Speaking of Libraries ....

With all the discussion recently about Libraries, I have a question.
When I got my W7 PC (Dell) and I went through the 1st start up, I ended
up with a folder (user) under c:\users\ , let's call it, myuser. On my
desktop also appeared a 'folder' called myuser. It has a strange icon
that looks like a bust view of a person coming out of the folder. If
you double click on it, it opens with stuff that W7 put in, like My
Pictures, My Backup Files, etc., plus stuff I've put in. It even has
Desktop, which, if you double click, opens the actual desktop folder for
this user. However, if you look at it from c:\users\myuser, it has a
plain folder icon. Double clicking produces the same results as from
the folder icon on the desktop. If you right click on the
c:\users\myuser, you can select properties and see the folder properties
plus other options. However, if you right click on the desktop icon,
there is no 'properties' to click on; only a few choices like Create
Shortcut and Delete which looks real dangerous. Can someone explain this.
Thanks.

On Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:12:03 -0400, Art Todesco <>
wrote:

>With all the discussion recently about Libraries, I have a question.

Hmm, as it turns out, your "question" has nothing to do with
Libraries.

>When I got my W7 PC (Dell) and I went through the 1st start up, I ended
>up with a folder (user) under c:\users\ , let's call it, myuser. On my
>desktop also appeared a 'folder' called myuser. It has a strange icon
>that looks like a bust view of a person coming out of the folder. If
>you double click on it, it opens with stuff that W7 put in, like My
>Pictures, My Backup Files, etc., plus stuff I've put in. It even has
>Desktop, which, if you double click, opens the actual desktop folder for
>this user. However, if you look at it from c:\users\myuser, it has a
>plain folder icon. Double clicking produces the same results as from
>the folder icon on the desktop. If you right click on the
>c:\users\myuser, you can select properties and see the folder properties
>plus other options. However, if you right click on the desktop icon,
>there is no 'properties' to click on; only a few choices like Create
>Shortcut and Delete which looks real dangerous. Can someone explain this.

What was your question?

--

Char Jackson

On 10/25/2011 1:12 PM, Art Todesco wrote:
> With all the discussion recently about Libraries, I have a question.
> When I got my W7 PC (Dell) and I went through the 1st start up, I ended
> up with a folder (user) under c:\users\ , let's call it, myuser. On my
> desktop also appeared a 'folder' called myuser. It has a strange icon
> that looks like a bust view of a person coming out of the folder. If
> you double click on it, it opens with stuff that W7 put in, like My
> Pictures, My Backup Files, etc., plus stuff I've put in. It even has
> Desktop, which, if you double click, opens the actual desktop folder for
> this user. However, if you look at it from c:\users\myuser, it has a
> plain folder icon. Double clicking produces the same results as from
> the folder icon on the desktop. If you right click on the
> c:\users\myuser, you can select properties and see the folder properties
> plus other options. However, if you right click on the desktop icon,
> there is no 'properties' to click on; only a few choices like Create
> Shortcut and Delete which looks real dangerous. Can someone explain this.
> Thanks.

So what specifically are you worried about? What you've described is
normal behavior for Windows 7. That is the User's Files icon which
opens Windows Explorer on C:\Users\[user account]. Though it's
different from a icon you'd get from a shortcut because this is a system
setting. If you do want to change the icon or remove it from your
desktop do this:

1. Right click any blank area of your desktop and choose Personalize in
the drop-down menu.

2. In the next window the text on the left side are links, so click on
the line that says Change Desktop Icons.

In the next window you can add/remove icons from your desktop, or change
their appearance,


--

Roy Smith
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
Thunderbird 7.0.1
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 8:50:56 AM

