Solved How to stop Windows 7 from writing desktop.ini files everywhere?

[Sourcerer]

Hello,

so I have issues about hidden files (I always want to see them), and I'm particularly annoyed by this desktop.ini file. As if it wasn't enough that there is one in almost every folder, in Windows 7 there are TWO of them on my desktop!

Also, Windows 7 is always trying to burn/write that file on every removable media I have, including USB memory sticks, external hard drives, CD's, DVD's (and the fact that they aren't rewritable and have been burned and closed by the factory doesn't seem to stop it from getting that file ready to be written to disc), etc. Am I the only one thinking this is insane?

My question is simple - how do I stop Windows 7 from ever creating another one of these files again (that is, until next reinstall or some such thing, I'm just trying to be dramatic)?

Yes, I know I will lose some customization functions, but the fact is - I don't need them (which is why I want to see hidden files - to delete them if I don't need them). I know what's in what folder, thank you very much. And yes, I know I can go to Control Panel and set it to not show hidden files, but that's exactly what I don't want.

So, just show me which option to un-check and I'll be happy and I'll buy you some e-beer.

Thanks,
Nikola

 

[gurustevie]

I've seen before that if you have thumbnail view set for your folders, each folder will have a desktop.ini file. Is this the view you have?

 

[logicearth]

So, just show me which option to un-check and I'll be happy and I'll buy you some e-beer.

Thanks,
Nikola

Folder Options > View > enable Hide protected operating system files.
Furthermore, desktop.ini is not written to CD/DVDs when you burn.

 

[Phone Man]

[/QUOTE]

Furthermore, desktop.ini is not written to CD/DVDs when you burn.[/QUOTE]

You are right that it does not write it to the CD/DVD but if you go to write another CD/DVD it shows desktop.ini in que to be written. It just stays in que until you delete it or reboot. Don't understand that.

Jim

 

[tiger2]

I am new to windows 7, and ever since I started using windows 95 up to the present win7 (with win98 and winxp; yes I skipped vista), I have always viewed hidden files - I am a computer professional, and not an end user type.

Why is ms/windows creating these desktop.ini files on my desktop? What is the purpose anyway?

Deb

 

[logicearth]

I am new to windows 7, and ever since I started using windows 95 up to the present win7 (with win98 and winxp; yes I skipped vista), I have always viewed hidden files - I am a computer professional, and not an end user type.

Why is ms/windows creating these desktop.ini files on my desktop? What is the purpose anyway?

Deb

desktop.ini holds folder configurations/customizations as it always have.

 

[davehc]

Professional or amateur, I don't feel there is and real value or purpose in being able to see the system files, except, possibly, if you are troubleshooting. But, fwiw, I have enabled mine and have had no problems deleting .ini files. Some are recreated, but I have not had the desktop ones do that.

 

[Phone Man]

Learned something today. It seams that anytime you make a custom change to a folder it writes a desktop.ini file to that folder so it remembers the changes. If you delete the desktop.ini file the folder will return to default settings. To me the name is a little misleading and would not folder.ini be a better name??

Please correct me if I am wrong on this.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Sourcerer]

Folder Options > View > enable Hide protected operating system files.
Furthermore, desktop.ini is not written to CD/DVDs when you burn.

Thou hast not properly understood my question, thus thou shalt not get any e-beer.

Edit: Maybe desktop.ini isn't written to a CD/DVD (I wouldn't know, I always delete it manually off the list), but it's always *ready* to be written.

Cheers!

 

[Sourcerer]

I've seen before that if you have thumbnail view set for your folders, each folder will have a desktop.ini file. Is this the view you have?

That, I think, was true on Windows XP, but 7 creates desktop.ini file regardless. I deleted the two off my desktop once, only to have them reappear on reboot.

For some reason I'm quite certain that Microsoft could've come up with a more elegant solution to folder customization than having a hidden system file in every folder. I wouldn't even be making such a fuss about it if the files (and yes, I'm saying files, as in more than one of them, both having the same name in the same folder, how insane is that!) weren't showing on my desktop (and no, I'm not likely to un-check viewing of hidden files).

 

[logicearth]

Thou hast not properly understood my question, thus thou shalt not get any e-beer.

It is the only solution there is. Either you hide them or you live with them in view.

That, I think, was true on Windows XP, but 7 creates desktop.ini file regardless. I deleted the two off my desktop once, only to have them reappear on reboot.

Did you just do Windows Updates? That would be why.

(and yes, I'm saying files, as in more than one of them, both having the same name in the same folder, how insane is that!)

One is in Public\Desktop the other in [Username]\Desktop, They are not in the same folder.

 

[Sourcerer]

I've found a way to stop desktop.ini files from reappearing on the desktop, at least after one reboot. In Control Panel, click Folder Options, select View tab, and click Reset Folders, and confirm. In Advanced settings, check "Always show icons, never thumbnails", and click Apply. Then delete the desktop.ini files.

I'm still not sure whether that stops Windows from getting desktop.ini file ready to be written to CD/DVDs, or from writing them to other removable media.

 

[Sourcerer]

One is in Public\Desktop the other in [Username]\Desktop

I know about this feature of viewing multiple folders as one (though I forgot the actual name), but that doesn't mean I particularly like it. desktop.ini file notwithstanding, someone might have two (or more!) different files saved in multiple folders under the same name, and the aggregate folder would show all of them, leaving the user wondering which is which. I tend to do that with everything ranging from photographs (DSC_0001.JPG is one of the most common file names I have on my system, disregarding the desktop.ini) to video, to text.

