Windows (7) Explorer behaving erratically

[PE]

Hi all: I have Win7HP/64 and have noted seemingly erratic behavior in
Windows Explorer that I thought someone here might be able to explain: When
I navigate to and select "Favorites|Desktop" (at the top of the navigation
pane), the right side pane shows every item that is on my desktop. However,
when I navigate to "c:|users|me|Desktop" (lower down on the navigation pane)
the right side pane shows only a couple, not all, of those items. What is
the explanation for this seemingly inconsistent behavior? And in light of
the above I'm wondering, when I select a folder in the navigation pane, how
can I be certain that ALL of its contents are being displayed? Thanks for
your replies. PE

 

[Raven]

Hi all: I have Win7HP/64 and have noted seemingly erratic behavior in
Windows Explorer that I thought someone here might be able to explain:
When I navigate to and select "Favorites|Desktop" (at the top of the
navigation pane), the right side pane shows every item that is on my
desktop. However, when I navigate to "c:|users|me|Desktop" (lower down on
the navigation pane) the right side pane shows only a couple, not all, of
those items. What is the explanation for this seemingly inconsistent
behavior? And in light of the above I'm wondering, when I select a folder
in the navigation pane, how can I be certain that ALL of its contents are
being displayed? Thanks for your replies. PE

Favorites/Desktop will show items in the "Public" desktop folder plus all
items that you've added only to your desktop. C:/users/me/desktop will show
only the items relating to your desktop and will not include the "Public"
desktop items.

Each user can have items on their desktop that no other user will see on
their desktop. The items in the "Public" desktop will be added to all
users' desktops.

So, if you have "Item 1" in the public desktop, and "Item 2" in your
desktop, you will see both items on your desktop. A different user will see
only "Item 1" on their desktop.

 

[Raven]

Hi all: I have Win7HP/64 and have noted seemingly erratic behavior in
Windows Explorer that I thought someone here might be able to explain:
When I navigate to and select "Favorites|Desktop" (at the top of the
navigation pane), the right side pane shows every item that is on my
desktop. However, when I navigate to "c:|users|me|Desktop" (lower down on
the navigation pane) the right side pane shows only a couple, not all, of
those items. What is the explanation for this seemingly inconsistent
behavior? And in light of the above I'm wondering, when I select a folder
in the navigation pane, how can I be certain that ALL of its contents are
being displayed? Thanks for your replies. PE

Favorites/Desktop will show items in the "Public" desktop folder plus all
items that you've added only to your desktop. It's what you see on your
desktop. C:/users/me/desktop will show only the items relating to your
desktop and will not include the "Public" desktop items.

Each user can have items on their desktop that no other user will see on
their desktop. The items in the "Public" desktop will be added to all
users' desktops.

So, if you have "Item 1" in the public desktop, and "Item 2" in your
desktop, you will see both items on your desktop. A different user will see
only "Item 1" on their desktop.

 

[Raven]

Hi all: I have Win7HP/64 and have noted seemingly erratic behavior in
Windows Explorer that I thought someone here might be able to explain:
When I navigate to and select "Favorites|Desktop" (at the top of the
navigation pane), the right side pane shows every item that is on my
desktop. However, when I navigate to "c:|users|me|Desktop" (lower down on
the navigation pane) the right side pane shows only a couple, not all, of
those items. What is the explanation for this seemingly inconsistent
behavior? And in light of the above I'm wondering, when I select a folder
in the navigation pane, how can I be certain that ALL of its contents are
being displayed? Thanks for your replies. PE

Favorites/Desktop will show items in the "Public" desktop folder plus all
items that you've added only to your desktop. It's what you see on your
desktop. C:/users/me/desktop will show only the items relating to your
desktop and will not include the "Public" desktop items.

Each user can have items on their desktop that no other user will see on
their desktop. The items in the "Public" desktop will be added to all
users' desktops.

So, if you have "Item 1" in the public desktop, and "Item 2" in your
desktop, you will see both items on your desktop. A different user will see
only "Item 1" on their desktop.

 

[Raven]

Sorry for the multi-post. It was a communication problem with
eternal-september.

 

[PE]

So, then, where is that "public" desktop in the directory tree?

 

[Raven]

So, then, where is that "public" desktop in the directory tree?

C:/Users/Public/Public Desktop

 

[PE]

On my system, "c:\users\public" does NOT contain a subfolder called "Public
Desktop". What now?

 

[Raven]

On my system, "c:\users\public" does NOT contain a subfolder called
"Public Desktop". What now?

Sorry, I forgot to mention that the Public Desktop folder is hidden by
default.

1. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the C:/Users/Public folder.
2. Click on Tools in the menu bar, click on Folder Options. In the Folder
Options window, click on the View tab and under the option Hidden files and
folders choose Show hidden files, folders, or drive.
3. Click Apply and then Ok.
4. Now check if you have the Public Desktop folder. If not, close Windows
Explorer, re-open it, and navigate to C:/Users/Public folder. The Public
Desktop folder should be there.

To unhide this folder permanently and re-hide all other hidden
files/folders, perform the steps below:
1. Right click on the Public Desktop folder and choose Properties.
2. Remove the hidden attribute.
3. Click Apply and then ok.
4. Repeat step 2 in the first set of instructions above, but this time
choose Don't show hidden files, folders, or drives.