my computer icon

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Guest

i use windows xp professional
suddenly my ' my computer ' icon on the desktop has disappeared
can you please advise how i access/ retrieve my local disk drives

thanks

ray guy

ps.. please copy any reply to - (e-mail address removed)
 
In ray guy <ray (e-mail address removed)> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
i use windows xp professional
suddenly my ' my computer ' icon on the desktop has disappeared
can you please advise how i access/ retrieve my local disk drives

thanks

ray guy

ps.. please copy any reply to - (e-mail address removed)
Click to expand...


Download TweakUI
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

Under the desktop add the My Computer icon back.

Galen
--

"And that recommendation, with the exaggerated estimate of my ability
with which he prefaced it, was, if you will believe me, Watson, the
very first thing which ever made me feel that a profession might be
made out of what had up to that time been the merest hobby."

Sherlock Holmes
 
Desktop Windows Icons

Right click Desktop | Properties | Desktop tab |
Customize Desktop button | General tab |
Desktop icons | Select what you want on the Desktop:
My Documents
My Computer
My Network Places
Internet Explorer

[[Specifies whether these Windows items will appear as icons on your
desktop. Select the check box if you want the item to appear on your
desktop; clear the check box if you do not want the item to appear on your
desktop.]]

Or...
Start | Run | Type: desk.cpl | OK


--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
In Wesley Vogel <[email protected]> had this to say:

*yawns* Good morning. said:
Or...
Start | Run | Type: desk.cpl | OK
Click to expand...

Or desk.cpl = control desktop in the run box too.

I wasn't sure if you knew that or not, heck I'm not even sure if you wanted
to know, but I thought I'd add it to your arsenal. While I have no evidence
to back this up it would seem logical to me that people would be more
inclined to remember "control *****" instead of the ***.cpl or so I would
think...

I didn't know all of them so I just did a quick search and came up with
this:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=180025&sd=RMVP

<quote/>

Syntax Description
Control desktop Launches the Desktop Control Panel subprogram
Control color Launches the Desktop Control Panel subprogram, with the
Appearance tab preselected
Control date/time Launches the Date/Time Control Panel program
Control international Launches the Regional Settings Control Panel
subprogram
Control mouse Launches the Mouse Control Panel subprogram
Control keyboard Launches the Keyboard Control Panel subprogram
Control printers Displays the Printers folder
Control fonts Displays the Fonts folder


For Windows 2000:

Syntax Description
Control folders Launches the Folder Settings Control Panel subprogram
Control netware Launches the Novell NetWare Control Panel subprogram
(if installed)
Control telephony Launches the Phone and Modem Options Control Panel
subprogram
Control admintools Displays the Administrative Tools folder
Control schedtasks Displays the Scheduled Tasks folder
Control netconnections Displays the Network and Dial-up Connections
folder
Control infrared Launches the Infrared Control Panel subprogram (if
installed)
Control userpasswords Launches the Users and Passwords Control Panel
subprogram


</quote>

While they do apply to NT & 2k directly many of them are also valid in XP.

Galen
--

"And that recommendation, with the exaggerated estimate of my ability
with which he prefaced it, was, if you will believe me, Watson, the
very first thing which ever made me feel that a profession might be
made out of what had up to that time been the merest hobby."

Sherlock Holmes
 
Good morning Galen,

Thanks for the tip. Yes, I am aware of it, but desk.cpl has fewer
characters to type. ;-) Just as control desktop has fewer characters than
%windir%\System32\control.exe desktop

There are any number of combinations that will open Display Properties.

Here are a few...

control desktop will open Display Properties @ the Themes tab
control desk.cpl,1,0 will open Display Properties @ the Desktop tab
I can't get it to open Display Properties @ the Appearance tab
control desk.cpl,0,2 will open Display Properties @ the Screen Saver tab
control desk.cpl,1,4 will open Display Properties @ the Settings tab

This creates a shortcut to Display Properties opened @ the Settings tab.

Right click the Desktop | New | Shortcut |
Paste this in the Location box...

control desk.cpl,1,4

Click the Next button | Name it whatever you want, like Display Settings |
Click the finish button

This actually creates a shortcut to...

%windir%\System32\control.exe desk.cpl,1,4

Any of the above can be used to create shortcuts.

Description of Control Panel Files in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;313808

Description of Control Panel (.cpl) Files
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;149648

Windows XP Control Panel, Shortcuts and Control.exe
http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/control.htm

Any of these can also be used to create shortcuts...

control Sysdm.cpl,System,1 System Properties @ Computer Name tab
control Sysdm.cpl,System,2 System Properties @ Hardware tab
control Sysdm.cpl,System,3 System Properties @ Advanced tab
control Sysdm.cpl,System,4 System Properties @ System Restore tab
control Sysdm.cpl,System,5 System Properties @ Automatic Updates tab
control Sysdm.cpl,System,6 System Properties @ Remote tab

The environmental variable Pathext controls which extensions do not need to
be typed in a Command or Run window. The Path environmental variable and a
registry entry, that I can't remember now, control what paths do not have to
be typed.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
Hi Ramesh,

I don't have XP SP2 anymore (back to SP1) so I don't have wscui.cpl (SP2
Security Center). No frown here. ;-)

No hint on to opening Display Properties @ the Appearance tab?

Or is it *not* possible?

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
In Wesley Vogel <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
I can't get it to open Display Properties @ the Appearance tab
Click to expand...

control color

(the only way I know of)

Galen
--

"And that recommendation, with the exaggerated estimate of my ability
with which he prefaced it, was, if you will believe me, Watson, the
very first thing which ever made me feel that a profession might be
made out of what had up to that time been the merest hobby."

Sherlock Holmes
 
control color opens @ the Screen Saver tab for me, Galen. ;-(

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
Yes, that is interesting. Hmm. Another XP anomaly on my machine. Hmm.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
In Wesley Vogel <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
Yes, that is interesting. Hmm. Another XP anomaly on my machine.
Hmm.
Click to expand...

I just tested on two desktops and a laptop... What in the heck have you been
playing with? Maybe it's time to give it a good swift kick to the side
panel? Makes me wonder what it opens on 9x or 2k? I'm a bit too lazy to
wander off and get that information but sometime it's almost worth doing an
article about it... Ah well... I'm afraid I dunno what to tell you on that
one. I do know that it should have opened the appearance tab. Yeah, nothing
a good swift kick can't fix for you...

Galen
--

"And that recommendation, with the exaggerated estimate of my ability
with which he prefaced it, was, if you will believe me, Watson, the
very first thing which ever made me feel that a profession might be
made out of what had up to that time been the merest hobby."

Sherlock Holmes
 
Hi Ramesh,

Not any more. :-D

The list is too numerous.

I uninstalled SP2 and *I* fixed most of the things that the uninstall
didn't.

There isn't one reason listed in the Top 10 Reasons to Install Windows XP
Service Pack 2 (SP2) that interests me anyway.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
I may need to borrow your Estwing again, Galen. <LOL>

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
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