How to display the desktop?

Sometimes my older brother calls me for help with the computer.

Today, he wanted to start Team-Viewer but he coudlnt' see the Desktop.
We did get it started** and I'm looking at his desktop now and there is
supposed to be an icon in the task bar that hides all the programs that
are running and shows the desktop. But I dont' see it.

He uses the Desktop that came with win10 but I'm using Classic Shell or
the other one so for me it looks Win7 (and pretty much like XP iirc) so
I don't know where to look in the win10 screen. Where is it?

**When he couldn't see the desktop, I had him use the windows screen and
type in T e a m v. and eventually he got 2 or 3 or 4 entries, but none
were the program itself. The blue one with the two-headed arrow just
asked if he wanted to download TeamViewer. Huh? I'm sure he had it
already. What happened? Where did it go? I assure you he did
not...***

So I gave in and we (he) dl'd and installed the new version, 14 I think.
Then I had to update my version to match his, and everything worked
after that (The problem was that some work-essential reading was too
small to read, and I told him about ctrl-scroll-wheel, so that problem
was definitely unrelated to the scam below. He also said the computer
was doing other strange things, jumping around, but it didn't in the few
minutes I worked on it, and I see he is up to page 16 of 48 pages of his
reading so I guess it's stable now.)


***Yesterday a scammer wrote him and he usually knows better, but he
called them back on the phone and they told him to install TeamViewer.
That definitely should have been a red flag but I think my brother
understands parts of the computer but not a global picture, like how bad
it would be and how unnecessary it should be for anyone other than him
and me to control his computer.

So he started on this, but stopped and called me before he finished.
We're not 100% sure that he didn't go too far, but he hadn't done at
least one last step.

Have you heard of a scam involving teamviewer and/or do you think they
just wanted to use teamviewer to control his computer and his version
was incompatible with theirs so he got far enough along that he deleted
his own but never installed the other one?? That would explain why he
didn't have it today.

That would be good in that he was still TWO steps away from letting them
do things to him, finishing the install and giving them the password.

It seems pretty clumsy of them to limit themselves to people with the
latest version of TV. Is it so uncommon that most people don't have it
at all and have to install it anyhow when the scammers call.

I've heard there are legitimate help desks that use TeamViewer. Do you
know of any? I think years ago Verizon insisted on installing their
version of remote control, but that was after I had called verizon on
the phone at 1-800-Verizon, so I knew who I was talking to.

On 17/01/2019 18:46, micky wrote:
We did get it started** and I'm looking at his desktop now and there is
supposed to be an icon in the task bar that hides all the programs that
are running and shows the desktop. But I dont' see it.

At the extreme right of the Taskbar there is a vertical line, on W7 it
was quite large (icon sized) but on W10 it is minute.
(Extreme right, in fact push cursor bottom-right and Click).

On 01/17/2019 12:54 PM, Wolf K wrote:
On 2019-01-17 13:46, micky wrote:
Sometimes my older brother calls me for help with the computer.

Today, he wanted to start Team-Viewer but he couldn't see the Desktop.

Desktop is always "on". Shrink window, and you should see it.

We did get it started** and I'm looking at his desktop now and there is
supposed to be an icon in the task bar that hides all the programs that
are running and shows the desktop.Â* But I dont' see it.
[...]

What Windows? Ther are annoyingly subtle differences between them.


Drag your cursor right down to the very bottom right hand corner and
this will display the desktop, There is NO icon, get right into the very
corner on the taskbar.

Rene

micky wrote:

there is supposed to be an icon in the task bar that hides all the
programs that are running and shows the desktop.

Slam the mouse into the bottom/right corner and click

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Thu, 17 Jan 2019 13:02:30 -0600, Rene
Lamontagne wrote:

On 01/17/2019 12:54 PM, Wolf K wrote:
On 2019-01-17 13:46, micky wrote:
Sometimes my older brother calls me for help with the computer.

Today, he wanted to start Team-Viewer but he couldn't see the Desktop.

Desktop is always "on". Shrink window, and you should see it.

What do you mean by shrink it? Minimize? He has several windows open
so he'd have to do that for every one of them.

We did get it started** and I'm looking at his desktop now and there is
supposed to be an icon in the task bar that hides all the programs that
are running and shows the desktop.* But I dont' see it.
[...]

What Windows? Ther are annoyingly subtle differences between them.

