TSGL: Scrambled Desktop

[Don Penlington]

Cyndi wrote:

>I was told to have a little as possible on my desk top, as it slows down
>start-up.
>  Is this true?>>


Basically, no---unless, perhaps, the installed RAM is critically low or 
your computer is very old and slow.

But that's a qualified "No".

In general, it's not a good idea to locate any folders or files on the 
desktop other than shortcuts. But not for the reason you mention.

Desktop is actually a folder within the Windows folder. Therefore, by 
placing any important data or folders in it, you will lose that data if for 
any reason you have a sudden Windows failure and have to reformat your 
C-Drive and reinstall Windows. That can happen at any time without warning. 
Thus, anything you have on the desktop is seriously at risk.

Much the better alternative is to put all your files, data, and folders on 
a drive other than C, then place shortcuts to that info on the 
desktop.  That way, all you'll lose is the desktop shortcuts, which is not 
a problem. Ideally, you should keep your C-Drive just for the operating 
system (though that's not always possible).

In older times, your desktop wallpaper could take up a significant 
proportion of memory (it loads with Windows into memory) but with more 
modern systems in the last few years the proportion of RAM taken up by 
wallpaper is not significant.

Don Penlington

 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html