Method 1:

Click Start, Run and type the following command:

regsvr32 /n /i:U shell32.dll

The Show Desktop icon file should be available now in the Quick Launch folder. To access this folder:

Click Start, Run and type the following command:

%userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch

You should see restored Show Desktop icon. Drag and drop it to the Quick Launch Toolbar now.

Method 2:

 Click Start, Run, and type Notepad.exe. Copy the following contents to Notepad:

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

Save the file as "Show Desktop.scf" (with quotes, in order to prevent Notepad from appending .txt extension). Now, drag the file to the Quick Launch Toolbar.

Note: these two methods apply to Windows XP only.

The Internet Explorer icon does not appear on your desktop. When you try to use the Desktop Items dialog box in Windows XP or the Desktop Icon Settings dialog box in Windows Vista to add the Internet Explorer icon, there is no Internet Explorer check box.

To add an Internet Explorer icon to your desktop, you can use the following method:

For Windows 7 users:

Important Windows 7 no longer supports the ability to modify the registry to get the special Internet Explorer icon to appear on your desktop. This change was made to ensure Internet Explorer could be removed easily for compliance reasons. The only way to add the Internet Explorer icon to the desktop in Windows 7 is to create a shortcut. To create a shortcut to Internet Explorer on your desktop, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then locate the Internet Explorer icon on the Start menu. If you do not see the Internet Explorer icon on the Start menu, look in the Programs or the All Programs folders on the Start menu.

2. Right-click and drag the Internet Explorer icon from the Start menu to your desktop, and then click Create Shortcuts Here, or click Copy Here.

A shortcut to Internet Explorer is created on your desktop. You can double-click this icon to open your home page in Internet Explorer.


Note To create a desktop shortcut to Internet Explorer for other users, log on to your computer as another user, and then repeat this method for each user.

Note If you cannot locate the Internet Explorer icon on the Start menu, follow these alternative steps:

1. Carefully select and then copy the following command:

Important Make sure that you select the quotation marks (“) at the beginning and end of this command.

2. Right-click a blank space on your desktop, point to New, and then click Shortcut.

3. In the Create Shortcut Wizard, right-click the Type the location of the item box, and then click Paste to paste the command that you copied in step 1.

4. Click Next.

5. In the Type a name for this shortcut box, type Internet Explorer.

6. Click Finish.

A shortcut to Internet Explorer is created on your desktop. You can double-click this icon to open your home page in Internet Explorer.

For non-Windows 7 users:

Important Windows 7 no longer supports the ability to modify the registry to get the special Internet Explorer icon to appear on your desktop. This change was made to ensure Internet Explorer could be removed easily for compliance reasons. The only way to add the Internet Explorer icon to the desktop in Windows 7 is to create a shortcut as shown in 'For Windows 7 users' section.

To create a shortcut to Internet Explorer on your desktop, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then locate the Internet Explorer icon on the Start menu. If you do not see the Internet Explorer icon on the Start menu, look in the Programs or the All Programs folders on the Start menu.

2. Right-click and drag the Internet Explorer icon from the Start menu to your desktop, and then click Create Shortcuts Here, or click Copy Here.

A shortcut to Internet Explorer is created on your desktop. You can double-click this icon to open your home page in Internet Explorer.

Note If you cannot locate the Internet Explorer icon on the Start menu or if you want to add a special Internet explorer icon on your desktop, follow these alternative steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Run. Or, click Start Search if it is available.

2. In the Open box or in the Start Search box, type Notepad, and then press ENTER.

3. Carefully copy and paste the following text into Notepad.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]
"{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000
 
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu]
"{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000

4. On the File menu, click Save As.

5. In the File name box, type Ie.reg, and then save the file to your desktop.

6. Exit Notepad.

7. Double-click the Ie.reg file on the desktop.
If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.

8. In the Registry Editor dialog box that appears, click Yes, and then click OK.

The special Internet Explorer icon is added to your desktop. You can double-click this icon to open your home page in Internet Explorer.

To open Internet Options, right-click this icon, and then click Properties. To start Internet Explorer without add-ons, right-click this icon, and then click Start Without Add-ons.

Do you like to monitor your system but do not want a complicated app to do it with? If you love simplicity and easy configuration then join us as we look at Desktop Info.

