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"Show Desktop" icon vanished



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 28th 17, 07:41 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
No_Name
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 177
Default "Show Desktop" icon vanished

On my laptop, with XP pro sp3, somehow the "Show Desktop" icon vanished
on the bottom taskbar. I suppose I somehow drug it off the taskbar???
who knows.... Anyhow, I want to put it back. I use it often when I have
a bunch of browser pages and other stuff loaded, and want to check my
download folder or something like that.

How to put the icon back is a real puzzle....
It's probably real simple, but I sure cant figure out how....

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  #3  
Old November 28th 17, 10:09 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
No_Name
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 177
Default "Show Desktop" icon vanished

On Tue, 28 Nov 2017 20:27:10 +0000, Ian Jackson
wrote:

In message ,
writes
On my laptop, with XP pro sp3, somehow the "Show Desktop" icon vanished
on the bottom taskbar. I suppose I somehow drug it off the taskbar???
who knows.... Anyhow, I want to put it back. I use it often when I have
a bunch of browser pages and other stuff loaded, and want to check my
download folder or something like that.

How to put the icon back is a real puzzle....
It's probably real simple, but I sure cant figure out how....

After installing XP, one of the first things I do is to remove the "Show
Desktop" icon. You don't need it, and it only takes up space.


Thats your preference.....
I want it, and use it often.

  #4  
Old November 28th 17, 11:19 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
No_Name
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 177
Default "Show Desktop" icon vanished

On Tue, 28 Nov 2017 23:10:33 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
wrote:

In message ,
writes:
On Tue, 28 Nov 2017 20:27:10 +0000, Ian Jackson
wrote:

In message ,
writes
On my laptop, with XP pro sp3, somehow the "Show Desktop" icon vanished
on the bottom taskbar. I suppose I somehow drug it off the taskbar???
who knows.... Anyhow, I want to put it back. I use it often when I have
a bunch of browser pages and other stuff loaded, and want to check my
download folder or something like that.

How to put the icon back is a real puzzle....
It's probably real simple, but I sure cant figure out how....

After installing XP, one of the first things I do is to remove the "Show
Desktop" icon. You don't need it, and it only takes up space.


Thats your preference.....
I want it, and use it often.

Have you tried Win(dows key)+D? (Win+M works as well, but Win+D is
reversible.) (I think they were originally Desktop and Minimise.)


Those keys do work... I never knew about them. However I'd still like to
get my icon back. Old habits are hard to break.... I have that icon in
Win98, and have it on my XP desktop computer, but someone stole it on my
XP laptop.... (Probably a Halloween ghost that didnt leave when that
holiday was over).

I probably go to the desktop at least once every half hour, because I
have all my programs on my desktop. (I dont use the clunky START
button). Having to minimize 5 windows to get there is a major pain. BUt
at least now i know I can use Win+D or Win+M. (both work).

Thanks



  #6  
Old November 29th 17, 12:31 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,679
Default "Show Desktop" icon vanished

In message ,
writes:
On Tue, 28 Nov 2017 23:10:33 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
wrote:

In message ,
writes:
On Tue, 28 Nov 2017 20:27:10 +0000, Ian Jackson
wrote:

In message ,
writes
On my laptop, with XP pro sp3, somehow the "Show Desktop" icon vanished
on the bottom taskbar. I suppose I somehow drug it off the taskbar???
who knows.... Anyhow, I want to put it back. I use it often when I have
a bunch of browser pages and other stuff loaded, and want to check my
download folder or something like that.

How to put the icon back is a real puzzle....
It's probably real simple, but I sure cant figure out how....

After installing XP, one of the first things I do is to remove the "Show
Desktop" icon. You don't need it, and it only takes up space.

Thats your preference.....
I want it, and use it often.

Have you tried Win(dows key)+D? (Win+M works as well, but Win+D is
reversible.) (I think they were originally Desktop and Minimise.)


Those keys do work... I never knew about them. However I'd still like to
get my icon back. Old habits are hard to break.... I have that icon in
Win98, and have it on my XP desktop computer, but someone stole it on my
XP laptop.... (Probably a Halloween ghost that didnt leave when that
holiday was over).

I probably go to the desktop at least once every half hour, because I
have all my programs on my desktop. (I dont use the clunky START
button). Having to minimize 5 windows to get there is a major pain. BUt
at least now i know I can use Win+D or Win+M. (both work).


One of them brings all the windows back if you use it a second time,
though - the other doesn't.

Thanks

Try this: right-click on an empty part of the taskbar (e. g. just to the
right of the start button). Go to Toolbars from the popup that appears.
Is Desktop ticked? If not, try it: is that what you wanted? I suspect it
isn't, because what that brings up isn't something I'd call an icon, but
it might be (and I could see it as something you _might_ have
accidentally turned off).


