Resolved Certain new desktop icons disappear at start-up

Hi everyone ~

I bought a refurbished Compaq recently, Windows XP with sp3, 512 MB RAM. I like it for the most part, but in the last week or so it's learned a new trick: I keep a lot of icons on my desktop and I use almost all of them frequently. The icons are for my browsers, a number of folders with my art, music and writing, security essentials, software for art, music and writing (OpenOffice, not MS Office). Over the past week I added five icons and they just aren't there every time I restart the computer. The only thing that happened last week at about the same time was that I downloaded and installed Comodo's (free) System Cleaner for getting the orphans out of the Registry and doing a privacy clean up. Is there a connection here? I use Microsoft's Security Essentials suite; and the free / opensource FileShredder utility to clean up the free space on my hard drive. Also, I have Adobe PhotoShop 7, which is a system hog to the extent that I use the FileShredder to clean the disk so PS has "scratch-disk" space.

Thanks!

 

Never used Comodo's registry cleanup. Did it make a restore point for you? If so, restore it and see what happens. Left over stuff in the registry is fine. Best to leave them alone.

 

Thanks, MrBill, but this didn't work - creating a restore point. And I back up my computer with Erunt in case I do messes something up. (I haven't yet) (sorry bout cussing in the original post)
I would disagree about getting rid of the orphan files in the Registry, they slow a small computer like mine down considerably simply because I use Adobe PS a lot (system hog) and Audacity Music Editor (also something of a hog). If I clean the Reg every other day or so, I get what optimum speed this machine has; when it's been cleaned a huge file (900 MB) close-out in PS might take fifteen minutes, but when I leave it be it can take better than an hour. I used to have PC Tools Registry Mechanic which did the same thing but it these days it tends to target competing security software (CyberScrub, Microsoft Security Essentials, Advanced Process Termination (DiamondCS of Australia) and make them either disappear or unusable.

I'm hoping that there is a different kind of fix, kind of like what happened when I got my first computer. The task bar kept going from along the bottom of the screen to the right side. My daughter got it back to where it belonged and then showed me, "Right click the Taskbar with the mouse and check 'Lock the Taskbar.' "

 

3rd party software that will remember them and restore them:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=svaing+desktop+shortcuts&aq=f&aqi=g-sx1&aql=&oq=

Disable the 30 day desktop cleanup:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320154

Delete shelliconcache:
http://smallvoid.com/article/windows-icon-cache.html

Delete the ones you have made prior to any registry cleaning you may have done and recreate the shortcuts fresh.

 

I will let the others on here weigh in on doing stuff in the registry. I am on other message boards and they will all tell you, to stay out of the Registry. Hurts nothing. But it is your computer, so you do what you want to do.

 

Never mind....I live in a glass house and will not throw stones at messing with the registry.

 

The icons may be saved by restarting the computer right after you add the icons and before cleaning the registry.

* Restart the computer, add your new icons, then restart the computer again.

Be sure to restart the correct way by clicking the Start button then choosing Turn Off Computer then choosing Restart.

 

Windows XP provides a disk cleanup utility that will safely delete the temp files, etc. and free up space on the hard drive. To use disk cleanup,

* Click the Start button then choose All Programs, then choose Accessories, then System Tools, then Disk Cleanup.

 

Endorsing Ann and MrBill's advice...

Editing the registry is sometimes a necessity when things go haywire but I would never recommend cleaning it.

 

Hello everyone -
@RickE ~ I use the disk cleanup once in a blue, it takes to long for the amount of time I normally have available on my computer each day. Tried your reboot suggestion but it didn't work; thanks anyway though.
@wildfire ~ cleaning the Registry with an app made to do just that normally causes no harm, unless it's like the one marketed by PC Tools (Registry Mechanic) that I mentioned in my last post. I did it for years until it quietly slipped in my trusty CyberScrub Privacy Suite and made it unusable back in 2009. I contacted CyberScrub and they'd had similar complaints about other commercial products.
@goddez1 ~ Thanks for the links and now I have what is probably a silly question. By following your first link to its ultimate conclusion, I downloaded an executable binary (.exe) and have it sitting in my "Download Box," a folder that all of my downlaods go into. So now that I have it, what do I do with it? Move it to Windows>system32? Just run it (Start>Run>etc)? The page from which I got it didn't say.

But thanks to all!

 

My findings from many a friend and colleagues computers over the years would dispute that comment, but as MrBill said, it's your computer. I can only offer advice I can't force you to take it.

 

Hello RoyWaidler,

More than likely it is an INSTALLER.exe but I need the name of the program or the link from which you got it to be able to offer any advice on what to do with it. Care to share it?

 

@goddez1: as per your request, the name of the file is icon_restore.exe

Two things here tho! First is I suppose that I could just Start>Run it but I thought you might know offhand. The second thing is, we had a power failure where I live this morning and everything was dead in the area for about seven minutes. When the power came back on I rebooted; there were none of the problems you sometimes get with an unexpected shut-down (black screen, various messages about how to boot), it just booted and I logged on normally. Lo and behold: all of the icons were in their places (with bright shiny faces etc). I did a Restart and they were still there. I do not, however, consider this resolved, because a) it could happen again and b) I'd like your input on that icon_restorer.exe file. Again, thanks for your time, I know that this is all voluntary on everyone's part.

 

Resolved! Thanks

It's a brand new day and this morning I figured what they hey and did the Start>Run on icon_restore.exe. I got a meesage saying that it would simply install it on my computer and that I should right-click My Computer and one of the options it would show was "Save Desktop Icon Layout," and it did. There is a second option, "Restore Desktop Icon Layout," which is just as cool. One more time, thanks to everyone for weighing in on this.

 

Brave were we... Just kidding.
Glad it worked out for you and seems to have fixed it.