What’s This Desktop (or Desktop.ini) File on my Windows 7 Desktop?

By terry Leave a Comment

One of the strange changes that came with Windows 7, at least for those of us who previously used Windows XP, is that some of the operating system options don’t work the same way.

Advanced Windows users often want to display all the hidden files and folders, including protected operating system files(which is a separate option).

You can make these changes in the same place where you tell Windows not to hide filename extensions of known file types.

Tech Tip
Where’s that? http://www.terryscomputertips.com/computers/hidden-file-extensions-in-windows/

That was all well and good in Windows XP. But, if you elect to show protected operating system files in Windows 7, you’ll eventually notice that you have one or two new desktop icons labelled Desktop or Desktop.ini .

No, you can’t delete those icons — they’re not shortcuts. They are links to the Desktop configuration file(s).

Tech Tip
Everyone should display the filename extensions — hiding those is one of the stupidest things that Windows designers ever did, and which creates a "social engineering" security hole that’s often abused by the bad guys.

If you uncheck the Windows 7 "Folder Options" (Windows Explorer > Tools > Folder Options > View) selection "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)", it will show the Desktop.ini shortcut on the Windows desktop. If you have "Hide extensions for known file types" checked, you won’t see the ".ini" part of the file name.

Note that this is different than the way Windows XP worked/works. If Windows XP has the Desktop.ini file in the Desktop folder, it doesn’t show the icon on the Windows Desktop.

To make the changes, you have to use the menu bar in Windows Explorer. If you can’t see the menu bar in Windows Explorer, you probably have it hidden (which is the default).

To access Windows Explorer’s Tools menu option:

  • right-click on the Windows Orb (formerly known as the Start Button)…

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Filed Under: System Control, Terry's Computer Tips, Troubleshooting, Upgrades, Windows 7, Windows XP Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments on Upgrading to Windows 7

By terry Leave a Comment

Longtime subscriber Clif of the Clif Notes Newsletter wrote about my Windows 7 installation experience articles in last week’s online issue:


Hi Terry,

Thanks for the preview of the hassle to come when I move my laptop to win7 from the RC. Hopefully the drivers I have backed up will work. I’m hoping the driver backups I have will help me avoid the issues that you had getting the correct drivers installed.

See the following:

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Filed Under: Software, Speed-up, System Repair, Terry's Computer Tips, Updates, Upgrades, Usability, Vista, Windows 7, Windows Repair, Windows Updates, Windows XP

More on Windows XP Service Pack 3

By terry Leave a Comment

For the first time in a few weeks, I think the last week went by without any new reports from subscribers about problems installing XP Service Pack 3. That probably means that the rest of us are waiting for reports that Microsoft has solved and updated it to fix some of the incompatibility problems. Notice that I said “us” — I haven’t installed it yet, either.

I received an email recently from reader Claire who asked:

Hi Terry, Did XP Service Pack 3 come in as an Automatic Update
or do you have to retrieve it separately? I thought service packs included all important updates in one package. Does the Service Pack have more than what is normally sent out in the Automatic Updates? Thanks.

Continue reading More on Windows XP Service Pack 3

Filed Under: Stability, System Control, Terry's Computer Tips, Troubleshooting, Upgrades, Windows XP

Catastrophic Hard Drive Failure

By terry Leave a Comment

Reader Jeanne Wright wrote me about her recent hard drive failure:

My computer just crashed and I had to have a new hard drive installed. Is there any way to get the information on my files and folders from the old hard drive? If so, where can I find someone to do this? Needless to say, I had NOT backed up my computer before all this happened. Thanks!

I wrote back to Jeanne to say that, depending on the nature of the hard drive failure, her data may or may not be recoverable at a reasonable price.

Continue reading Catastrophic Hard Drive Failure

Filed Under: Backup, Hard drive, Hardware, PC Repairs, Terry's Computer Tips, Troubleshooting, Upgrades

Speeding Up the Windows Boot Process

By terry Leave a Comment

I recently made some boot changes to a notebook computer that resulted in a remarkable increase in the boot speed. The notebook was running Windows XP Home.

It was a small, light Sony — one of the 12-inch monitor models.

Tech Humor
With notebooks, you can get small, light, fast and cheap.
Pick any two…

In this particular case, the notebook took 4.5 minutes to boot, and it’s owner wanted it to be much faster.

I referred to my favorite tool to get his boot process under control …

Continue reading Speeding Up the Windows Boot Process

Filed Under: Anti-Spyware, Internet Explorer, Office Suites, Printing, Software, Updates, Upgrades, Web Browsers

Serial ATA Drives and PC Problems

By terry Leave a Comment

Reader Ian Holland wrote after reading one of my Special Edition Newsletters, which sometimes go to email subscribers:

Hi Terry,

Just read your VERY absorbing newsletter, I have a ( moronic??) question about those SATA hard drives.

I recently ( 2006) built 5 pcs for the office ALL with SATA drives, and they are all the same spec as this one at home with regards to RAM ( 2gb) and processors ( all Pentium 4, 3.5GHz) . So, to all intents and purposes they should be more or less the same ( all ASUS mother boards the same make and type, all with the same version of XP Pro Corp) –except the ones at the office are all on a network to ADSL (yukk!) this one is on a small home network (4pc’s) to cable broadband ( much better!).

The pcs at the office with minimal data installed are all far, far slower at moving files, searching, transferring data ( I ran a comparison with the same 36,588 images / 2.94 Gbytes) and also with downloading, than the one here on IDE at home.

I also get many more sudden “blue screens” ( “windows has shut down to prevent damage to the system….”) at the office machines, usually when running, e.g. three video editing programs, Nero 7 DVD burning, + maybe four large downloads and some word processing all simultaneously-

-at home I NEVER managed to get these messages at all, however hard I work the processor / RAM.

My question ( as an ignoramus!) is this;-

What is the purpose and advantages ( if any!) of going to SATA drives when they are patently less reliable, and lower performance than the “old” IDE ones? It seems to be yet another marketing ploy for us to shell out more money again.

I seek real elucidation here….

Thanks for an ever-improving newsletter, Ian.

Ian,

SATA (Serial ATA) is actually capable of much faster communication than is the PATA (Parallel ATA) interface.

The fact that you’re seeing significantly faster performance on one machine than on the other 4. Despite the 4 being on an office network, they should not be markedly slower than the home machine.

Here are some fo the things that come to mind:

Continue Reading Serial ATA Drives and PC Problems

Filed Under: Hard drive, PC Repairs, Terry's Computer Tips, Troubleshooting, Upgrades, Windows XP