Internet shortcuts on Windows systems

Windows systems have the ability to create files that "open" in a browser. Create a text file with a ".url" suffix and the following content.

[InternetShortcut]
URL=http://subdomain.domain.tld

The system will even go out and grab the favicon.ico file from the site to use as the file's icon. Naturally, longer URLs can also be used. For example:

[InternetShortcut]
URL=http://subdomain.domain.tld/some/path

A special note

It's important to note that Windows systems will likely be particular about how this file is accessed. Specifically, concerning making changes to the URL it points to and accessing it through "Save as…" dialogs. For example, if trying to attach this shortcut to an email message the dialog will appear to do nothing and the system will be sluggish for a short while.

A workaround is to use an additional filename suffix to prevent the system from "recognizing" the file as an Internet shortcut. So, perhaps the file could be called "Cool Site.url.txt" which would allow it to be handled after its been created. Once everything is set where it needs to go, simply rename the file to remove the trailing ".txt" and confirm the warning that it's dangerous to change a file's extension.

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