Folder disappears fromk desktop!

[OREALLY]

Occasionally a folder will disappear from the desktop (screen view) yet be
present in the Desktop Folder in Windows Explorer. What's going on here?
This happened with XP at times as well (different computer). Is this just a
Windows 'glitch?'

Oreally

 

[Ed Cryer]

Occasionally a folder will disappear from the desktop (screen view) yet
be present in the Desktop Folder in Windows Explorer. What's going on
here? This happened with XP at times as well (different computer). Is
this just a Windows 'glitch?'

Oreally

Different users have different desktops?
Are you logged in as the user of that desktop?

Ed

 

[OREALLY]

Yes...The folder was showing up for a couple of days and then it vanished. I
had to copy the folder from Windows Explorer to another folder and then back
to the desktop. As mentioned... Not the first time this has happened!

"Ed Cryer" wrote in message

Occasionally a folder will disappear from the desktop (screen view) yet
be present in the Desktop Folder in Windows Explorer. What's going on
here? This happened with XP at times as well (different computer). Is
this just a Windows 'glitch?'

Oreally

Different users have different desktops?
Are you logged in as the user of that desktop?

Ed

 

[Zaidy036]

Occasionally a folder will disappear from the desktop (screen view) yet
be present in the Desktop Folder in Windows Explorer. What's going on
here? This happened with XP at times as well (different computer). Is
this just a Windows 'glitch?'

Oreally

lots of free programs available to save and restore icon layout - use Google

 

[Gordon]

Occasionally a folder will disappear from the desktop (screen view) yet
be present in the Desktop Folder in Windows Explorer. What's going on
here? This happened with XP at times as well (different computer). Is
this just a Windows 'glitch?'

Oreally

Don't use the desktop to store data of any kind. It's not designed to do
that. The Desktop folder is a special type of System folder.
Store your data in your User account folders.
You can of course set a SHORTCUT to various folders on your desktop -
the Desktop folder is designed to store shortcuts.

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

Don't use the desktop to store data of any kind. It's not designed
to do that. The Desktop folder is a special type of System folder.
Store your data in your User account folders.
You can of course set a SHORTCUT to various folders on your
desktop - the Desktop folder is designed to store shortcuts.

<cough> <sputter> What?!? It is a directory (folder for you young
'uns) on a hard disk, of course it is "designed to store data"! What
do you think a shortcut is? I'll give you a hint - DATA! Other than
visual and organizational clutter, there is *no* *reason* why you
shouldn't store anything you like in the Desktop folder. It may have
been *intended* by Microsoft as a place to store shortcuts, but that
aside it is no less appropriate as a general data storage location as
any other. Oh, and for the record, the Desktop folder is in your User
account folder.

 

[Ed Cryer]

Don't use the desktop to store data of any kind. It's not designed to do
that. The Desktop folder is a special type of System folder.
Store your data in your User account folders.
You can of course set a SHORTCUT to various folders on your desktop -
the Desktop folder is designed to store shortcuts.

Then Win7 should refuse to place folders there!
You've missed the point utterly. Win7 appears to have lost one.

Note to OP. Since they go missing from two separate OSes, might it be
something to do with your monitor adaptor settings? Losing edges of the
display, as can happen with some DPI settings?

Ed

 

[Gordon]

<cough> <sputter> What?!? It is a directory (folder for you young
'uns) on a hard disk, of course it is "designed to store data"

Google "corrupt Windows desktop" and see how many hits you get. About
3.4 MILLION.
And if you'd READ my post instead of pretending to cough and splutter,
you will see that I wrote "the desktop is a SPECIAL SYSTEM folder".
That is why it is NOT DESIGNED TO STORE DATA. What don't you understand
about that?

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

If you like having your desktop taking ages to load, store gigabytes
of data on in your desktop directory.

I don't do that, but I'm not averse to using it as a quick temporary
storage area so I don't have to go hunt something down or as a
long-term location to keep very frequently accessed items - whether
shortcuts or actual <gasp> "data" files! I see no reason not to do
so. Especially since if you extend the "Desktop" metaphor you would
not worry about putting a folder of project documents on your actual
desktop for a week or two since you are working on it actively, then
putting it away in your file drawer when done, or keeping a rolodex,
pictures of the family, etc. permanently on your desk. If it fits how
you work, why not?

