Resolved Duplicate icons

I am having a problem with duplicate icons popping up on my desktop on reboot. It happened after we were working on copying a ton of images to a CD and the system ran out of memory. Seems like this happened several months ago (wasn't doing the images then) and was able to get a fix, but what now. Am running Windows XP version 2002 SP3 on a Dell system I bought 4 yrs ago. Wonder if it's a keyboard problem.

My HKEY_CURRENT_USER is set to %USERPROFILE%\Desktop and the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE is set to %PUBLIC%\Desktop.

Bob

 

Hi retiree,

See if this subtle change for ;ocal machine desktop makes a difference:

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/duplicatedesktop.htm

Reboot may be required.

 

Don't forget to back the registry.

 

Well, I did that and they still appear even after a cold boot. I checked the properties of one of the photos and it points to my wife's User Profile (documents & settings) even though I'm the one signed on.

Any other solutions?

Bob

 

Is this duplication happening for all shortcuts placed on your desktop or just specific to pictures you were working with? Do all the icons work, both the original and the dupe? What happens when you delete one? Rename one?

Have you tried creating a new user profile account for yourself and seeing if the problem occurs in the new account?
How to create and configure user accounts in Windows XP
How to copy data from a corrupted user profile to a new profile in Windows XP

If you do a file and folder search, how many Desktop folders do you come up with and are they located where they should be?

 

Duplicates are for the images only that my wife was sending to the desktop, nothing else. She was trying to send the folder with the images to the desktop.

Another thing is I got an unusual error and a blue screen that said something about a keyboard error (plus a lot of other stuff I can't remember), so was wondering if I might have a bad keyboard. I just rebooted and they kept coming back.

I deleted the folder where the images were but they still show as being in that folder when I click on the properties of the image.

We've got 5 Desktop Folders all in the Documents & Settings Folder - 1 each for me and my wife, one for the Administrator, 1 for Default User, & 1 for All Users. There's also 4 Google Desktop Folders 1 for me, 1 for my wife, 1 as the Administrator, and 1 as Default User. And, my wife and I both have an Unused Desktop Folder. Is the problem the 5th Desktop folder for "All Users "?

I'll try and copy my profile to a new account and see what happens. It's little things like this that make casual computer uses go bezerk.

Bob

 

Which of those desktop folders are the image short cuts listed?
If you want them to appear only when your wife is logged in with her account they should be in her desktop folder. If they also appear in one of the other desktop folders, delete them from those folders.

 

They are in my profile when I log it and we don't want them in mine or my wife's.

I've decided against creating a new profile since there's a possibility my Outlook Express may not be transferred. Having had a problem with losing it a few years ago, the process of getting it restored took 2 years off my life.

Interestingly, this morning when I booted up the icons did not load. So, guess the problem resolved itself. Yet one more reason to move to a MAC which I plan to do this year.

 

Hello Retiree,

I'm glad to see your problem has disappeared. Can you please mark this as resolved?

See:
If you receive an answer/solution to your question/problem, don't forget to mark your 'thread' as 'Solved'.
For more information read the User Guide:
http://www.windowsbbs.com/faq.php?fa..._faq#faq_intro

Your most welcome and thanks for the update.