Win10 File Explorer Strangeness

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ZeeOSix

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I was looking around in File Explorer on my new laptop with Win10 (has all updates).

I downloaded and installed Firefox and Google Chrome so I have more web browser options. I also loaded Adobe Acrobat Reader. The installations put shortcuts for all 3 programs on the desktop, which I could see on the Desktop, and all the shortcuts worked.

In File Explorer when I looked in the Desktop folder under my "User" folder, I did not see the shortcuts listed. I could see other shortcuts that were on the laptop when I first got it from Dell.

I copied the shortcuts off the Desktop from the 3 programs I installed, pasted them into a different location, then deleted the shortcuts from the Desktop. Then cut and pasted those 3 shortcuts back to the desktop.

After I did that, I could now see the shortcuts in the Desktop folder in File Explorer.

I thought it was strange that I had to copy and paste those shortcuts back to the desktop for File Explorer to see them. Any theories why this happened?

Maybe when they were put on the Desktop as part of the program installation File Explorer for some reason wasn't able to see them - ??
 
Originally Posted by Propflux01
Did you restart after install of these items?


Yes, a system restart didn't fix it. I had to go into the "Properties" option of these shortcuts and then the "Change Icon" button and re-pick the icon. That fixed it, so hope it stays that way. I also noticed before doing this, that the .exe file for Firefox and Google also didn't show the icon, but a white box.

In case I wasn't clear in my original post, the shortcut icons were fine for most of the day after initially installing those program, then they just went blank for some unknown reason (white box where the icon should be showing).
 
I would not be surprised if the programs are competing and causing issues. You now have 3 browsers on a new laptop.
And Chrome basically cannot be removed.
The main reason I refuse to use Chrome.
 
IIRC there is a version of that Desktop folder (and all other profile folders common between users) which exists in a ‘public' profile (and at a higher priority than the individual users' version of theses folders), into which installers will put their shortcuts to avoid the hassle of trying to create a separate shortcut for each users' profile (plus assign privs correctly) and save the files into the same locations over all profiles.

I guess the thought is that it's better to only create one shortcut with the proper privs, save it into the parent public profile's Desktop folder, and trust that the OS has correctly configured the accounts and their file folders to allow individual profiles to see things in the public/parent profile's folders without compromising security and such.

IDK, that used to be thing I believe, maybe it's not anymore with W10...just my initial thought and guess on the answer.
 
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They probably got put in the C:\Users\Public\Desktop

Anything in that directory will be put on every user's desktop. The items in C:\Users\Your_Username\Desktop will only show up in your desktop and nobody elses.
 
Originally Posted by The_Nuk,e
IIRC there is a version of that Desktop folder (and all other profile folders common between users) which exists in a ‘public' profile (and at a higher priority than the individual users' version of theses folders), into which installers will put their shortcuts to avoid the hassle of trying to create a separate shortcut for each users' profile (plus assign privs correctly) and save the files into the same locations over all profiles.


Originally Posted by tmorris1
They probably got put in the C:\Users\Public\Desktop

Anything in that directory will be put on every user's desktop. The items in C:\Users\Your_Username\Desktop will only show up in your desktop and nobody elses.


I just looked, and there isn't even a "Desktop" folder in the Users>Public Folder. I think a Desktop folder is only created for each individual User Account. The screen snap-shop below shows all the Folders in Users>Public, and there is no files in any of these folders.

It was probably some kind of unknown 'glitch' that made the shortcut icon turn into a white square. After going into Properties and picking the icon figure again, it seemed to fix the icon's look back to normal.

I just looked at the actual .exe file in File Explorer, and it still shows a white square on the .exe file. I think they use to have the icon, so maybe somehow the .exe icon was lost for some reason and that's why the shortcut icon went white. Fixing the shortcut icon didn't fix the missing icon on the .exe file though.

