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)…
