Anonymous folder icon

[J. P. Gilliver]

Sometimes, on assorted W98 PCs, I've seen an icon on the desktop - looks
like the normal yellow folder icon - with no label. Any idea what it is? (I
have a feeling it sometimes can't be deleted, too.)

--
J. P. Gilliver | Tel. +44 1634 203298

 

[Gary S. Terhune]

You mean you haven't actually tried to delete them?

My guess is that it's a fouled up NameSpace item. Run REGEDIT and go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace

Check each key below that. See if the Data for one is "" (nothing). Delete
that key (name is a long HEX number.)

I'm not going to theorize on what caused it, probably some third-party POS
like Norton. But since you've seen it often, on various different PCs, maybe
you can think of what they have or had in common.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com


"J. P. Gilliver" <john.gilliver@baesystems.com> wrote in message
news:4833042e$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...
> Sometimes, on assorted W98 PCs, I've seen an icon on the desktop - looks
> like the normal yellow folder icon - with no label. Any idea what it is?
> (I have a feeling it sometimes can't be deleted, too.)
>
> --
> J. P. Gilliver | Tel. +44 1634 203298
>
>

 

[J. P. Gilliver]

Gary S. Terhune wrote:
> You mean you haven't actually tried to delete them?

Sometimes not, in case they are something vital. Sometimes I have, and
sometimes then got the "this cannot be put into the recycle bin, only
deleted for good" message. (I think I've said yes and sometimes it has then
gone.)
>
> My guess is that it's a fouled up NameSpace item. Run REGEDIT and go
> to:
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace
>
> Check each key below that. See if the Data for one is "" (nothing).
> Delete that key (name is a long HEX number.)

Thanks for that - noted for reference.
>
> I'm not going to theorize on what caused it, probably some
> third-party POS like Norton. But since you've seen it often, on
> various different PCs, maybe you can think of what they have or had
> in common.
[]
As you can probably tell from the vagueness of my first paragraph above,
sadly not. It's _fairly_ rare. Certainly not Norton - I don't think I've run
anything Norton since before '9x.
--
J. P. Gilliver

 

[Gary S. Terhune]

Oh, so this is mostly YOUR builds that you see this on? A review of your
applications list is in order. Even printers, in some cases. And then a
long, long session on Google or what have you. Put the name of the
application, then "blank desktop folder" (without the quotes!) BTW, it's
probably something you've had for a long time, since you've been seeing it
so much. If you'll Google, you'll notice the long list of hits.

Hmm... Thing to do is find out that long HEX name of the blank NameSpace
item. A search on that may bring good results.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"J. P. Gilliver" <john.gilliver@baesystems.com> wrote in message
news:4835a322$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...
> Gary S. Terhune wrote:
>> You mean you haven't actually tried to delete them?
>
> Sometimes not, in case they are something vital. Sometimes I have, and
> sometimes then got the "this cannot be put into the recycle bin, only
> deleted for good" message. (I think I've said yes and sometimes it has
> then gone.)
>>
>> My guess is that it's a fouled up NameSpace item. Run REGEDIT and go
>> to:
>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace
>>
>> Check each key below that. See if the Data for one is "" (nothing).
>> Delete that key (name is a long HEX number.)
>
> Thanks for that - noted for reference.
>>
>> I'm not going to theorize on what caused it, probably some
>> third-party POS like Norton. But since you've seen it often, on
>> various different PCs, maybe you can think of what they have or had
>> in common.
> []
> As you can probably tell from the vagueness of my first paragraph above,
> sadly not. It's _fairly_ rare. Certainly not Norton - I don't think I've
> run anything Norton since before '9x.
> --
> J. P. Gilliver
>

 

[PCR]

J. P. Gilliver wrote:
| Sometimes, on assorted W98 PCs, I've seen an icon on the desktop -
| looks like the normal yellow folder icon - with no label. Any idea
| what it is? (I have a feeling it sometimes can't be deleted, too.)

In addition to the Desktop namespace item Terhune has covered, here are
other possibilities I have collected here at this NG...

(1) A folder named "C:\Program" would do something like that. "C:\File"
is also forbidden. (Naturally, "C:\Program Files" is fine.)

I did test it myself. A folder named "C:\Program" opens a cute little
folder in the upper left of the Desktop, named "Program", at boot. When
you try to delete it in Explorer, you get a second warning after the
confirm of delete, saying something like "system settings (files?) may
be affected".

(2) http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kben-us228502
Windows Explorer Starts When You Start Your Computer

"START button, Run, RegEdit", & navigate to this key...

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

....& delete "DeskTopProcess" this way...
(a) Click the plus signs beginning with "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" & ending at
"CurrentVersion".
(b) Click "Explorer" in the left pane (not it's plus sign).
(c) R-Clk "DeskTopProcess" in the right pane (if there) & delete it.
(d) Then close the registry editor and reboot. (Careful in the Registry,
though.)

(That one glee posted quite a lot in circumstances like this.)

(3) If those aren't it, then examine...

"START button, Run, MSInfo32, Software Environment, Startup Programs"

....for an anomaly. If you don't see it, then use the Edit menu to select
all & copy, & post it. (Edit the output & put spaces between the lines
before posting.)

(4) One poster had a mention of "Win.ini" in MSInfo32. It turned out...

"START, Run, MSConfig, Win.ini tab, [Windows] section"

.....had "run= ." (That's a period). This normally reads "run=", (and
"load=" is also normal).

| --
| J. P. Gilliver | Tel. +44 1634 203298

--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
Should things get worse after this,
PCR
pcrrcp@netzero.net