How do I hide the desktop.ini files on my desktop in Vista?

By Cyber Akuma
in Microsoft (Windows)

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Cyber Akuma

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I mess with my system files a lot, so I chose to enable Hidden and System files.

On older versions of Windows this was never a problem, however, on Vista it makes two desktop.ini files appear on my desktop.

These files are supposed to be invisible on the desktop itself even if I enabled these options, they are only supposed to appear when I open the desktop folder itself, not appear on the actual desktop.

Is there any way I can hide these files without hiding all system/hidden files as well? Older versions of Windows did exactly this.

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Cyber Akuma

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My copy of Windows XP showed desktop.ini and thumbs.db files when I enabled that option. In XP there were two different options for showing hidden files, are you sure you aren't disremembering? :)

Oh, they still show up in folders, I don't mind that.

I meant they are showing up on my actual desktop, which they shoulden't be.

Grand Master

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The purpose of those files is to store your view settings for that particular folder, but they are largely irrelevant since the desktop isn't displayed as a folder unless you actually browse to it in explorer. Also I'm guessing the reason you have two is that one is from the All Users desktop, and other is from your own personal desktop.

As others have said, you can safely delete these files from the desktop without affecting anything important.

Grand Master

Brandon Live Veteran

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Newer versions show them, but you can just as well delete them. They don't really have a function.

They DO have a function. Don't delete them. If you don't want to see them, don't turn off the "hide protected operating system files" option. You shouldn't be turning that off anyway.

The purpose of those files is to store your view settings for that particular folder, but they are largely irrelevant since the desktop isn't displayed as a folder unless you actually browse to it in explorer. Also I'm guessing the reason you have two is that one is from the All Users desktop, and other is from your own personal desktop.

As others have said, you can safely delete these files from the desktop without affecting anything important.

That is NOT their function, desktop.ini has nothing to do with view state persistence. It is used for special folder customization, and includes localized display strings for folder names, icons, and other information internal to the OS. Just leave them alone.

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