Did you just do Windows Updates? That would be why.

Not that I know of. I tend to note when my computer gets updated.

It is the only solution that works. Either you hide them or you live with them in view.

IOW, there is no other solution, i.e. no solution that would make me happy, ergo no e-beer. Sorry.

 

[gladson1976]

(and no, I'm not likely to un-check viewing of hidden files)

@Sourcerer
If you have set windows to "Show hidden files" and "Hide system files", then you wont see the desktop.ini files but will still be able to see the hidden files.


That wont actually stop windows from writing the files, but atleast you wont see them

 

[pjd]

For some reason I'm quite certain that Microsoft could've come up with a more elegant solution to folder customization than having a hidden system file in every folder.

They have a more elegant solution at their fingertips - Alternate Data Streams

ADS's are not an MS idea though, only the name is theirs, ADS's are an implementation of a unix file system fork, which like most ..ix things came from Multics, which borrowed many things from Burroughs MCP. MCP was written in Algol, the precursor of many modern computer languages, Multics was written in PL/1 which bore a strong resemblance to Algol, as of course does C.

So why don't MS use ADS's for desktop.ini, thumbs db etc ?

You cant have ADS's on a FAT/32 device - so you can blame good ol' "backward compatibility".

As a s/w developer I've found if you don't retain 100% backward compatibility then 50% of users will want you hung, drawn & quartered; when you retain 100% backward compatibility then 50% of users will want you shot at dawn and buried alive - and the two groups are not necessarily mutex's.

Basically any adornment you give to a folder will probably create (or add to an existing) desktop ini file.

pjd

 

[DeaconFrost]

Don't use the built-in burner app and you won't be prompted that they are "ready"? I have never used the built-in burning app, and I have never been prompted that the desktop.ini is ready to burn. I've seen it in screenshots posted before, so I know what you are talking about, but I honestly couldn't replicate the behavior.

As for the level of tech knowledge, hiding system files has nothing to do with whether you are an expert or an end user. Since you have no reason to be mucking with those files, there's no reason to show them. Should you need them...you know how to access them.

 

[Bill2]

See this page for info on this.

Desktop.ini File in Windows 7 CD/DVD RW Drive Ready To Be Written to the Disc » My Digital Life

If you scroll down the page, reader called Nemo has suggested an alternative solution.

 

[shortmantuff]

Don't use the built-in burner app and you won't be prompted that they are "ready"? I have never used the built-in burning app, and I have never been prompted that the desktop.ini is ready to burn. I've seen it in screenshots posted before, so I know what you are talking about, but I honestly couldn't replicate the behavior.

As for the level of tech knowledge, hiding system files has nothing to do with whether you are an expert or an end user. Since you have no reason to be mucking with those files, there's no reason to show them. Should you need them...you know how to access them.

I'm with Deacon. Why do you want to the view the hidden files at all times? They're hidden for a reason as they can pose security threats. If you need to view them, is it that hard to click 'Show hidden files'?

 

[Sourcerer]

I'm with Deacon. Why do you want to the view the hidden files at all times? They're hidden for a reason as they can pose security threats. If you need to view them, is it that hard to click 'Show hidden files'?

There are several reasons. Back before I knew about how Windows writes information on thumbnails, I had hidden files really hidden from view. Then came the Thumbs.db file which got updated in a folder whenever I viewed a thumbnail of a photo. Since I had a folder through which many photos have passed, the Thumbs.db had grown to a really huge size of several hundred MBs (which was a whole lot then) and since it was hidden I had no idea where all my disk space had gone. Moreover, when I copied a file called, say DSC_0001.JPG to that folder, and I had previously viewed a file that had the same name, the old thumbnail from Thumbs.db was loaded and displayed in Windows Explorer. Showing hidden files was then sort of a revelation for me, just as preventing Windows from writing a Thumbs.db file at all. This is why I'm always showing hidden files - because I want to know what my disk space is being used for and not just watch how my free space is decreasing inexplicably.

As for showing system files, I had a nasty encounter with a virus once and it got archived in a restore point. I had successfully removed it, but not the copy stored in a restore point. Imagine my surprise when it got back after I had restored my computer about a month later when for some reason (I don't quite remember what it was) I had to revert the system back to a previous state. After removing the virus again, I tried deleting restore points, but the interface that was made for this wouldn't remove it as it was blocked by my antivirus software because of the virus that was in it. Eventually I had to delete restore points manually (and just imagine the pain of having to give myself permissions to manually remove an infected file). On another note, restore points take up a lot of space as well, and are significant when managing a limited disk space - and mind you, with unmanaged Windows any disk space eventually becomes limited.

For these reasons I don't like to be in the dark about anything that goes on on my computer. I know enough to know what I can and what I can't remove or edit. After all, my Windows XP installation was running smoothly (with the exception of the two infections of which one was due to a restore point) for seven years without a single reinstall, which is by far more than what I can say about most installations I've seen.

 

[Sourcerer]

If you scroll down the page, reader called Nemo has suggested an alternative solution.

you can just navigate to “C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Burn\Burn” and click Properties on that folder. Deny folder access to your current user and the “Desktop.ini” will disappear in your CD-Drive’s Root folder.

Won't that prevent me from using the built-in burner?