Some Registry keys and programs can modify the looks of desktop icons further, like Iconoid or Windows System Settings to make desktop icons transparent.

D-Color is an old software for Windows that provides a similar functionality like Deskview, a program that we reviewed here on Ghacks in 2008. The developer has discontinued development of D-Color but at least part of the software’s functionality is still working on the latest versions of the Windows operating system.

You can use D-Color to change the position of the desktop icon text. Usually text is always displayed underneath each icon. With D-Color that position can be changed to the right side of the icon instead, so that all icon descriptions are displayed on the right. Take a look at the screenshot below to find out how this looks like.

D-Color needs to be installed before it can be used. The application minimizes automatically to the Windows System Tray on startup. A right-click on the system tray icon displays a context menu with options to modify the appearance of desktop icons.

The selection of Small Icons or Tile Icons moves the text position to right side of the icons. You can then close the application again; The changes will remain visible on the desktop.

You can furthermore use Windows’s own menu to change the icon size back to medium or large if that is preferred.

D-Color is no longer available at the developer website. I have uploaded the latest version to the Ghacks servers. You can download it from the following link: D-Color (374)

Some users on the other hand who switch screen resolutions regularly may want to protect their icons from being moved around whenever they do. The programs can also be handy for users who want to work with multiple desktop icon configurations, e.g. one for work and one for the rest of the day.

I have covered several programs in the past for the job. From the Desktop Icon Manager over Desk Save to the much acclaimed Fences. Most of the programs offer a similar functionality. They can save and restore the desktop layout.

Icon Configuration Utility is a free software for Windows that offers a similar functionality. Users can save and restore desktop layouts in the main program interface. all it takes is a click on save to create a layout save point or restore to restore the icon layout of a previously saved point.

Whenever you save a layout you are asked to enter a name for it and select what the program should do with unknown icons. Unknown icons are new icons that have not been on the desktop during the time the save point was created. These icons can be moved to the top left, off-screen or placed individually per icon.

Each saved layout is displayed with its name, date of creation and the screen resolution. Windows 7 users who run the program with elevated privileges can make use of the right-click context menu integration to quickly switch between different layouts. This has to be installed on the first run.

Windows users can download the Icon Configuration Utility from the developer website. The portable software is compatible with all recent 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

The free program DeskDuster has been created for them. The program hides all desktop icons automatically when the computer is idle. Idle in this regard means no user input for five minutes.

The icons are displayed automatically again when the mouse or keyboard is used by the user. This essentially ends the idle state.

The idea behind DeskDuster is to hide all icons on the desktop on idle so that the wallpaper of the system is shown in full. It may also be helpful for privacy minded users, even though there are better options than hiding the icons for this.

The software comes with a set of options. It is for instance possible to change the idle time from five minutes to another value between 1 and 20, and to minimize all open desktop windows whenever the computer is idle.

A right-click on the program’s system tray icon opens a context menu with options to hide the icons manually as well, which may be handy if you want to hide everything at once. You need to make sure not to move the mouse or to use the keyboard afterwards as it would reveal the icons again on the desktop.

A more versatile program is the previously reviewed Auto Hide Icons software for Windows which offers more functionality. The program will reveal the desktop icons on mouse click only, and auto hide them once they have been used. Another alternative is Fences which comes with advanced features like automatic grouping of desktop icons, and selective hiding.

DeskDuster is compatible with all recent 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system. It can be downloaded from the developer website. (via)

To start, we will change the Recycle Bin, Computer and Network icons. This is so simple that you may find yourself doing it often just to keep things looking fresh.

Right-click anywhere on the desktop (except on an icon) and select Personalize

You can also access this window from the Control Panel and click Appearance and Personalization. Click the “Change desktop icons” link in the left sidebar of the window.

For Vista, the process is actually the same but the window will look different. Choose the icon that you wish to change and click on it once then click the “Change Icon” button. You can check the box next to “Allow themes to change desktop icons” to make this a little more interesting.

Now you may either select one of the included icons or click Browse and find the icon you wish to use. Click OK when you have selected the desired icon.

Changing Folder Icons

It also takes just a few steps to change the icons for most folders in Windows 7 as well as Vista. Simply right-click on the folder and then click Properties. Click the Customize tab.

Follow the same steps as you did previously to change the basic desktop icons. Choose an icon from the listing or browse for a specific icon image such as a PNG or JPEG image. You can even go to the Pictures folder and choose a picture and use that as the icon. To keep it simple for this demonstration, a preset icon will be selected.

