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Short cuts on desk top

Patty

Patty

master brummie
I have been having a bit of a clean up on the old laptop and was wondering this--------------

I have quite a few shortcuts on the desk top such as Adobe, INTERNET explorer, favorites, AVG ect.
I have looked and they are in the start menu also. I think I can recall someone saying, when my comp was running slow that the more you have on the desk top the more it has to load up, so I was wondering if I could delete them with out causing any problems ( famous last words for me)
If they are in the start menu will it be OK to delete?
Also being a bit more adventurous, I have this site as my home page, I click on Internet Explorer to get on the net and this page comes up. I have found it takes a lot longer to connect and was wondering if it is because we do get a few problems on here and the site closes for a bit, or because it has to load up to many things. Should I change my homepage? I think it was google before the comp man changed it.
I suppose I would have to alter a lot of setting so would need a step by step instructions.
Anyone willing to take on a challenge today???????
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
Hi Patty, If you want to clean your desktop up a bit a easy way is to right click on the desktop and make a new folder called Old Shortcuts then you can simply drag any old shortcuts on the desktop onto this new folders icon and put them in there. You can always get to theseold shortcuts if you need them later by opening the Old Shortcuts folder.

Simples.....
 
Hi patty, you won't cause any harm if you want to delete shortcuts. I do it all the time, if you see my desktop there is hardly anything on it. I much prefer to put any shortcuts to programs that I use a lot on the taskbar anycase, but, each to their own.
As for the 2nd question I also experience a few seconds delay when trying to connect to this site. It does'nt bother me so I just take no notice.

Terry
 
Patty,
Right click the unwanted icons and delete.
Then go to recycle bin and empty it.
They will not be uninstalled only removed from your desktop.
 
I think it more likely that stuff you have in your Start Up list will be the culprits not the shortcuts.
 
Patty,
Videos and photo's take up a lot of disk space.You could put them on a memory stick and then remove them from your computor.
If you go into all programes,and find disc clean up,that could give you more space,which will speed things up.
If you don't fancy doing that...ask your grandchildren,they usually know best.:rolleyes:
 
Patty said:
Not that much Bernie i was going to do a screen shot but have forgot how to do it
Click to expand...

With your comp showing the desktop press Print Screen key, then open up a graphics program such as Photoshop and on the menu select Edit them paste and your screenshot will show up
 
Ray I have done all that, I bought an external drive before xmas and transfered all pic, music ect on there. I do ccleaner, defrag, disc cleaner all of them, perhaps it is me thinking it should work like a new one, it is 4yrs old, I dont do much on here so dont see the point in buying a new one yet
 
Patty take no notice of Bernie. Mind you have you looked under the bed remember what you found last time?.:D Jean.
 
It seems, Patty, you know more than I do.It looks like you are,playing the damsel in distress,and us daft blokes are falling for it.
You could call the fire brigade,they won't help with your computor...but it would be a fun day.:):):)
 
.Ray, I'm not honest, I do now the basics as I learn as I go on and print things off that all the good folk on here help me with, but sometimes I want to do something and if I'm not sure I ask, as they say if you dont ask you dont get. Mind you I have been known to flutter the old eyelashes in my younger days
 
Ray Barrett said:
Oh,one way I made more space and speeded up was by switching off the "system restore".
Click to expand...

And if your system crashes and the registry is corrupt how you going to get round that if you can do a system restore?

System Restore can be VERY useful if you get a problem on your computer.

Dont turn it off, just reduce the amount of space it uses.
 
Patty said:
So the short cuts aren't slowing the start up then??
Click to expand...

NO. Files on your desktop do NOT slow your start up.

You could have thousands of files on your desktop, and thousands of programs installed, but they would not slow your start up (maybe a little in that it would have to draw the icons on your desktop).

What slows start up is PROGRAMS STARTING.

As has been said, programs starting up the same time as Windows starts is what can slow down your start up.

Some programs start themselves up when Windows start so they are "ready" if you ever need them, but many of them you use so rarely it is not worth them autostarting.

Obviously your anti virus and other security software need to start (and various Windows components) but other things do NOT need to autostart.
 
If you are not sure about deleting shortcuts, but want to tidy up your desktop then do as follows.

RIGHT click on your desktop then Select "NEW" then "FOLDER". Give the folder a name "Shortcuts" (or anything you like)

Now DRAG your shortcuts (right mouse button) from the desktop to the folder.

Now all the shortcuts will be in the folder Shortcuts.

Yours dekstop is tidy, but you still have the shortcuts available if you want them.
 
Patty - you're doing everything the correct way - using the likes of CCleaner and Defrag.
Going back to your original question - each icon on the desktop uses ( and stays resident ) a small proportion of the RAM ( Random Access Memory ) - unless the screen is vastly overcrowded it should not make too much difference with todays PC specs. I'd be tempted to try a 'reg clean' if you are experiencing slow running - but remember to create a restore point first to safgeguard. There are commercial reg cleaners - but there is a reasonable one in CCleaner .
 
Ian FOFB said:
each icon on the desktop uses ( and stays resident ) a small proportion of the RAM ( Random Access Memory ) - unless the screen is vastly overcrowded it should not make too much difference with todays PC specs.
Click to expand...

Are you sure?

I see no reason why an icon on the desktop should be loaded into RAM.

Just because an icon is on the desktop it does not mean the program is started, so an icon is just that, and icon on the dekstop.

I dont believe an icon on the desktop will make any difference to your RAM (only when the program is started)
 
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