Windows 10 is all I know.

Drag your cursor right down to the very bottom right hand corner and
this will display the desktop, There is NO icon, get right into the very
corner on the taskbar.

When I do that on my computer, with Classic Shell or the other win7
interface, the desktop shows, but the moment I move the cursor out of
the corner, the desktop disappears again, it goes back to the way it
was. That wouldn't happen if I didnt' have the win7 appearance?

Rene

On 01/17/2019 1:11 PM, Andy Burns wrote:

micky wrote:

there is supposed to be an icon in the task bar that hides all the
programs that are running and shows the desktop.

Slam the mouse into the bottom/right corner and click

Funny, on my system I don't have to click, I just crowd the cursor into
the corner where the thin white vertical line is.

Rene

On 17/01/2019 19.46, micky wrote:

***Yesterday a scammer wrote him and he usually knows better, but he
called them back on the phone and they told him to install TeamViewer.
That definitely should have been a red flag but I think my brother
understands parts of the computer but not a global picture, like how bad
it would be and how unnecessary it should be for anyone other than him
and me to control his computer.

So he started on this, but stopped and called me before he finished.
We're not 100% sure that he didn't go too far, but he hadn't done at
least one last step.

Have you heard of a scam involving teamviewer and/or do you think they
just wanted to use teamviewer to control his computer and his version
was incompatible with theirs so he got far enough along that he deleted
his own but never installed the other one?? That would explain why he
didn't have it today.

Yes, I have heard of it.

I live in Spain (Europe), but I have an English surname. So sometimes
some people, probably in India, call claiming to be Microsoft support
and that I have a malign virus in my machine and that they need access
to correct the issue. Even telling them I use Linux and they insist.
LOL. I asked around and it is pretty common on other European countries,
a lot on Britain (there are a lot of support and call centres in India
servicing Britain). Aparently that market is well exploited already, so
the try expats in Spain and other countries.

You can find stories on youtube, too, people that play them up. Quite
funny, because they can not switch off the call on their side or their
boss have their heads on a plastic tray.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_support_scam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viiadQimvAk
Revenge on Scammers - Call Flooder - 1000 Calls Per Minute


It is possible they managed to install a rogue teamviewer software on
your brother machine. Check the URL they told him to use. That machine
needs to be audited, IMO.



That would be good in that he was still TWO steps away from letting them
do things to him, finishing the install and giving them the password.

It seems pretty clumsy of them to limit themselves to people with the
latest version of TV. Is it so uncommon that most people don't have it
at all and have to install it anyhow when the scammers call.

I've heard there are legitimate help desks that use TeamViewer. Do you
know of any? I think years ago Verizon insisted on installing their
version of remote control, but that was after I had called verizon on
the phone at 1-800-Verizon, so I knew who I was talking to.

The request must be initiated by you, not them. Yes, it is possible.

Never trust someone initiating the call and asking for access. At worst,
tell them that you will verify, and call them back but not on the number
they say on the phone, but the one you have in your service contract.


--
Cheers, Carlos.

On Thu, 17 Jan 2019 18:59:34 +0000, Patrick
wrote:

On 17/01/2019 18:46, micky wrote:
We did get it started** and I'm looking at his desktop now and there is
supposed to be an icon in the task bar that hides all the programs that
are running and shows the desktop. But I dont' see it.

At the extreme right of the Taskbar there is a vertical line, on W7 it
was quite large (icon sized) but on W10 it is minute.
(Extreme right, in fact push cursor bottom-right and Click).


What you say is often correct, but not always; it's good enough for
most people, but in the interest of being completely accurate, let me
point out what's wrong with it.

At the extreme *end* of the Task bar there is a line, not necessarily
vertical. (Note the emphasis on the word "end.") On your computer, the
end of the task bar may be on the extreme right, but on my computer,
it's on the extreme bottom--the bottom left corner of the monitor--and
the line is horizontal, not vertical.

Why? Although by default the task bar appears on the bottom of the
screen, it can be on any of the sides you prefer it on. To move it
from any side to another, simply click on an unused part of it and
drag it where you want it. Be sure to click *within* it, not on the
edge; clicking on the edge and dragging will resize it, not move it.

If it won't move, it may be locked. In that case, right click on it
and uncheck "Lock the task bar," then try again.

