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Does desktop clutter affect performance?

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by psaulm119, 2010/10/27.

  1. 2010/10/27
    psaulm119 Lifetime Subscription

    psaulm119 Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Early on I was told to keep the desktop as clear as possible from icons and files, to speed up system performance, but then read that there was no affect. Currently, wifey has well over 100 files and folders on her desktop. The computer (several years old) has gotten much slower in the past year or two. I'm wondering if the two are related. Are they?

    Will any icon/file slow the system down? How about just large files?

    I'm not talking about a slow startup, just general lagging throughout the day.
     
    psaulm119,
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  2. 2010/10/27
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Hi Paul. If you have a lot of files on the desktop then that may lead to a slower startup time since the desktop will have more files on it that Windows has to load.

    If you just have a lot of files and icons stored on the harddrive then no that shouldn't impact the performance of a computer. If the files are fragmented then that can degrade system performance. So if you don't want to start deleting files that you don't want anymore just make sure that you defragment your entire harddrive about once a month which will improve system performance.
     
    Evan Omo,
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  4. 2010/10/27
    psaulm119 Lifetime Subscription

    psaulm119 Geek Member Thread Starter

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    OK, it can cause a slower startup--but how about general performance throughout the day?
     
    psaulm119,
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  5. 2010/10/27
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    You probably won't notice any difference in performance as you use the computer throughout the day with a lot of desktop icons on the desktop.
     
    Evan Omo,
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  6. 2010/10/28
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

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    A Desktop cluttered with icons won't affect computer performance, but it WILL affect the performance of the user!

    I work on many clinets' computers and I really hate it when they have a Desktop full of icons. It makes it difficult to locate what I am looking for.

    I try to educate them into this type of Desktop management:

    It's OK to have extra stuff on the Desktop, but ONLY stuff you are currently working on. Much like a real desktop that has a pile of paperwork. But when the stuff is completed, put it in a filing cabinet. The desktop will soon enough have a new pile of bills, letters, memos, etc.

    Bottom line though, the user usually knows exactly where everything is on his/her Desktop.
     
    Last edited: 2010/10/28
    TonyT,
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  7. 2010/10/28
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    The stand alone computer system/small LAN without domain may not suffer much performance degradation, but once you are connected to a domain & start using roaming profiles, you are looking at massive slowdowns both while starting & shutting computer if you have heaps of files on your desktop.

    I also try to educate my clients about a clean desktop like Tony, but alas only a few ever listen to it. Every **** thing is saved on desktop & it takes ages to find it. In domain the situation is worse as everything has to be synchronised with server & it takes about 20-30 minutes [its not a typo] for some of my clients to connect !

    Talk about coffee break .
     
    rsinfo,
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  8. 2010/10/28
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    I've always had the impression that each icon takes a real small amount of ram too display on the desktop...You could easily experiment by dragging as many ison as possible to one folder to see if it makes any difference.
     
    Steve R Jones,
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  9. 2010/10/28
    psaulm119 Lifetime Subscription

    psaulm119 Geek Member Thread Starter

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    OK I think I have the idea here. Wifey keeps files of photos that are not yet transferred to the Pictures folder in My Documents, on the desktop, so she knows that they haven't been transferred and renamed/edited yet. I'll see if we can move them to one folder. At any rate, thanks for clarifying this.
     
    psaulm119,
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  10. 2010/10/28
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

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    That's what I was feeleing when I posted but failed to express!
    Where's that malware-removal program I just downloaded...?

    And it's worse if giving assistance over the phone:
    "OK..you have a My Docs icon on the Desktop? "
    "Hmm..lemme see..." (45 seconds later) "I don't see one. "
    "OK, do this: rt click Desktop > Properties > Desktop tab > Customize button > put checkmark next to My Documents. "
    "It's already checked! "
    "Ok...click Start > Shutdown > bring comp to my house! "
     
    TonyT,
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  11. 2010/10/29
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    I understand your pain Tony.

    For some of the systems I have taken the extreme step of locking the desktop all together so that no one can mess with it.
     
    rsinfo,
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