Occasionally I found in various directories hidden files called "desktop.ini".
What is the purpose of them ?
Can it be that they are created from other computers (because the folder is a shared folder) ?
Are they similar to "thumbs.db" files ?
Can I delete them without destroying my own Desktop icons?
Cindy
If you have a desktop.ini in a folder you have customized that folder
view. The desktop.ini file is normally a hidden system file so you
don't delete it accidentally. It would be possible for every folder
to have a desktop.ini or some folders may not have one at all.
Folders that do not have a desktop.ini file have not been customized.
Deleting the desktop.ini will remove any customizations from the
folder and it will have a default view.
A thumbs.db contains information regarding the display of image files
that might be in a folder in a thumbnail view. You may have a
thumbs.db and you may not. If you delete the thumbs.db file in a
folder that contains images, it will be recreated automatically the
next time you change the folder view to Thumbnails.
A few Google searches for those file names may help you understand how
them work.