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OT: Desktop Icons

I'm getting too many icons on my desktop.

Many are just subsets of a main topic.

I vaguely remember that there was a way to assign an icon to a directory that contains the subset icons... but can't remember how it was done.

Pointers? ...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson | mens | | Analog Innovations | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | STV, Queen Creek, AZ 85142 Skype: skypeanalog | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at

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| 1962 |

Thinking outside the box... producing elegant solutions.

"It is not in doing what you like, but in liking what you do that is the secret of happiness." -James Barrie

Reply to
Jim Thompson
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There are several ways. If they are actual files they do not belong on the desktop so learn how to use Windows Explorer and move them to a directory o n the HD and create shortcuts to them.

If they are already shortcuts, simply right click the desktop and in the me nu will be "New" and under that will be "Folder". Choose that and name it a ppropriately and then once established, you'll see it right away, just drag all related icons in there.

I have a bunch of them with pictures and whatnot in them, usually I name th em like "amp" for the amp I have for sale, or "tiller" for the rototiller I have for sale. But then sometimes there are just a bunch of miscellaneous files and sometimes I just name it the date it was created. Sometimes I am lazy and just let it be called "Newfolder3" or whatever Windows names it.

You really should not keep the actual files on the desktop if you can help it. If you lose the OS you might not be able to recover them. Ideally, usin g Windows Explorere you create a new directory in root C:\ and just use sho

0rtcuts to that. just right click each file and from the menu use "Desktop Create Shortcut. Then you drag them into the appropriate folders on the des ktop. Then if the OS crashes you will have full access to those files witho ut cracking the administrator password and all that bullshit. What's more i t makes them easier to copy to a backup or another drive.
Reply to
jurb6006

Then you drag THE SHORTCUTS, not the files

Reply to
jurb6006

Windows?

Create a folder anywhere on disk and create a desktop icon for it. You can right-click on the desktop and select new/folder if you want to create a folder inside the "desktop" folder.

Then drag/drop other incons onto that one. Or files, or anything.

Double click on the main one to see the ones inside.

You can right-click an icon and select properties/change icon, and select from one of the ugly set of standard Windows icon graphics.

You can also drag a web link from a browser onto the desktop, or into a folder.

--

John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 
picosecond timing   precision measurement  

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com 
http://www.highlandtechnology.com
Reply to
John Larkin

Got it! Thanks! ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| STV, Queen Creek, AZ 85142    Skype: skypeanalog |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 

     Thinking outside the box... producing elegant solutions. 

"It is not in doing what you like, but in liking what you do that 
is the secret of happiness."  -James Barrie
Reply to
Jim Thompson

Den torsdag den 18. maj 2017 kl. 21.26.06 UTC+2 skrev Jim Thompson:

create directory on desktop, drag shortcuts into that directory?

Reply to
Lasse Langwadt Christensen

No pointers, folders! Right click the desktop, select New, then Folder, type a name. Drag and drop the desktop icons into it.

--

Rick C
Reply to
rickman

I don't see a problem: Just buy a bigger monitor or add a 2nd monitor.

-- Jeff Liebermann snipped-for-privacy@cruzio.com

150 Felker St #D
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Santa Cruz CA 95060
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Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

If I recall correctly, you're using Windoze 7.

Instructions for modifying the icon pictures:

How to make your own icons from picture files:

Windoze 7 icon packages and collections:

The main advantage to creating custom icons is that nobody but you will be able to operate your computah because the icons will all be unfamiliar.

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558
Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Aigggghhhh!

Why have folders, when all of your files can be there in plain sight?

--

John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 
picosecond timing   precision measurement  

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com 
http://www.highlandtechnology.com
Reply to
John Larkin

There's an easy way to make custom icons. Open a graphic file in Irfanview, play with it, and save-as an icon file, .ICO.

Then on the desktop, right-click a thing, properties, customize, change icon, browse, open the new icon file.

Irfanview is fantastic.

--

John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 
picosecond timing   precision measurement  

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com 
http://www.highlandtechnology.com
Reply to
John Larkin

Why would I want all my files staring at me in plain sight? As long as I can find them when needed, I don't need all of them on the desktop.

There's a method to my madness. Most of the documents, programs, and shortcuts are related to recent work in progress or topics of interest. When I run out of space, I begin consolidating them into folders arranged by project. When I have too many projects and fill up the desktop, I clean up the mess and start over with roughly half the desktop filled with icons. If I can't find something, I search using Everything: Mine is not the best organizational scheme, but it works for me. Incidentally, there are 405 possible icons (27x15) on my desktop.

I prefer having multiple workspaces as found on various Linux desktops. Instead of 400 icons on my desktop, I can multiply that by the number of workspaces.

[Q] "If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?" (Al Einstein) [A] Windoze 10.

My office in 2013: It's a little better today... well... maybe not.

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558
Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

A lot of people like DOS 1.0, apparently. The only things on my desktop are applications that I use regularly. I just counted them - seventeen on this computer.

Reply to
krw

I've been using Irfanview for a very long time, but didn't know that I could use it to create icons. I use it mostly for photo editing, cleanup, resizing, and conversion. Thanks.

I just tried it. Irfanview does not seem to resize the image file much when it's saved as a icon. I started with a 4MB JPG and ended up with a 2MB ICO file. There are various compression levels available, but it appears that I have to manually reduce the original size either before or after creating an icon.

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558
Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

You are so funny. Anything you like is fantastic. Anything you don't like is junk. No one else matters. There is no middle ground.

Who does that remind you of? Does JL use Twitter?

--

Rick C
Reply to
rickman

Which JL?

-- Jeff Liebermann snipped-for-privacy@cruzio.com

150 Felker St #D
formatting link
Santa Cruz CA 95060
formatting link
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

DOS 1.0 didn't have icons, desktop, windows, mouse, hard disk drive, and all the things that we're not addicted to using. To refresh your memory, this is what early MSDOS and PCDOS looked like:

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558
Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Not this one!

A relative persuaded me to sign up on Facebook. It didn't take me long to bail out of that. There are things a guy just doesn't need to know.

--

John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 

lunatic fringe electronics
Reply to
John Larkin

I'm on both Twitter and Facebook. Various people and organizations that I deal with use Twitter for notifications, which could be everything from events to traffic jams.

I'm also on Facebook, mostly to keep track of friends, gossip, rumors, and to deal with neighborhood issues. For example: When it was raining last few months, it was a good way to keep track of road closures. Postings by residents was far more accurate and timely than the official web sites and Google traffic maps.

We also had a grass roots movement to halt construction of a local cell site: I sorta inflitrated the group and kept an eye on what they were doing. Since everything was coordinated on the Facebook page, that was fairly easy.

I look at it every few weeks, skim what looks interestings, post some things (usually odd photos and weather related items), and then disappear for a few more weeks. Lots of interesting things, but without decent filtering, it's just too much to read.

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558
Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

It also didn't have Internet, video on demand or viruses... what's your point?

--

Rick C
Reply to
rickman

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