On 10/26/2011 9:51 AM, Roy Smith wrote:
> On 10/25/2011 1:12 PM, Art Todesco wrote:
>> With all the discussion recently about Libraries, I have a question.
>> When I got my W7 PC (Dell) and I went through the 1st start up, I ended
>> up with a folder (user) under c:\users\ , let's call it, myuser. On my
>> desktop also appeared a 'folder' called myuser. It has a strange icon
>> that looks like a bust view of a person coming out of the folder. If
>> you double click on it, it opens with stuff that W7 put in, like My
>> Pictures, My Backup Files, etc., plus stuff I've put in. It even has
>> Desktop, which, if you double click, opens the actual desktop folder for
>> this user. However, if you look at it from c:\users\myuser, it has a
>> plain folder icon. Double clicking produces the same results as from
>> the folder icon on the desktop. If you right click on the
>> c:\users\myuser, you can select properties and see the folder properties
>> plus other options. However, if you right click on the desktop icon,
>> there is no 'properties' to click on; only a few choices like Create
>> Shortcut and Delete which looks real dangerous. Can someone explain this.
>> Thanks.
>
> So what specifically are you worried about? What you've described is
> normal behavior for Windows 7. That is the User's Files icon which
> opens Windows Explorer on C:\Users\[user account]. Though it's
> different from a icon you'd get from a shortcut because this is a system
> setting. If you do want to change the icon or remove it from your
> desktop do this:
>
> 1. Right click any blank area of your desktop and choose Personalize in
> the drop-down menu.
>
> 2. In the next window the text on the left side are links, so click on
> the line that says Change Desktop Icons.
>
> In the next window you can add/remove icons from your desktop, or change
> their appearance,
>
>
I'm really not worried about anything here, however, on the desktop icon
for [user account], you can't just right click and go to properties. It
doesn't id itself as a shortcut, like you say. I can, however, go the
the folder icon at c:\users\[user account], right click on it and select
properties, and it shows that it is a folder. For any other shortcut
icon, right click under properties, it will say shortcut. It would be
nice if Windows was consistent. But, it's not a big deal ... mostly
just curiosity. My original question was about the desktop folder [user
name], if it has something to do with Libraries ... from the replies, not.

On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 08:51:06 -0500, Roy Smith wrote:

> On 10/25/2011 1:12 PM, Art Todesco wrote:
>> With all the discussion recently about Libraries, I have a question.
>> When I got my W7 PC (Dell) and I went through the 1st start up, I ended
>> up with a folder (user) under c:\users\ , let's call it, myuser. On my
>> desktop also appeared a 'folder' called myuser. It has a strange icon
>> that looks like a bust view of a person coming out of the folder. If
>> you double click on it, it opens with stuff that W7 put in, like My
>> Pictures, My Backup Files, etc., plus stuff I've put in. It even has
>> Desktop, which, if you double click, opens the actual desktop folder for
>> this user. However, if you look at it from c:\users\myuser, it has a
>> plain folder icon. Double clicking produces the same results as from
>> the folder icon on the desktop. If you right click on the
>> c:\users\myuser, you can select properties and see the folder properties
>> plus other options. However, if you right click on the desktop icon,
>> there is no 'properties' to click on; only a few choices like Create
>> Shortcut and Delete which looks real dangerous. Can someone explain this.
>> Thanks.
>
> So what specifically are you worried about? What you've described is
> normal behavior for Windows 7. That is the User's Files icon which
> opens Windows Explorer on C:\Users\[user account]. Though it's
> different from a icon you'd get from a shortcut because this is a system
> setting. If you do want to change the icon or remove it from your
> desktop do this:
>
> 1. Right click any blank area of your desktop and choose Personalize in
> the drop-down menu.
>
> 2. In the next window the text on the left side are links, so click on
> the line that says Change Desktop Icons.
>
> In the next window you can add/remove icons from your desktop, or change
> their appearance,

Thanks - this is one thing that escaped my notice.

I mean the whole desktop icons panel, not just the user icon.