Once the new icon is selected, click Apply and the icon will be set.

In Windows 7, you cannot change the icon for a library folder. If you are browsing the Documents library and you do want to change the icon for a particular folder, right-click the folder and open the folder location. Now you will be able to change the icon using the same steps as above. There are other techniques for changing icons in Windows 7. This is just intended as a simple overview of the method.

When I have to access the files on the desktop, I need to enable the show desktop icons by right-clicking on the desktop and selecting View > Show desktop icons.

Auto Hide Icons Free is a free Windows software that offers a different more comfortable solution. The portable application hides the icons on the desktop after a specific time has passed, and displays them whenever a left-click on the desktop is made by the user.

It is easier to display all icons on the desktop with the help of the program, and less tiresome to hide the icons again once they are not needed anymore.

The program options can be used to change the left-click functionality to display the icons to middle-click or right-click instead. It is also possible to change the time it takes before the icons are automatically hidden on the desktop. The default timeout has been set to five seconds. This can be increased to a maximum of 100 seconds and a minimum of three seconds.

Auto Hide Ions Free lists two additional options under Preferences. It is possible to hide the taskbar as well, but that feature does not appear to be that useful. All taskbar elements are hidden with the exception of the start orb button, but the area cannot be used by program windows.

Auto Hide Icons is a handy program for Windows users who have icons on their desktop but do not want to view them all the time. The downside to this is that a program is running in the background for the functionality.

The program language is set to German by default. Non-German speaking users need to click on the LNG link in the program preferences to change it to English, French, Portuguese or Russian. Users need to make sure to close the program by clicking on Esc and not the x in the program window.

Auto Hide Desktop Icons can be downloaded from the developer website. It is fully compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of all recent versions of the Windows operating system.

But how is this particular task done? There isn’t a specific GUI tool for it so, as you would imagine, you will be using a combination of GUI and command tools to get this process complete. It’s fast, it’s easy, and the end result could save you a lot of time when deploying Linux GNOME desktops.

Create your launchers

Figure 1

The first thing you must do is create the necessary launchers. In order to create a launcher in GNOME right click anywhere on the desktop and select Create Launcher. When you do this a new window will open (see Figure 1) where you enter all of the details for the launcher.

Say you want to create a launcher that will open the default browser to the Ghacks website. For this you would select Location from the “Type” drop down, give the launcher a name, enter the Ghacks URL for the location, and then a comment. You can customize that with a nice icon by clicking the icon button and selecting an image.

Once you have clicked okay the launcher is ready for you to use. But how do you enable this for all new users? Let’s take a look.

Make it available

If you open up a terminal window and then change into the ~/Desktop directory, you will see a file called (in my case) Ghacks.desktop. The contents of this file look like:

#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Link
Icon[en_US]=gnome-panel-launcher
Name[en_US]=Ghacks
URL=http://www.ghacks.net
Comment[en_US]=Ghacks
Name=Ghacks
Comment=Ghacks
Icon=/home/jlwallen/Pictures/97px-Ubuntu-logo.svg.png

If you know what you are doing, you can edit these (and create them) manually.

Okay, so you have your launcher, what do you do? Simple…from the command line you need to copy the launchers you want added to all new users desktops to the /etc/skel directory. By default, you will see a launcher already in their called examples.desktop. That launcher really doesn’t do anything – it just serves as a model for you to use to create launchers. As you’ve seen here, you don’t really need a sample.

Create as many launchers, and as many types of launchers as you need. When a new user logs in for the first time, those launchers will be copied to their desktop for their use.

Final thoughts

The Linux desktop is a perfect example of real flexibility. You can make the desktop be and do anything you want. And, as an administrator, you can easily set up your new users such that they be greeted by the exact launchers you want them to have on their desktop. By taking advantage of this feature you can help to ensure your Linux desktop users start off on the right foot.

DeskSave is a lightweight program that can save icon layouts so that the layouts will be restored whenever the resolution has been changed. The application is offered as a portable version and installer.

It will automatically save the user’s desktop setup on first startup and is pre-configured to automatically restore the layout on Windows start, resume from standbys and resolution changes.

A confirmation window will be displayed to the user which can be turned off in the program’s options.

restore desktop icons

The program offers a set of additional options. It is for instance possible to configure it to start with Windows or change the icon after in Windows Vista and Windows 7 after restoration.

