I would like to delete most of the icons from my desktop but have them available 1 or 2 clicks. I am trying to speed up start up. Any other ideas appreciated. long time computer user but novice at "customization" Thanx
Welcome to the Forums 2vbears45,
You could simply copy all icons to a map in your user folder, that'll give you a nice cleaned up desktop. But I don't think that it'll make your start-up all that much faster.
Anyhow, to delete the icons like the trash bin, you should right click anywhere on your desktop, and then select Personalize out of the drop down menu. In the window that pops up, you should click on Change desktop icons out of the little menu on the left. In the window that pops up you can select what icons you do and don't want to display on your desktop.
To, for example, remove the trash bin icon, simply uncheck the box before Recycle Bin, and click on Apply.
NoteIf you have removed the desired icons from your desktop, you can only put them back using this way.
If you want to have them a few clicks away but not on your desktop, simply create a shortcut before removing the icon.
If you really wish to make your computer start up faster, you might also want to check out the msconfig menu.
Before showing you how, I will warn you, do not mess with it if you don't know what you are doing!
Okay, first open your start menu. In the search bar type msconfig. Click on the program that appears in the menu. In the system configuration, click on the tab called Startup. Here you can select which programs you want Windows to start up when starting up the computer. By default all programs in the list are selected, and so they will all be started upon starting your computer.
I can not give you precise advise as I don't know which programs you have installed. But some of the programs in that menu, such as, for example, Dropbox, Spotify and Winamp Agent do not necessarily need to be checked.
If you want to disable one of these programs, simply uncheck the box before the program name, and click on Apply. Once you exit this window, Windows will prompt you that a restart is needed to activate the changes you have made. Simply click Restart if you want to restart, or select Exit without restart if you want to restart later on.
WarningDo NOT mess with the msconfig menu if you do not know what you are doing! Doing that may result in rendering Windows unusable.
Both those things will slightly make your start up time faster. I don't think you will notice the difference, as it will be mere milliseconds, but it will work. If you really want your computer to start up faster, and as a good plus delete all the bloatware that's provided with your computer, I suggest that you make a clean reinstall of Windows. This tutorial will describe how to do that in easy steps.
Good luck and keep us posted!
Nommy
Quote