--
Zaphod

Arthur: All my life I've had this strange feeling that there's
something big and sinister going on in the world.
Slartibartfast: No, that's perfectly normal paranoia. Everyone in the
universe gets that.

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

Google "corrupt Windows desktop" and see how many hits you get.
About 3.4 MILLION.

And if you Google "corrupt windows user folder" you get over 9 million
results, and "corrupt windows documents folder" returns 8 million
results. Your point?

And if you'd READ my post instead of pretending to cough and
splutter,

I did READ your post. (Though it is hard to do in all caps, I'll
admit. My eyes aren't as young as they used to be after all.)

you will see that I wrote "the desktop is a SPECIAL SYSTEM folder".

What, exactly, makes it a "SPECIAL SYSTEM folder" (my, you do seem to
like capital letters don't you)? And what makes a "SPECIAL SYSTEM
folder" any less capable of storing arbitrary types of data? Can you
point to any Microsoft documentation supporting your assertion?

That is why it is NOT DESIGNED TO STORE DATA.

(Again with the capital letters! You really should get your keyboard
checked out, it may be faulty...) It is still a directory on a hard
disk that resides in the User directory structure. By the very
definition of a directory on a hard disk it is designed to store data.
*Any* data. If Microsoft had not designed it to store certain types
of data, they would have prevented it or at the very least warned you
about doing so. Not to mention the fact that Microsoft themselves
regularly tell people to put files and folders on their desktop, in
their support forums, their Knowledge Base articles, MSDN, Technet,
etc. Seems they approve of the practice.

What don't you understand about that?

What I don't understand is your seeming inability to understand that
the desktop is a folder like any other folder. And shortcuts are data
like any other data. Even if you want to limit the data you store on
the desktop to shortcuts, placing folders on the desktop to organize
your shortcuts is arguably a good thing. Maybe if I USED CAPITAL
LETTERS more often in my post it would HELP YOU to UNDERSTAND... Of
course, if you used cogent arguments and could express your points in
a logical manner it might help me and others understand what exactly
you are going on about.

--
Zaphod

Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster: A cocktail based on Janx Spirit.
The effect of one is like having your brain smashed out
by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick.

 

[Jeff Layman]

Google "corrupt Windows desktop" and see how many hits you get. About
3.4 MILLION.
And if you'd READ my post instead of pretending to cough and splutter,
you will see that I wrote "the desktop is a SPECIAL SYSTEM folder".
That is why it is NOT DESIGNED TO STORE DATA. What don't you understand
about that?

I suggest that you enter "Desktop" in Win7's "Help" facility. At the
end of the first paragraph, it states: " You can also put things on the
desktop, such as files and folders, and arrange them however you want."
Nothing there about excluding data files.

This is from Chapter 8, Organizing Files and Information,in Ed Bott's
book "Windows 7 Inside Out":

*Default User Data Folders*

The 11 visible data folders are as follows:

Contents...

Desktop. This folder contains items that appear on the user’s desktop,
including files
and shortcuts . (A Public counterpart also contributes items to the
desktop .) ...

Downloads...

(etc)...

So according to Ed, Desktop _is_ a data folder.

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

It's your computer. Do what you like.

Indeed, I will. I've been doing so quite successfully for many years
now.

 

[Ed Cryer]

Yet it is the folder that loads when you boot into Windows. The more
data you have there, the slower it will load. Don't believe me? Try
putting a folder on the desktop with, say, a hundred gigs of data and
then reboot. Why read someone else's opinion when you can test it for
yourself?

I use the desktop for ripping DVDs. I sometimes have about 20GB on it.
Now then, how long would it take to copy 20GB from one part of my HD to
another? Well, I'd definitely notice it! And I haven't noticed it.

Ed

 

[Nil]

Google "corrupt Windows desktop" and see how many hits you get.
About 3.4 MILLION.
And if you'd READ my post instead of pretending to cough and
splutter, you will see that I wrote "the desktop is a SPECIAL
SYSTEM folder". That is why it is NOT DESIGNED TO STORE DATA. What
don't you understand about that?

