The Fastest Way to Open Items on Your Desktop

Put your Desktop on the menu; access icons via the keyboard; add info to your applications' title bars.

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A reader responded to my December 2004 column on removing junk from context menus, asking how to restore the 'Desktop (create shortcut)' option that appears under 'Send To' when he right-clicks a file. Being able to generate desktop shortcuts to any file you right-click can indeed be useful. (You can also right-click and drag the item from an Explorer or folder window onto the desktop and choose Create Shortcuts Here.) Fortunately this context-menu option, and similar desktop shortcuts, are easy to re-create. I'll also describe several other techniques for getting to your desktop items in a jiffy.

Restore your Desktop shortcut: To replace your context menu's Desktop shortcut option, start by opening Notepad: Choose Start, Programs (or All Programs) Accessories, Notepad. Don't type anything in the window. Just choose File, Save As. Navigate to the folder that holds your Send To shortcuts. In Windows 98 and Me, look for the SendTo folder inside your C:\Windows folder. In Windows 2000 and XP, it's inside C:\Documents and Settings in a subfolder named for your own profile; for example, if your profile name is 'Phil', you'll navigate to 'C:\Documents and Settings\Phil\SendTo'. When you've selected the proper SendTo folder, type Desktop (create shortcut).desklink as the file name and click Save. Then exit Notepad. The next time you right-click any file and choose Send To, you should see this shortcut restored (see FIGURE 1

FIGURE 1: Restore the Desktop shortcut to your right-click Send To menu by adding a simple text file to your SendTo folder.

).

Replace the Show Desktop icon: The Show Desktop shortcut found in the Quick Launch toolbar on the taskbar can also be easily deleted by mistake. This handy button toggles between minimizing and restoring all your open windows. Notepad can help you replace this icon, too.

Open Notepad as described above. On the first line, type [Shell] and press <Enter>. On the next, type Command=2 and press <Enter>. On the third, type IconFile=explorer.exe,3 and press <Enter>. On the fourth, type [Taskbar] and press <Enter>. Type Command=ToggleDesktop on the last line and press <Enter>. When you're finished, your Notepad window will match FIGURE 2

FIGURE 2: A few lines of text are all that is required to return the Show Desktop icon to your system's Quick Launch toolbar.

. Choose File, Save As and navigate down to Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch on the drive where Windows is installed (probably your C: drive). Now type Show Desktop.scf in the 'File name' box and click Save.

You don't have to put your Show Desktop icon on the Quick Launch bar. For example, if you have a mouse that lets you launch a custom application from one of its buttons, you can program it to display your desktop at the touch of a button.

Alternate Desktop Routes

You don't need a Show Desktop icon at all if you use your keyboard to minimize all open applications. Or maybe you don't care so much about seeing your desktop but just want a fast way (such as a menu option) to access all the items there. Here are some other favorite techniques for getting to the desktop.

Access the desktop via keyboard: Windows has two keyboard shortcuts for quickly minimizing all open windows, but contrary to popular belief, the two options are not the same. Enter <Windows>-D (as in "desktop") when you want to minimize everything on screen, even Control Panel and Properties dialog boxes; this shortcut leaves nothing but the desktop showing. Enter <Windows>-M (as in "minimize") to minimize normal windows, but not dialog boxes (such as the Properties dialog box for an object or certain Control Panel windows) or the application that currently has a dialog box open.

You can use <Windows>-M as a kind of "minimize all but one" command: Open a dialog box (such as File, Open) in any application, and then press <Windows>-M to minimize everything except that application and dialog box. There's one more difference between the two shortcuts: Like the Show Desktop icon, <Windows>-D serves as a toggle--press it once to minimize everything, then press it again to restore everything as it was. On the other hand, the <Windows>-M shortcut doesn't act as a toggle--it's strictly a one-way trip.

Get there by menu: When I'm not using the keyboard, my favorite way to access items on my desktop is by placing them in a menu that pops out of the Windows taskbar. Get the full scoop on this technique from my June 2002 Windows Tips column.

<Alt>-<Tab> to the desktop: If you're comfortable entering <Alt>-<Tab> to choose among your running applications, why not use the same shortcut to get to your desktop as well? Just launch the free Tab2Desk utility to add a desktop icon to the choices of applications you can switch to when you press <Alt>-<Tab>. Release the <Alt> key at the "Minimize All Windows" icon, and--poof!--all your applications are minimized. Enter <Alt>-<Tab> again to restore your windows to the way they were (as long as you haven't restored any other windows in the meantime).

Make an Explorer shortcut: Maybe you'd like a shortcut that opens your desktop in a folder window. To create one, right-click the desktop or in the folder where you want to store your shortcut, and choose New, Shortcut. In the Create Shortcut wizard, type explore.exe /e, /root, (in Windows 98; be sure to include the spaces and that final comma) or explorer.exe /e, /select, /root, c:\ (in Me, 2000, and XP; see FIGURE 3

FIGURE 3: See your desktop items in Windows Explorer by entering this command line as you create a new Explorer shortcut.

). You can replace the 'c:\' with any valid folder path. Remove the '/e,' if you want only a folder window without the Explorer tree pane on the left. Click Next, type a name for the shortcut (such as Desktop), and click Finish.

Unclutter Your Desktop

If you prefer to access the desktop using either the Explorer window or pop-up menu methods described above, you may want to eliminate the clutter of icons on the desktop itself. To hide them, right-click the desktop and choose Arrange Icons By, Show Desktop Icons (in XP Professional) or Active Desktop, Show Desktop Icons (in Windows 2000). If you don't see the Show Desktop Icons option in Windows 2000's Active Desktop submenu, choose Active Desktop, Show Web Content; then try accessing the menu again. With desktop icons hidden, you will still be able to drag and drop shortcuts or other icons to the desktop, but you won't see them there or be able to position them. Instead, you must access the shortcuts via the Desktop folder in Explorer, or through the Desktop pop-up menu.

You can also hide desktop items and prevent dragging and dropping on the desktop by using the Group Policy Editor to modify the Registry: Choose Start, Run, type gpedit.msc, and press <Enter>. In the tree pane on the left, navigate to and select Local Computer Policy\User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Desktop. Double-click the entry in the right pane labeled Hide and disable all items on the desktop (Hide all icons on Desktop in 2000). Under the Setting tab (it's labeled 'Policy' in 2000), select the Enabled option and then click OK. Log off Windows and then log back on to see the effect.

In Windows XP, there's a way for you to be more selective about the icons you choose to show or hide on your desktop: Right-click the desktop, choose Properties, click the Desktop tab, and choose the Customize Desktop button. Select or deselect the check boxes at the top to show or hide My Documents, My Computer, My Network Places, or Internet Explorer.

Windows Toolbox: Put Your Title Bar to Work With TitleBarClock Pro

Perhaps the most underutilized patch of screen real estate in Windows is the title bar that runs the length of almost every application and folder window that's open on your system. Putting that space to good use is the job of TitleBarClock Pro, a $10 shareware program from QuickerSoft. Why would you ever want to spend money for a clock when the taskbar already has one? Because TBC Pro adds to most title bars the weekday, date, and time (with seconds), in your choice of eight languages. The program shows your free physical RAM, and the space available on your Windows drive. You can synchronize your clock to an Internet time server, automatically maximize all open windows, and copy the date, time, and other info to the Clipboard. The tool displays a simple pop-up calendar, as well, and it even lets you shut down Windows. Turn on the program's Desktop Clock feature to see the same information on your desktop when all windows are minimized. Click here to download the trial version.