3
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Someone once said that scientists and prostitutes get paid for doing what they
enjoy. - Prof Stepehen Hawking in RT 2013/12/7-13
  #9  
Old November 29th 17, 03:15 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
No_Name
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 177
Default "Show Desktop" icon vanished

On Tue, 28 Nov 2017 19:10:50 -0500, Ben Myers
wrote:

On 11/28/2017 1:41 PM, wrote:
On my laptop, with XP pro sp3, somehow the "Show Desktop" icon vanished
on the bottom taskbar. I suppose I somehow drug it off the taskbar???
who knows.... Anyhow, I want to put it back. I use it often when I have
a bunch of browser pages and other stuff loaded, and want to check my
download folder or something like that.

How to put the icon back is a real puzzle....
It's probably real simple, but I sure cant figure out how....


Open Notepad, copy and paste the following to it and save it as
"C:\Document and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\Quick Launch\" as "Show Desktop". Be sure to replace
"username" with your real username.

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop



You were 99% on the money with this.

I did as you said, and it created an icon on the taskbar. But it was a
..txt file (Notepad saves everything as .TXT). I removed the .TXT
extension, using RENAME. It then appeared and opened something with a
list to select stuff.

After thinking about it for awhile, I went to the desktop icon on my
Win98 computer, and right click selected it and did "properties" on it.
I found a similar path to it (In Win98, the application data folder is
in the WINDOWS folder.

The file in Win98 is identical to what you posted, and the same filename
but the extension is .SCF.

Actual name is --- Show Desktop.scf

As soon as I changed the filename to include the .SCF, it works fine.

The funny thing, is that the .scf dont show up in that "quick launch
folder". Yet that extension is required to make it work.

--

An extra note about this.

That "Quick Launch" folder contains an icon for Firefox, and one for
Internet Explorer. Both of those are just plain common Shortcut files.
(in both XP and Win98).

Just for the heck of it, I created a shortcut for Notepad. Put it into
that "Quick Launch" folder, and now there's a Notepad icon on the
taskbar. (I'm going to keep that there as well, I like having easy
access to Notepad, since I often copy notes from webpages as text).

I learned something from this.....
The funny part, is that all the other icons in the "Quick Launch"
folder, in both XP and Win98, are just common shortcuts, but that
Desktop icon is a .SCF file....

I googled .SCF and found this:
http://filext.com/file-extension/SCF

# Windows Explorer Command (Shell Command File) by Microsoft
CorporationThese files are executed by SHELL32.DLL and the file
extension is one of the special ones that remain hidden even if you
instruct Windows to show file extensions. One example in Windows XP is
the "Show Desktop.scf" file that is activated by the Show Desktop icon
in the Quick Launch area next to the Start button. The identifying
characters used for this association are - Hex: 5B 53 68 65 6C 6C 5D 0D
0A , ASCII: [Shell]Program ID: SHCmdFile

----

I also learned that the taskbar operates exactly the same in Win98 and
XP. I could have just copied this file from my Win98 machine or another
XP machine, but I did not have a clue where to look....

I would have never figured this out without help....
This is a one of a kind special file type it appears...

Thanks !



  #10  
Old November 29th 17, 09:49 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Ian Jackson[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 75
Default "Show Desktop" icon vanished

In message ,
writes
On Tue, 28 Nov 2017 23:10:33 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
wrote:

In message ,
writes:
On Tue, 28 Nov 2017 20:27:10 +0000, Ian Jackson
wrote:

In message ,
writes
On my laptop, with XP pro sp3, somehow the "Show Desktop" icon vanished
on the bottom taskbar. I suppose I somehow drug it off the taskbar???
who knows.... Anyhow, I want to put it back. I use it often when I have
a bunch of browser pages and other stuff loaded, and want to check my
download folder or something like that.

How to put the icon back is a real puzzle....
It's probably real simple, but I sure cant figure out how....

After installing XP, one of the first things I do is to remove the "Show
Desktop" icon. You don't need it, and it only takes up space.

Thats your preference.....
I want it, and use it often.

Have you tried Win(dows key)+D? (Win+M works as well, but Win+D is
reversible.) (I think they were originally Desktop and Minimise.)


Those keys do work... I never knew about them. However I'd still like to
get my icon back. Old habits are hard to break.... I have that icon in
Win98, and have it on my XP desktop computer, but someone stole it on my
XP laptop.... (Probably a Halloween ghost that didnt leave when that
holiday was over).

I probably go to the desktop at least once every half hour, because I
have all my programs on my desktop. (I dont use the clunky START
button). Having to minimize 5 windows to get there is a major pain. BUt
at least now i know I can use Win+D or Win+M. (both work).

Thanks


I did a quick Google, and I too saw the keyboard method (which I didn't
know about)

I've always used 'right-click on an empty area of the taskbar, and
select Show the Desktop in the drop-down menu'.

But somewhere there must be a way of restoring the icon (if you really,
really want it!).





--
Ian
 




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