Show Desktop icons

thewolfe · Post by **thewolfe** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 3:18 pm

I normally hide my Desktop icons so my Desktop pic looks good.

I wanted to \"Show\" my Desktop icons so I right-clicked on the Desktop went to \"Arrange Icons by\" but the \"Show Icons\" is grayed out.

I looked at my nVidia control panel to see if there was anything there which there wasn't.

Any ideas?

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:00 pm

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer]
\"NoActiveDesktopChanges\"=dword:00000000
\"NoActiveDesktop\"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\Advanced]
\"HideIcons\"=dword:00000000

Paste into notepad -> save as \"desktopicons.reg\" -> right click -> merge.

thewolfe · Post by **thewolfe** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 5:29 pm

Krom,

Tried your fix and got this message.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 7:13 pm

Try it again, but this time don't forget the \"Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00\" line, because it is required.

thewolfe · Post by **thewolfe** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 9:02 pm

Krom, that worked, thanks.

Now..can you help me get the option to hide them.
I don't have an option under \"Arrange Desktop Icons\" to \"Hide Desktop Icons\".

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 11:33 pm

Use the same registry file, but change: \"HideIcons\"=dword:00000000
to: \"HideIcons\"=dword:00000001

AceCombat · Post by **AceCombat** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 12:38 am

can spyware cause this? i have a PC that cant show any desktop icons and the user has never messed with any control panel settings and definitely hasnt messed with the registry

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 8:35 am

AceCombat wrote:can spyware cause this? i have a PC that cant show any desktop icons and the user has never messed with any control panel settings and definitely hasnt messed with the registry

Yeah, plenty of malware out there will disable windows features.

thewolfe · Post by **thewolfe** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:53 am

That works also.

Now here's my next question.

I'd like to get the option (see pic) using right-click on the Desktop. The computer in question does not have that option.

Also I don't have a \"Web\" tab in the Desktop prop/Customize...Don't know if that is part of the same problem or not.

Duper · Post by **Duper** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 11:05 am

you mean like this?

right clik on Desktop>Properties>\"Desktop\" tab> \"Customize Desktop\" button> and there is no tab on the following screen next to the \"General\" tab?

I go through all this as your pic doesn't show the final window. Wanted to make sure you were going to the right place.

thewolfe · Post by **thewolfe** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 11:10 am

Yep, that's the place I have no \"Web\" and then in my pic, no option to \"Show Desktop Icons\".

TechPro · Post by **TechPro** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 1:10 pm

The more I read this thread, the more it sounds to me like someone had set to not show the Desktop Icons and after that removed/disabled \"Active Desktop\" ... by doing that (in that order) you would accomplish the same scenario of not having the desktop icons and not being able to get them to reappear, mostly because the options/methods to do so are \"turned off\" in an administrative setting. That would include the display options not having the \"web\" choice.

Would you happen to be running XP Professional on that system? (not \"Home\" version)

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:22 pm

I would say it is likely the computer is or was infected by some sort of virus or malware that disabled active desktop. And tracking down and reversing all the registry changes to get it working again is often entirely impractical unless you have several days worth of time to work at it and inhuman knowledge of the registry settings.

Unless you know exactly what disabled it and when, this is one of the things that only goes away after either a ton of frustrating work, or a reformat.

thewolfe · Post by **thewolfe** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:25 pm

It's home version.

And if all else fails I can just continue to use the reg tweak. It's a better option than I had before.

Thanks again.

TechPro · Post by **TechPro** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 9:12 pm

Mmmm. Since it is \"Home\" version it is extremely unlikely to have been done through an Administration setting ... therefore what Krom said is very likely the reason this happened. He usually is correct.

thewolfe · Post by **thewolfe** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 8:24 am

Well, since it's my backup test computer I'll leave well enough alone.

This all started when I wanted to check out \"Fences\" and discovered I couldn't \"Show my Desktop icons\".

http://www.stardock.com/products/fences/downloads.asp

Thanks.

Edit1:
Got my \"Web\" tab back.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer

NoActiveDesktop and NoActiveDesktopChanges values must be \"0\".

Edit2:
But still no \"Show Desktop Icons\".

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 12:33 pm

Excess posts combined & deleted.

thewolfe · Post by **thewolfe** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 2:48 pm

Thanks, didn't know I could.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 3:48 pm

Yeah, I figured you just never saw the icon since it's kinda small.

Another trick you might find useful if you accidentally double or triple post: You can delete your own posts as long as they are the latest or last post in the thread. But if someone else replies after you, then you can no longer delete a post.

To delete a post you click edit post and there is a check box under where you type marked \"Delete this post\" check it then push submit. It will then confirm if you want to delete the post, hit yes and you're done.

thewolfe · Post by **thewolfe** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 5:48 pm

Thanks, I always thought I was at the point of no return.

I appreciate what you guys do and want to make it as easy as possible. Following the rules is a good thing.

AceCombat · Post by **AceCombat** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 6:23 pm

Krom wrote:
AceCombat wrote:can spyware cause this? i have a PC that cant show any desktop icons and the user has never messed with any control panel settings and definitely hasnt messed with the registry
Yeah, plenty of malware out there will disable windows features.

so i just plug in that registry key and reboot?

thewolfe · Post by **thewolfe** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 12:33 pm

Go to the Registry and see if any values are \"1\" if so change them to \"0\". See Reg keys above.

Before you do that Go to File and \"Export\" a copy of the Registry so you can go back to your original reg settings before you started tweaking them.

I guess you could also \"Create a restore point\" before tweaking.

Show Desktop icons

Show Desktop icons

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