Desktop layouts can be exported and imported as well which is handy if multiple layouts are used. The program itself will only remember one desktop layout but supports multi-monitor systems.

Desktop layouts can also be restored manually by right-clicking the system tray icon and selecting restore primary layout from the context menu.

You might want to check other guides on the subject including restore desktop icons or manage your desktop icons which both review free software alternatives.

DeskSave is a free program for Windows that can be downloaded from the developer’s website. It is compatible with the majority of Microsoft operating systems.

The My Computer Icon is a special icon that is placed on the computer desktop of some Windows operating systems. It is possible to remove the icon from the desktop which is the main cause for the my computer icon is gone problems.

There is thankfully though a very easy solution to put the my computer icon back on the desktop. The following guide explains how to do this in Windows 7. The principle is on the other hand the same for Windows Vista and Windows XP.

Open the Windows start menu by clicking on the orb in the lower left corner of the task bar. Locate the Computer link on the right side and right-click it. Select the Show On Desktop option. Et Voila. The my computer icon is back on the Windows desktop.

Windows XP users can also try the following to restore the my computer icons.

Restore Icons to the Desktop
In Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition and Professional, the new Start menu is enabled by default. When the new Start menu is enabled, the My Computer, My Documents, and My Network Places icons are removed from the desktop. To restore these icons, follow these steps:

• Right-click the desktop and click Properties.
• Click the Desktop tab.
• Click Customize desktop.
• Click the General tab, and then click the icons that you want to place on the desktop.
• Click OK.

Windows Vista or Windows 7 users can enable the my computer icons this way as well:

Right-click the Windows desktop and select Personalize

Click on Change desktop icons in the upper left sidebar of the new window.

Select the desktop icons that you want to restore. Available are My Computer, Recycle Bin, Control Panel, Network and the user folder.

Click the apply button after the changes

The following tip can be helpful if it is not appearing, which can for instance be the case if the computer user has configured Windows to show no icons on the desktop.

Right-click a blank space on the Windows desktop, select View from the menu and make sure “show desktop icons” is enabled in the menu.

The my computer icon might also be hidden from view but still on the desktop. This can be best tested by selecting to auto arrange the icons (right-click the desktop, select view, then auto arrange icons).

These techniques can also be used to remove icons from the computer desktop. Do you have another tip on how to restore the my computer icons in Windows? Let us know in the comments.

But you don’t want to just have any file type inside of the the Create Document option. Instead you will want to have the type of documents you use most frequently. Depending upon where you access this feature, the document, and the icon for that document, will be displayed. For instance, if you right-click on the desktop that new document will appear on your desktop. If you use the Nautilus menu the icon for your new document will appear in the directory you accessed the menu entry. Let’s take a closer look.

Templates

The first thing you will need to do is create some templates. These templates can be actual templates (documents with formatting and styles) or just blank templates. The easiest way to create them is to open up the tool that will be used to work on the the individual file. Let’s use OpenOffice.

Open up OpenOffice and do the following:

• Create and save a blank text file as a template (.ott). Name it Text.
• Create and save a blank spreadsheet (.ots). Name it Spreadsheet.
• Create and save a blank presentation (.otp). Name it Presentation.

NOTE: When you create a presentation template you might want to create a template with all the trimmings instead of just a blank one.

Take note of where you saved those files as you save them. I am going to assume they are saved in ~/Documents. Now close out OpenOffice and open up a terminal window. What you need to do now is to move those templates into the ~/Template directory. you can do that with the following commands:

mv ~/Documents/*ott ~/Templates

mv ~/Documents/*ots ~/Templates

mv ~/Documents/*otp ~/Templates

Of course you can just save the templates to the ~/Templates directory from within OpenOffice.

Figure 1

Go back to the desktop and right-click anywhere to bring up the menu. You should now see three new entries in that menu (see Figure 1).

Figure 2

But what happens if you click one of those entries? When you do an icon will appear waiting for you to rename it (see Figure 2).

After you give this file a name you can double click the file to open it in the associated tool.

You can of course create template documents from just about any tool. Create image templates within GIMP and save them to the Templates file. There is a trick with files like images. If you create an image on the desktop and double-click it, the image will open in the default viewing tool – which is not GIMP. So you will want to right click the new icon and select Open With > The GIMP.

