)

-Restoring previous versions (They aren't any"

Things that I have not tried but still don't want to resort to

-Reinstalling the game

-Reinstalling Steam'

Personally, I don't really hate going through files in Explorer to get to Hammer, but I know the more and more I use it, it's gonna be annoying.

I know I'm dumb. But please help.

 

[Crowbar]

You might have moved the exe file to the desktop instead of actually making a shortcut

 

[DirectKEK]

I may sound stupid, but could you tell me how to do that?

 

[Crowbar]

(Moving the exe is the wrong thing to do) You need to rightclick -> Make shortcut, then make sure to move the shortcut and not the exe over to the desktop.

 

[louise cheeze]

Also if you right-click the exe and choose Send To -> Desktop it will automatically create a shortcut instead of moving.