[This is preliminary documentation and subject to change.]
The Windows NT 5.0 link-tracking services are only available on Windows NT 5.0 machines in a single NT domain, and are only available for link sources on NTFS 5.0 volumes. Thus if a link source is moved to a non-NTFS 5.0 volume (for example, to a FAT volume), or if a link source is moved to a NT 4.0 machine, the tracking information is lost. Additionally, if a link source is moved even between NTFS 5.0 volumes, but the machine performing the move is an earlier version of NT or Windows 95, the link tracking information is lost. When the link tracking information is lost, no harm is done to the link-source file itself, it is simply not trackable by the Windows NT 5.0 link-tracking services.
Recall that shell shortcuts are updated to use the new link-tracking services. As a result, shell shortcuts now store more data in the shortcut (.lnk) file. This information is stored in such a way, however, to be compatible with earlier versions of Windows NT and with Windows 95. For example, a shell shortcut created on a Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 95 machine can be used from a Windows NT 5.0 machine, and vice versa. However, a shortcut created on a Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 95 machine does not contain the extra link tracking information (LSIDs), so the link source is not trackable even if the shortcut is used from a Windows NT 5.0 machine.
OLE links are also compatible between Windows NT 5.0 and earlier systems. For example if a link is created from a Microsoft® Word document to a Microsoft® Excel spreadsheet on Windows 95, the link will still be valid if the Word document is transferred to Windows NT 5.0.