By the way, with today's wide-screen monitors, I prefer the task bar
on the left or right side of the screen. I think that makes a better
use of screen real estate than having it at the bottom. Since I keep
it on the left-hand side of the screen, that's why the line is on the
bottom left corner of my monitor.

Terrific! Never noticed that before.

Now I don't have to type Win-D ;-)

Patrick wrote on 1/17/2019 1:59 PM:
On 17/01/2019 18:46, micky wrote:
We did get it started** and I'm looking at his desktop now and there is
supposed to be an icon in the task bar that hides all the programs that
are running and shows the desktop. But I dont' see it.

At the extreme right of the Taskbar there is a vertical line, on W7 it
was quite large (icon sized) but on W10 it is minute.
(Extreme right, in fact push cursor bottom-right and Click).

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Thu, 17 Jan 2019 13:22:33 -0600, Rene
Lamontagne wrote:

On 01/17/2019 1:11 PM, Andy Burns wrote:

micky wrote:

there is supposed to be an icon in the task bar that hides all the
programs that are running and shows the desktop.

Slam the mouse into the bottom/right corner and click

Funny, on my system I don't have to click, I just crowd the cursor into
the corner where the thin white vertical line is.

Aha, clicking is the difference. After I click, the desktop doesn't get
covered up when I move the cursor out of the corner.

I'll write my brother about this and Win-D.

Thanks to you and Alek for both. I always have trouble rememebering
win-key commands, and today I forgot this one even existed.

Carlos, no time to reply to your longer post today. I plan to. Thanks.

Rene

Rene Lamontagne wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:

Slam the mouse into the bottom/right corner and click

Funny, on my system I don't have to click

But you need to hover there for a second or more, it's quicker to click :-)

On 01/17/2019 2:42 PM, Andy Burns wrote:
Rene Lamontagne wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:

Slam the mouse into the bottom/right corner and click

Funny, on my system I don't have to click

But you need to hover there for a second or more, it's quicker to click :-)

Yep, you are correct, Thanks never tried clicking before, Learned a
little more today. :-)

On 17/01/2019 18:46, micky mouse wrote:

and I'm looking at his desktop now and there is
supposed to be an icon in the task bar that hides all the programs that
are running and shows the desktop. But I dont' see it.

You must be blind because there was no need to write a long message just
to ask a simple question. This is what the problem is with you lot.

See this picture if you can see it and understand it and ask us using
just one sentence how to get this window. We don't need a complete
history about your family and their stupidity.

https://i.imgur.com/UpNAUxX.png https://i.imgur.com/UpNAUxX.png

That link is a toggle button. It can show the desktop or show all open
windows by clicking on it.






--
With over 950 million devices now running Windows 10, customer
satisfaction is higher than any previous version of windows.

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Thu, 17 Jan 2019 19:28:40 -0500, Wolf K
wrote:

On 2019-01-17 14:20, micky wrote:
In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Thu, 17 Jan 2019 13:02:30 -0600, Rene
wrote:

On 01/17/2019 12:54 PM, Wolf K wrote:
On 2019-01-17 13:46, micky wrote:
Sometimes my older brother calls me for help with the computer.

Today, he wanted to start Team-Viewer but he couldn't see the Desktop.
Desktop is always "on". Shrink window, and you should see it.
What do you mean by shrink it? Minimize? He has several windows open
so he'd have to do that for every one of them.

[...]

Firstly, others have provided the solution (which I didn't know, since
the only place I used it was on the Surface touchscreen, didn't occur to
me that a mouse click would also work. Oh well, some of the little grey
cells have checked out.)

It's interesting h ow different people do things differently. I have
all my windows maximized except I resent the ones that aren't able to do
that!

Secondly, I usually minimise a Window before switching, but that's just
my style, but my advice works for me. Sorry that it wouldn't work for
your friend. Not that he needs it anymore (see above) :-) .

Yes. However,, t hanks.

Best,

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Thu, 17 Jan 2019 15:13:38 -0600, Rene
Lamontagne wrote:

On 01/17/2019 2:42 PM, Andy Burns wrote:
Rene Lamontagne wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:

Slam the mouse into the bottom/right corner and click

Funny, on my system I don't have to click

But you need to hover there for a second or more, it's quicker to click :-)

I hovered for 13 seconds and when I moved hte cursor, the desktop
disappeared. maybe because I'm using classic shell?

Yep, you are correct, Thanks never tried clicking before, Learned a
little more today. :-)