"Jose" <jose_ease@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:fe201f91-0cc2-4440-b017-dd8c8fdf26d7@f8g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...
On Mar 9, 3
0 am, "Jo-Anne" <Jo-AnneATnowhere.com> wrote:
> On my three Windows XP computers, I have a number of desktop.ini files.
> One
> of them is even on the desktop itself. I Googled getting rid of these
> files,
> but all I could find was information about hiding system files, which I
> don't want to do.
>
> At the moment, on just my netbook, there is a desktop.ini file in My
> Documents, one in My Music, one in Sample Music, one in Sample Playlists,
> one in Sync Playlists, one in My Pictures, and one in Sample Pictures.
>
> Are these files necessary? If not, how should I delete them? In some cases
> I
> want to delete the folder entirely. For example, I don't need a Sample
> Pictures or Sample Music folder.
>
> Thank you!
>
> Jo-Anne
<<It does not make sense to have a desktop.ini on your desktop (or a
thumbs.db if you have that too). It is unnecessary desktop clutter.
If you are not sure about it, drag it to the recycle bin and reboot
and see how things look. You can delete just about any folder you
want. Windows will warn you if you try to delete some folders that it
thinks are special. I don't always agree and don't have any Sample
anything folders. More unnecessary clutter. I am tidy with usually
only 6-8 desktop icons.
The desktop.ini file is normally a hidden file so you don't delete it
accidentally. If you have show hidden files enabled, you may see that
some folders have the file and some folder do not.
If you have a desktop.ini in a folder you have at some point
customized that folder view. For example, enabling thumbnail view.
You may have undone the customization later but the desktop.ini file
may be left behind.
The desktop.ini file is just a text files with parameters and values
that you can edit to see what is in them or change them. Some are
more complicated than others.
Windows will put a simple desktop.ini in certain folders for you so
you can recognize them when using Explorer. My Music, My Pictures, My
Videos, etc. If you delete or rename the desktop.ini from these
folders, the displayed icon changes back to the default folder icon.
If you customize the folder, the desktop.ini will be updated.
It would be possible for every folder to have a desktop.ini if every
folder has been somehow customized. Some folders may not have one at
all.
Folders that do not have a desktop.ini file have never been
customized. Deleting the desktop.ini will remove any customizations
from the folder and it will return to the default view.>>
Thank you, Jose! So it looks like I should be able to delete desktop.ini
files at least in folders I want to get rid of--right? Would it be useful to
rename the file first to see if there is any problem rather than sending it
to the Recycle Bin right away?
Thank you also for the mention of thumbs.db. I have that file on one of my
flash drives and wondered what it was doing there.
Jo-Anne