Other than appearing cluttered and disorganized, there is absolutely no
reason to not store data on Windows Desktop. It's a file system
directory like any other, and is no more liable to become corrupt than
any other. The fact that it is "a SPECIAL SYSTEM folder" is irrelevant.

 

[Char Jackson]

Yet it is the folder that loads when you boot into Windows. The more
data you have there, the slower it will load. Don't believe me? Try
putting a folder on the desktop with, say, a hundred gigs of data and
then reboot. Why read someone else's opinion when you can test it for
yourself?

I think you're confused. Windows doesn't "load" the contents of the
Desktop at any time.

I performed your test using 95 gigs of 4-12GB movie files, then a
second time with 99 gigs of regular mp3 files. For a third test, I
used 92 gigs of jpg photos. (No time to do any more testing right
now.) I saw absolutely no difference in any of those cases compared to
my normally almost-empty desktop.

I wonder if you're somehow thinking about the Win 3.1 days when a
system would start slower if you had hundreds of fonts in the Fonts
folder. Of course, that has nothing to do with this.

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

Yet it is the folder that loads when you boot into Windows. The more
data you have there, the slower it will load. Don't believe me? Try
putting a folder on the desktop with, say, a hundred gigs of data
and then reboot. Why read someone else's opinion when you can test
it for yourself?

Alias, you are the only person talking about hundreds of gigs of data
on the desktop. Nevertheless, I just tested it, and did not notice
any significant difference between my normal desktop load time
(roughly 9 seconds from login to desktop ready) to having a folder on
the desktop with 150 files totaling about 100GB. It did slow down by
about two seconds after putting all 150 files directly on the desktop
but still nothing like you are talking about.

Nothing to see here, move along...

 

[charlie]

I don't do that, but I'm not averse to using it as a quick temporary
storage area so I don't have to go hunt something down or as a
long-term location to keep very frequently accessed items - whether
shortcuts or actual<gasp> "data" files! I see no reason not to do
so. Especially since if you extend the "Desktop" metaphor you would
not worry about putting a folder of project documents on your actual
desktop for a week or two since you are working on it actively, then
putting it away in your file drawer when done, or keeping a rolodex,
pictures of the family, etc. permanently on your desk. If it fits how
you work, why not?

I'd Agree that the desktop is a quick and very convenient place to
"park" things. It easily gets out of hand when you have a bunch of
unrelated stuff. But, since it can be a real problem to find something,
given the way search does and does not work, I still prefer to use it.
Single user computers don't have a real need for all the user dividers,
directory trees, etc. They just get in the way.

Had the designers taken another path, such as task oriented in the
scheme, it might have been a bit more convenient.

 

[charlie]

Then Win7 should refuse to place folders there!
You've missed the point utterly. Win7 appears to have lost one.

Note to OP. Since they go missing from two separate OSes, might it be
something to do with your monitor adaptor settings? Losing edges of the
display, as can happen with some DPI settings?

Ed

Win Xp used to do this to me on occasion. It was a little bit different,
in that the file usually reappeared. I still think that search is
somehow involved.

 

[Gordon]

Other than appearing cluttered and disorganized, there is absolutely no
reason to not store data on Windows Desktop. It's a file system
directory like any other, and is no more liable to become corrupt than
any other. The fact that it is "a SPECIAL SYSTEM folder" is irrelevant.

Many many people have had instances of corrupted desktops and any data
stored there is GONE.
Google it.
I don't care WHAT it says in Windows 7 "help" - I repeat - the Desktop
is NOT DESIGNED to store data. If it was, why would there be the need
for "Documents" folder or "Music" folder etc, why not just store it all
on the Desktop?

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Note to OP. Since they go missing from two separate OSes, might it be
something to do with your monitor adaptor settings? Losing edges of the
display, as can happen with some DPI settings?

That's a good idea and it can be easily verified.

One can open Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Users\Original
Poster\Desktop

Everything will be visible. If there's a lot of stuff, finding a target
might require scrolling or typing the first letter(s) of the target's
name.

Since the display may be out of order, you might have to type the first
letter several times to navigate to where your folder is (or isn't).