[Linked Image]


Example showing .exe icon on Adobe.
[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]
 
Originally Posted by Danno
I would not be surprised if the programs are competing and causing issues. You now have 3 browsers on a new laptop.
And Chrome basically cannot be removed.
The main reason I refuse to use Chrome.


Don't know about that. On my Win7 machine I've had all 3 browsers open at the same time testing different things out and never had any "competing" issues. I've opened both Chrome and Firefox on this Win10 laptop and all seems well.

Chrome shows an "Uninstall" feather in Apps & Features. You can always try using Revo Uninstaller or similar to remove Chrome or any other program you want to uninstall beyond their built-in uninstall feature.
 
Originally Posted by ZeeOSix

I just looked, and there isn't even a "Desktop" folder in the Users>Public Folder. I think a Desktop folder is only created for each individual User Account. The screen snap-shop below shows all the Folders in Users>Public, and there is no files in any of these folders.



You have to view hidden files.
[Linked Image]
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Pew
Originally Posted by ZeeOSix

I just looked, and there isn't even a "Desktop" folder in the Users>Public Folder. I think a Desktop folder is only created for each individual User Account. The screen snap-shop below shows all the Folders in Users>Public, and there is no files in any of these folders.


You have to view hidden files.
[Linked Image]



I just looked (with Hidden Files showing), and yes there is a "Public Desktop" folder that is hidden. However, it's completely empty.

My Desktop icons only show up in my Users>'My Name'>Desktop folder.

The only issue I see now is that the 'firefox.exe' and the 'chrome.exe' executable files in File Explorer don't show their icons ... just a white square. Their icons are now showing on the desktop shortcuts (after going into 'Properties' explained earlier), and their icons are on the tool bar at the bottom of the screen, and everywhere else as far as I can tell (ie 'Start" menu, Apps & Features, etc).

I searched Google and tried all the help hints I could find (basically deleting all the 'iconcache.db' type files), but the 'firefox.exe" and 'google.exe" files are still showing just a white square for their icon in File Explorer.

Guess as long as everything still works it's not worth digging into any further.
 
By the way ... the shortcut "Properties>Change Icon" it shows that all the listed icons associated with Firefox come from the 'firefox.exe" file. Same deal with the Google Chrome shortcut icon (or any other shortcut, etc).

So if I can see these icons associated with the .exe files, why doesn't the actual .exe file in File Explorer not show the icon? It should, as I looked at the Firefox and Google Chrome .exe files on my Win7 machine and they show their respective icons. Same with any program .exe file ... it should be showing an icon associated with the executable file ... not a blank white square.

I think for some reason when the .exe file went white blank is when I lost the icons on the Desktop shortcuts, but going into 'Properties>Change Icon' only fixed the shortcuts. There is no setting for 'Change Icon" for the actual .exe file that I can find.

[Linked Image]


Blank white square icon for the .exe executable file, instead of the Firefox icon that is buried inside the .exe file.
[Linked Image]
 
So I discovered if I rename the 'chrome.exe' file to something like 'chrome-1.exe' then the icon appears on the file. Then if I put the name back to 'chrome.exe' the file icon goes back to a white square.

Also, if I make a copy of 'chrome.exe' and paste it anywhere else the icon appears on the file.

The icon on the 'firefox.exe' file some how magically came back by itself.

I flushed all the 'iconcache *.db' files out of the Explorer folder per these instructions. Didn't seem to help, but maybe that brought back the 'firefox.exe' file icon ... not really sure, was doing too many things to know for sure.

Go to the section: Fix Icons and Thumbnails from Run or Command Prompt
https://www.groovypost.com/howto/fix-broken-missing-icons-thumbnails-windows-10/

I love these weird little Windows issues ... NOT really.
grin2.gif
 
When you cut and pasted them from the desktop it probably removed them from the "Public Desktop" folder and when you pasted them back it put them into your "User Desktop" folder. The public desktop items will display on all user's desktops.
 
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