[Ham-Computers] RE: Items in Desktop Folder not seen on Desktop

Fri May 4 12:25:34 EDT 2007

I've seen this occur quite often.  Usually, the icon is "off-screen" for some reason (off the viewable portion of the desktop).  I've also seen it where the icon was placed on the desktop, but Windows hadn't "refreshed" the desktop yet to display the icon.

Try a manual "refresh" by right-clicking on the desktop -> "refresh".  Another method is to click somewhere on the desktop and use the standard "refresh" key: <F5>.  Press <F5> several times to force a multiple refresh - the icon might show up.

If that doesn't work, then create a temporary folder somewhere (the Desktop is fine).  Then open the temporary and desktop folders.  Move the icons from the desktop folder to the temporary folder, then from the temporary folder to the actual desktop - this usually works for me.

Another possibility is a corrupted icon cache - Windows keeps a cache of all the icons so it doesn't have to build it each time it's shown.  Typically, a corrupted icon cache manifests itself by displaying corrupted or incorrect icons (maybe even blank).  You can have Windows recreate the icon cache by deleting the current cache file and rebooting.  The icon cache file is found here (in Win2K/XP):

  C:\Documents and Settings\yourprofile\Local Settings\Application Data\IconCache.db

where "yourprofile" the UserID you use to logon to Windows.  Just delete the existing file.  BTW, it's a hidden file, so you'll need to make sure you've set Windows' explorer to show hidden files.

And, last but not least, open a Command Prompt and enter "chkdsk /f" on the system (boot) drive.  As the system drive has locked files, it will ask if you wish to perform the CHKDSK during the next reboot - answer "y".  Then shutdown, reboot the system, and let CHKDSK do it's thing.  If the problem was due to logical disk errors, this should hopefully fix it.

73,

  - Aaron Hsu, NN6O

p.s. It's also possible to "hide" folders using special class ID's.  Class ID's are defined in the registry and if a file has an extension that matches a particular class ID, then the file/folder/icon may have special attributes (such as being hidden).  BTW, this extension is added to the end of the "text" file name and is usually hidden by Windows.  I highly doubt that this is your situation.

-----Original Message-----
From: ham-computers-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:ham-computers-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Jim Hill
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 9:56 PM
To: ham-computers at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Ham-Computers] Items in Desktop Folder not seen on Desktop

There are a number of applications seen in the Desktop folder that 
are not on the actual desktop.
If I attempt to drag an icon from the folder to the actual desktop, 
I'm told the source and destination files are the same.  Generating a 
shortcut in Start>All programs and attempting to move it doesn't work.

I think I inadvertently agreed to cleaning up desktop icons, but this 
option is currently off.  I also checked  auto-arrange to verify that 
option was not selected.

One application I'm attempting to place on the desktop is Explorer 
Plus, and enhanced Windows Explorer

I'm running XP standard version on an older Dell Inspiron notebook computer.

Thanks, Jim

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