It's humbling :-)

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:51:04 -0700, "Gene E. Bloch"
<not-> wrote:

>On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 08:51:06 -0500, Roy Smith wrote:
>
>> On 10/25/2011 1:12 PM, Art Todesco wrote:
>>> With all the discussion recently about Libraries, I have a question.
>>> When I got my W7 PC (Dell) and I went through the 1st start up, I ended
>>> up with a folder (user) under c:\users\ , let's call it, myuser. On my
>>> desktop also appeared a 'folder' called myuser. It has a strange icon
>>> that looks like a bust view of a person coming out of the folder. If
>>> you double click on it, it opens with stuff that W7 put in, like My
>>> Pictures, My Backup Files, etc., plus stuff I've put in. It even has
>>> Desktop, which, if you double click, opens the actual desktop folder for
>>> this user. However, if you look at it from c:\users\myuser, it has a
>>> plain folder icon. Double clicking produces the same results as from
>>> the folder icon on the desktop. If you right click on the
>>> c:\users\myuser, you can select properties and see the folder properties
>>> plus other options. However, if you right click on the desktop icon,
>>> there is no 'properties' to click on; only a few choices like Create
>>> Shortcut and Delete which looks real dangerous. Can someone explain this.
>>> Thanks.
>>
>> So what specifically are you worried about? What you've described is
>> normal behavior for Windows 7. That is the User's Files icon which
>> opens Windows Explorer on C:\Users\[user account]. Though it's
>> different from a icon you'd get from a shortcut because this is a system
>> setting. If you do want to change the icon or remove it from your
>> desktop do this:
>>
>> 1. Right click any blank area of your desktop and choose Personalize in
>> the drop-down menu.
>>
>> 2. In the next window the text on the left side are links, so click on
>> the line that says Change Desktop Icons.
>>
>> In the next window you can add/remove icons from your desktop, or change
>> their appearance,
>
>Thanks - this is one thing that escaped my notice.
>
>I mean the whole desktop icons panel, not just the user icon.
>
>It's humbling :-)

But hasn't the ability to add/remove icons from the desktop or change
their appearance been around since Win 95?

There have been a few threads lately where really old, established
Windows behaviors are being rediscovered, and I find it interesting,
in a way. :-)

--

Char Jackson

On 10/26/2011 12:50 PM, Art Todesco wrote:
> On 10/26/2011 9:51 AM, Roy Smith wrote:
>> On 10/25/2011 1:12 PM, Art Todesco wrote:
>>> With all the discussion recently about Libraries, I have a question.
>>> When I got my W7 PC (Dell) and I went through the 1st start up, I ended
>>> up with a folder (user) under c:\users\ , let's call it, myuser. On my
>>> desktop also appeared a 'folder' called myuser. It has a strange icon
>>> that looks like a bust view of a person coming out of the folder. If
>>> you double click on it, it opens with stuff that W7 put in, like My
>>> Pictures, My Backup Files, etc., plus stuff I've put in. It even has
>>> Desktop, which, if you double click, opens the actual desktop folder for
>>> this user. However, if you look at it from c:\users\myuser, it has a
>>> plain folder icon. Double clicking produces the same results as from
>>> the folder icon on the desktop. If you right click on the
>>> c:\users\myuser, you can select properties and see the folder properties
>>> plus other options. However, if you right click on the desktop icon,
>>> there is no 'properties' to click on; only a few choices like Create
>>> Shortcut and Delete which looks real dangerous. Can someone explain
>>> this.
>>> Thanks.
>>
>> So what specifically are you worried about? What you've described is
>> normal behavior for Windows 7. That is the User's Files icon which
>> opens Windows Explorer on C:\Users\[user account]. Though it's
>> different from a icon you'd get from a shortcut because this is a system
>> setting. If you do want to change the icon or remove it from your
>> desktop do this:
>>
>> 1. Right click any blank area of your desktop and choose Personalize in
>> the drop-down menu.
>>
>> 2. In the next window the text on the left side are links, so click on
>> the line that says Change Desktop Icons.
>>
>> In the next window you can add/remove icons from your desktop, or change
>> their appearance,
>>
>>
> I'm really not worried about anything here, however, on the desktop icon
> for [user account], you can't just right click and go to properties. It
> doesn't id itself as a shortcut, like you say. I can, however, go the
> the folder icon at c:\users\[user account], right click on it and select
> properties, and it shows that it is a folder. For any other shortcut
> icon, right click under properties, it will say shortcut. It would be
> nice if Windows was consistent. But, it's not a big deal ... mostly
> just curiosity. My original question was about the desktop folder [user
> name], if it has something to do with Libraries ... from the replies, not.

