unused desktop icons

[curliegirl]

I just want to know how to delete unused icons on my desktop without removing
the program itself. I know if you right click it, it gives you the option to
delete it. But I have several icons I cannot delete. Either it has stayed on
there from programs I have already removed or it is connected to some kind of
program if I delete it the program will not work. I just want to get rid of
the unused icons. Please help!!

 

[Tom Allen]

I just want to know how to delete unused icons on my desktop without
removing
the program itself. I know if you right click it, it gives you the
option to
delete it. But I have several icons I cannot delete. Either it has
stayed on
there from programs I have already removed or it is connected to some
kind of
program if I delete it the program will not work. I just want to get
rid of
the unused icons. Please help!!

See what goes if you right click empty desktop and click on 'refresh'.

Tom

 

[Ralph]

Check the Microsoft site for the "uninstall cleanup utility".
Download and run, but be careful. Make sure you know what you're cleaning
up.
To be fairly safe, make a restore point first.

 

[Karl Snooks]

curliegirl,

Rt-clk on the icon. Choose Delete. You will get a message telling you that you are not deleting the program but rather the shortcut.

Rt-clk on something like the Recycle Bin and you will get another type of message which will even tell you how to restore the icon.

In other words, go for it.

Karl
I just want to know how to delete unused icons on my desktop without removing
the program itself. I know if you right click it, it gives you the option to
delete it. But I have several icons I cannot delete. Either it has stayed on
there from programs I have already removed or it is connected to some kind of
program if I delete it the program will not work. I just want to get rid of
the unused icons. Please help!!

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I just want to know how to delete unused icons on my desktop without removing
the program itself.

If the icon is a shortcut (with the curved arrow in the lower left
corner), deleting it never affects the program itself.

I know if you right click it, it gives you the option to
delete it. But I have several icons I cannot delete. Either it has stayed on
there from programs I have already removed or it is connected to some kind of
program if I delete it the program will not work. I just want to get rid of
the unused icons. Please help!!

What are the icons? What programs do they represent? Do they have the
shortcut arrow in the corner?

 

[Doug]

If you can get hold of chklnks.exe dated 18 April 2003 size 356 KB from Microsoft Windows Server 2003 resource kit, it is a simple GUI which lists all the links on your PC that no longer point to anything still there. It works fine with Vista. The first time I used it it found 100 dead links. Now I run it daily and it catches 2 or 3 a week, and I nearly always remember what I had done to cause them. Get it from a good source such as Microsoft, as there are a few items of malware that use the same filename. I can't remember where my copy came from, but someone else here may know how to download it as a single file without the hassle of unpacking the whole resource kit.
Doug
curliegirl,

Rt-clk on the icon. Choose Delete. You will get a message telling you that you are not deleting the program but rather the shortcut.

Rt-clk on something like the Recycle Bin and you will get another type of message which will even tell you how to restore the icon.

In other words, go for it.

Karl
I just want to know how to delete unused icons on my desktop without removing
the program itself. I know if you right click it, it gives you the option to
delete it. But I have several icons I cannot delete. Either it has stayed on
there from programs I have already removed or it is connected to some kind of
program if I delete it the program will not work. I just want to get rid of
the unused icons. Please help!!