Final thoughts

If you’ve ever wondered why the Create Documents menu was empty, now you know why and how to populate it with file types. This is a very handy way to have quick access to create often-used document types.

The missing desktop icons can however be displayed again easily. Some users might think that they have lost all of their desktop icons, they should however be visible in Windows Explorer for instance in the Desktop directory that is by default listed under Favorites in the left quick navigation menu in Windows Explorer.

The missing desktop icons can be displayed again by right-clicking the computer desktop and selecting View > Show Desktop Icons. They should appear immediately after making the change in the menu. A checkmark should be visible after selecting the entry.

The same menu contains additional options like displaying or hiding gadgets, aligning icons or changing the size of the desktop icons. It would be nice to hear if someone else has noticed that problem in Windows 7.

Windows ships with a limited amount of desktop icons and some users might prefer to create their own icons for a more personal experience. Simply Icon is a lightweight software program to create desktop icons. All the user needs to do is to drag and drop an image into the applications interface. The application will automatically created four different icons in the sizes 128×128, 64×64, 32×32 and 16×16.

The newly created icons will be stored in one file in the same directory as the original file that was dropped into the application. Best suitable images for a conversion into icons are images that have the same height and width.

Simply Icon can be downloaded from the developer’s website. It does require the Microsoft .net Framework 2.0 which needs to be installed before the application can be executed.

While that alone would not be really spectacular Fences comes with one of the easiest ways to hide all or specific fences. Hiding and unhiding the fences can be done by a simple double-click on the desktop. This means that you can work with a icon free desktop for most of the day. If you need any shortcuts you simply double-click the desktop, the fences containing the icons appear and you can launch them normally.

Fences does come with the possibility to exclude areas from being hidden by the double-click which is great if you need some shortcuts visible all the time.

The program offers the ability to group all icons on the computer system automatically after installation. The alternative would be to create empty fences and move the shortcuts in those fences manually.

A new fence can be easily created by right-clicking on the computer desktop and drawing a rectangle on the screen. New icons places on the computer desktop will not automatically be moved into fences. It is up to the user to perform that operation.

Another interesting feature of the software program is that it will automatically scale if the screen resolution changes. Fences can be downloaded at the Stardock website. The software is compatible with the 32-bit editions of Windows XP as well as both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Iconfinder is easier to use because it let’s you view License details and tags without going to a new page, and lets you download the icon as well without switching pages (this is rare). IconLook also has some good options, for example you can select sizes before performing the search, narrowing your search instantly. Iconfinder has the same functionality, but you can narrow only after your initial search.

Overall I like both sites, perhaps the best practice is to use both. Since neither will provide pages and pages of results, you can easily scan through both sites and find the best icon for you. If you know any other icon finding sites I’d appreciate you sharing, I’m always in need of some good icons!

There is however a direct way to rename those icons – and many more – by using the Windows Registry instead with the added advantage that you do not have to run another software on the system.

To rename the system icons start the Windows Registry editor with [Windows R], typing regedit and hitting enter. The Registry path in question is HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \Windows \ShellNoRoam \MUICache.

You find many entries under that Registry path and need to scroll down a bit until you find the desired names. The Data column lists the current name of the entry.

To change an entry simply double-click it and change the Value Data to something else. Changes take effect after rebooting, logging off / on or killing explorer.exe.

The decision was made to search for the setting that would make desktop icons transparent in Windows. It was there, somewhere that was sure but it is sometimes hard to remember if the setting was a standard Windows feature or available through so called Windows tweaking tools.

The option to make desktop icons transparent is a Windows feature which means that every user can set it in his version of Windows without having to install third party software.

It can be found in Control Panel > System. A click on the Advanced tab and Performance loads the menu where the parameter can be changed. The Visual Effects menu contains the entry Use Drop Shadows For Icon Labels On The Desktop. Activating that option will make desktop icons transparent.

This setting reset the theme of the computer which can be easily fixed in the Display Properties.

Windows however does not automatically move the icons to the right side again when changing the resolution to a higher one. It’s not a big problem if you change the resolution once a year but if you have to do it several times a week it becomes a burden.

Enter the Desktop Icon Manager. This little program saves the current layout of the icons on the desktop in combination with the resolution and can restore the layout with the click of the mouse button.

Supported are the creation of one standard profile that can be restored or individual profiles for each resolution which would come in handy if you work with different resolutions all the time.

Each icon on the desktop is represented by a black dot. Hoovering the mouse over the icon reveals information about that icon.