Desktop Info in Action

Desktop Info comes in a zip file format so you will need to unzip the app, place it into an appropriate “Program Files Folder”, and create a shortcut. Do NOT delete the “Read Me File”…this will be extremely useful to you when you make changes to the “Configuration File”. Once you have everything set up you are ready to start Desktop Info up.

This is the default layout and set of listings displayed when you start Desktop Info up for the first time. The font colors will be a mix of colors as seen here and the font size will perhaps be a bit small but those are very easy to change if desired.

You can access the “Context Menu” directly over the “information area”…so no need to look for it in the “System Tray”. Notice that you can easily access that important “Read Me File” from here…

The full contents of the configuration file (.ini file) are displayed here so that you can see exactly what kind of information can be displayed using the default listings. The first section is “Options”…you will most likely want to increase the font size while you are here.

Then “Items”… If you are unhappy with any of the font colors in the “information area” this is where you can make the changes. You can turn information display items on or off here.

And finally “Files, Registry, & Event Logs”.

Here is our displayed information after a few tweaks in the configuration file. Very nice.

Conclusion

If you have been looking for a system information app that is simple and easy to set up then you should definitely give Desktop Info a try.

Links: http://www.glenn.delahoy.com/software/

To customize your Windows 7 system you can adjust the base theme color used for window borders, the Start Menu, and the Taskbar. You can also choose whether or not the Start Menu, Taskbar, and window borders should appear semi-transparent, showing part of what is underneath.

1. Right-click an empty area of the Desktop and choose "Personalize" from the pop-up menu that appears.

2. The "Personalization" Control Panel appears. Near the bottom of the window, click on "Window Color".

3. The window changes to the "Window Color and Appearance" settings. From here you can do the following:

* Choose a base color - choose from one of the following base window colors (listed here in left-to-right order)

- Sky
- Twilight
- Sea
- Leaf
- Lime
- Sun
- Pumpkin
- Ruby
- Fuchsia
- Blush
- Violet
- Lavender
- Taupe
- Chocolate
- Slate
- Frost

* Next to "Color intensity", click and drag the slider to the right to make the color more intense - moving the slider to the left makes the color less intense.

* By checking or unchecking "Enable transparency", you can configure whether or not window borders, the Taskbar, and Start Menu appear semi-transparent.

* If you do not like the choice of colors, click the down arrow next to "Show color mixer". From here you can click and drag the sliders to adjust your desired color hue, saturation, and brightness.

4. When done, click "Save Changes" to close the "Window Color and Appearance" settings, then close the "Personalization" window.

Sometimes you may need to connect second monitor to your PC, or to connect monitor to the notebook  to make it's more convenient to work on a large screen.

First of all,  to be able to connect second monitor you need to have additional outputs on video adapter, or as a possible variant - second video adapter.

(Note: Sometimes you may need to install newer versions of video drivers for your adapter!)

Of course, you will need the second monitor, it can be either CRT or LCD.

To connect second monitor in Windows XP:

1. Connect second monitor to video adapter.

2. Right-click on the free space on the desktop, click [Properties]. (You can also find it in Control Panel and click on Display icon).

3. In the opened window, go to the [Display Properties] option and navigate to [Settings] tab.

4. Click on the grayed-out box with '2' to the right of the black box which represent the second monitor.

5. Enable the check box next to “Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor”.

6. Now set the screen resolution for the second monitor or leave it without changes.

7. If the second screen is physically attached to the left of your primary (first) screen,

   drag and drop the second monitor to the left of the first display

   on the Display Properties Settings window.

8. Click OK to apply the changes. Your second monitor should have activated itself by now.

Sometimes you need to hide your desktop icons to see completly wallpaper image but you may need several icons on your desktop. Using the following instructions you van hide or show desktop icons.

To show/hide desktop icons:

1. Right-click on the desktop and open the "Arrange Icons By" sub-menu or you can right-click on any open space on the desktop.

2. In the sub-menu, click "Show Desktop Icons" to check or uncheck it as shown in figure above.

The icons on the desktop will disappear or appear (depend on your previous actions). It may take a few seconds for the desktop to clear up, just give it a second to make the adjustment.