Here's the rub, the User Files desktop icon used to be called "My
Documents" in earlier versions of Windows. Though since now it shows
more that just your documents folder in your user directory, I guess
they decided to rename it to whatever user account was logged on at the
moment.


--

Roy Smith
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
Thunderbird 7.0.1
Thursday, October 27, 2011 12:10:10 AM

On 10/26/2011 9:57 PM, Char Jackson wrote:
> On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:51:04 -0700, "Gene E. Bloch"
> <not-> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 08:51:06 -0500, Roy Smith wrote:
>>
>>> On 10/25/2011 1:12 PM, Art Todesco wrote:
>>>> With all the discussion recently about Libraries, I have a question.
>>>> When I got my W7 PC (Dell) and I went through the 1st start up, I ended
>>>> up with a folder (user) under c:\users\ , let's call it, myuser. On my
>>>> desktop also appeared a 'folder' called myuser. It has a strange icon
>>>> that looks like a bust view of a person coming out of the folder. If
>>>> you double click on it, it opens with stuff that W7 put in, like My
>>>> Pictures, My Backup Files, etc., plus stuff I've put in. It even has
>>>> Desktop, which, if you double click, opens the actual desktop folder for
>>>> this user. However, if you look at it from c:\users\myuser, it has a
>>>> plain folder icon. Double clicking produces the same results as from
>>>> the folder icon on the desktop. If you right click on the
>>>> c:\users\myuser, you can select properties and see the folder properties
>>>> plus other options. However, if you right click on the desktop icon,
>>>> there is no 'properties' to click on; only a few choices like Create
>>>> Shortcut and Delete which looks real dangerous. Can someone explain this.
>>>> Thanks.
>>>
>>> So what specifically are you worried about? What you've described is
>>> normal behavior for Windows 7. That is the User's Files icon which
>>> opens Windows Explorer on C:\Users\[user account]. Though it's
>>> different from a icon you'd get from a shortcut because this is a system
>>> setting. If you do want to change the icon or remove it from your
>>> desktop do this:
>>>
>>> 1. Right click any blank area of your desktop and choose Personalize in
>>> the drop-down menu.
>>>
>>> 2. In the next window the text on the left side are links, so click on
>>> the line that says Change Desktop Icons.
>>>
>>> In the next window you can add/remove icons from your desktop, or change
>>> their appearance,
>>
>> Thanks - this is one thing that escaped my notice.
>>
>> I mean the whole desktop icons panel, not just the user icon.
>>
>> It's humbling :-)
>
> But hasn't the ability to add/remove icons from the desktop or change
> their appearance been around since Win 95?

Yes it has...

> There have been a few threads lately where really old, established
> Windows behaviors are being rediscovered, and I find it interesting,
> in a way. :-)

Only thing I can come up with is that its a novice user who finds a
feature that they didn't use before and is thinking that it is new, but
in reality it has been a part of Windows for a number of years.

Then too it could also be that one finds a particular way of doing a
given task and just doesn't realize that there are other ways of
accomplishing the same results. For example I've been using a Windows
based PC for over 10 years and never really knew what that one key on
the keyboard was for until a couple of years ago. The key I'm talking
about is the list key that's located between the right Windows and
CTRL keys.


--

Roy Smith
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
Thunderbird 7.0.1
Thursday, October 27, 2011 12:38:11 AM

On 10/26/2011 10:57 PM, Char Jackson wrote:
> On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:51:04 -0700, "Gene E. Bloch"
> <not-> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 08:51:06 -0500, Roy Smith wrote:
>>
>>> On 10/25/2011 1:12 PM, Art Todesco wrote:
>>>> With all the discussion recently about Libraries, I have a question.
>>>> When I got my W7 PC (Dell) and I went through the 1st start up, I ended
>>>> up with a folder (user) under c:\users\ , let's call it, myuser. On my
>>>> desktop also appeared a 'folder' called myuser. It has a strange icon
>>>> that looks like a bust view of a person coming out of the folder. If
>>>> you double click on it, it opens with stuff that W7 put in, like My
>>>> Pictures, My Backup Files, etc., plus stuff I've put in. It even has
>>>> Desktop, which, if you double click, opens the actual desktop folder for
>>>> this user. However, if you look at it from c:\users\myuser, it has a
>>>> plain folder icon. Double clicking produces the same results as from
>>>> the folder icon on the desktop. If you right click on the
>>>> c:\users\myuser, you can select properties and see the folder properties
>>>> plus other options. However, if you right click on the desktop icon,
>>>> there is no 'properties' to click on; only a few choices like Create
>>>> Shortcut and Delete which looks real dangerous. Can someone explain this.
>>>> Thanks.
>>>

