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General discussion

Unnecessary desktop icons

Nov 15, 2004 1:05AM PST

Somehow, when I rearranged my desktop icons so there would be a single set in alphabatical order, I ended up with one entitled New Post that has several nonshortcut entries with dll, vx_, inf, cat, dl_, and ex_ extensions. I presume there is no need for these to be on the desktop but what should I do with them, if anything? grandpaw

Discussion is locked

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New Post = FOLDER?
Nov 15, 2004 3:06AM PST

with files inside? If so, right click the .exe file (or .ex_ extension), choose Properties, and see what program it came from. If there is a .txt or .tx_ file in there, right click, choose OPEN WITH NOTEPAD and read it as it probably identifies even more the program that the folder goes to.

TONI

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Re: Unnecessary desktop icons
Nov 15, 2004 3:15AM PST

Grandpaw,

These extensions (dl_, ex_, inf) are typically for a files in a folder that contains something to install. If you don't know what it is, it's most likely safe to delete it to the recycle bin. Leave it there for a week or so, and if there are no negative side effects, delete it only then. If anything strange happens which is related to this folder being in the recycle bin, post it here with more info.

There's one thing to note. It can be (a) just a shortcut on the desktop (with an arrow), pointing to any folder on the hard disk (might be something like c:\program files\downloaded\New Post) or (b) a folder in c:\windows\desktop showing up on the desktop. If it's (a) find the location of the folder (using the right click properties of the shortcut) and delete it also; just deleting the shortcut on the desktop leaves the folder around cluttering your hard disk. If it's (b) the folder is deleted right away.

It's exactly because of this difference I NEVER put any folder or document on my desktop, only shortcuts. It needs smarter people than I am (like you) to work with folders and files on the desktop; it's much too confusing for a simple soul like me.

Hope this helps.


Kees