>
> But hasn't the ability to add/remove icons from the desktop or change
> their appearance been around since Win 95?
>
> There have been a few threads lately where really old, established
> Windows behaviors are being rediscovered, and I find it interesting,
> in a way. :-)
>
Ya, but, the only way I've ever done it is to right click on the icon
and go to properties. In properties, there is usually a place to change
icons, like under the Customize tab. But, going to my original post,
you can't do that on the [user account] icon, apparently because is is
different than a standard folder on the desktop.

On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:57:34 -0500, Char Jackson wrote:

> On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:51:04 -0700, "Gene E. Bloch"
> <not-> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 08:51:06 -0500, Roy Smith wrote:
>>
>>> On 10/25/2011 1:12 PM, Art Todesco wrote:
>>>> With all the discussion recently about Libraries, I have a question.
>>>> When I got my W7 PC (Dell) and I went through the 1st start up, I ended
>>>> up with a folder (user) under c:\users\ , let's call it, myuser. On my
>>>> desktop also appeared a 'folder' called myuser. It has a strange icon
>>>> that looks like a bust view of a person coming out of the folder. If
>>>> you double click on it, it opens with stuff that W7 put in, like My
>>>> Pictures, My Backup Files, etc., plus stuff I've put in. It even has
>>>> Desktop, which, if you double click, opens the actual desktop folder for
>>>> this user. However, if you look at it from c:\users\myuser, it has a
>>>> plain folder icon. Double clicking produces the same results as from
>>>> the folder icon on the desktop. If you right click on the
>>>> c:\users\myuser, you can select properties and see the folder properties
>>>> plus other options. However, if you right click on the desktop icon,
>>>> there is no 'properties' to click on; only a few choices like Create
>>>> Shortcut and Delete which looks real dangerous. Can someone explain this.
>>>> Thanks.
>>>
>>> So what specifically are you worried about? What you've described is
>>> normal behavior for Windows 7. That is the User's Files icon which
>>> opens Windows Explorer on C:\Users\[user account]. Though it's
>>> different from a icon you'd get from a shortcut because this is a system
>>> setting. If you do want to change the icon or remove it from your
>>> desktop do this:
>>>
>>> 1. Right click any blank area of your desktop and choose Personalize in
>>> the drop-down menu.
>>>
>>> 2. In the next window the text on the left side are links, so click on
>>> the line that says Change Desktop Icons.
>>>
>>> In the next window you can add/remove icons from your desktop, or change
>>> their appearance,
>>
>>Thanks - this is one thing that escaped my notice.
>>
>>I mean the whole desktop icons panel, not just the user icon.
>>
>>It's humbling :-)
>
> But hasn't the ability to add/remove icons from the desktop or change
> their appearance been around since Win 95?
>
> There have been a few threads lately where really old, established
> Windows behaviors are being rediscovered, and I find it interesting,
> in a way. :-)

To steal from Roy Smith's reply to your post,

"Then too it could also be that one finds a particular way of doing a
given task and just doesn't realize that there are other ways of
accomplishing the same results."

Although I might say "one finds several ways..." and so "just doesn't
bother looking for..."

Maybe, since it didn't appear until Windows 95, I can use that as my
excuse: it wasn't in Windows 2 or WfW 3.11, so I didn't notice its
Johnny-come-lately appearance later.

Any excuse will do, if you ask me. For another example, maybe I *did*
know about it and just forgot...

In truth, my real point in the first place was that it's fun to stumble
across a useful idea that you (meaning *I*) probably should've known
about years ago :-)

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)