Desktop.ini questions - related to slow performance?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion (More info?)

This article
http://technology.januario.com/2004/09/windows-explorer-slow.html says that
slow performance in Windows Explorer can be caused by the Desktop.ini file
in My Documents folder. He suggests creating a new Desktop.ini file in
another directory, editing it so contents are blank, and then using that to
replace the one in My Documents. He suggests doing the same to Desktop.ini
file in other folders such as Favorites, to improve their performance.

1. Is this the "approved" technique?

2. I find that when I first launch Win98SE, it performs well and I can use
Windows Explorer easily. Later in the day Windows Explorer becomes painfully
slow: slow to open folders, slow to delete, etc. Is this because of
Desktop.ini?

3. I don't use My Documents, due to the Win98 issue. I create a different
folder for all my documents: Stuff. However, I then edit the properties of
the My Documents icon on the desktop so that it points to Stuff instead.
That then causes Stuff to display the special My Documents icon when viewing
in Windows Explorer. Has using that My Documents shortcut defeated what I
was trying to achieve, and instead just made Stuff into a renamed My
Documents with all the usual performance limitations of My Documents?

4. Do Desktop.ini files slow things down? What's the advice for dealing with
them, and for these Windows exploring/viewing slowdowns?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion (More info?)

Tuttle wrote:

> 4. Do Desktop.ini files slow things down?

Mine sure don't. Why don't you read one of yours and judge for
yourself?

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion (More info?)

I "find" 93 desktop.ini files in my four partition in my
98se/ xp dual boot.

How are these created?

How to stop them from getting recreated?

Should I delete them all, instead of replacing them with
blank files?

--
Rawat

On 3/16/05 7:38 PM India Time, _Tuttle_ wrote:

> This article
> http://technology.januario.com/2004/09/windows-explorer-slow.html says that
> slow performance in Windows Explorer can be caused by the Desktop.ini file
> in My Documents folder. He suggests creating a new Desktop.ini file in
> another directory, editing it so contents are blank, and then using that to
> replace the one in My Documents. He suggests doing the same to Desktop.ini
> file in other folders such as Favorites, to improve their performance.
>
> 1. Is this the "approved" technique?
>
> 2. I find that when I first launch Win98SE, it performs well and I can use
> Windows Explorer easily. Later in the day Windows Explorer becomes painfully
> slow: slow to open folders, slow to delete, etc. Is this because of
> Desktop.ini?
>
> 3. I don't use My Documents, due to the Win98 issue. I create a different
> folder for all my documents: Stuff. However, I then edit the properties of
> the My Documents icon on the desktop so that it points to Stuff instead.
> That then causes Stuff to display the special My Documents icon when viewing
> in Windows Explorer. Has using that My Documents shortcut defeated what I
> was trying to achieve, and instead just made Stuff into a renamed My
> Documents with all the usual performance limitations of My Documents?
>
> 4. Do Desktop.ini files slow things down? What's the advice for dealing with
> them, and for these Windows exploring/viewing slowdowns?
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion (More info?)

V S Rawat wrote:
> I "find" 93 desktop.ini files in my four partition in my
> 98se/ xp dual boot.
>
> How are these created?

Windows makes them
____________

> How to stop them from getting recreated?

You don't want to.
_____________

> Should I delete them all, instead of replacing them with
> blank files?

Don't do either, leave them alone. They define system info about the
folder they are in.

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion (More info?)

On 3/17/05 1:22 AM India Time, _dadiOH_ wrote:

> V S Rawat wrote:
>
>>I "find" 93 desktop.ini files in my four partition in my
>>98se/ xp dual boot.
>>
>>How are these created?
>
>
> Windows makes them

Thanks. But what setting of windows makes them?

I have selected "DON'T remember setting of each folder" in
windows explorer. I had thought that it should prevent
creation of desktop.ini.

Seems that is not so.

I am not comfortable with my system doing anything on its own.

98 files. My god.

--
Rawat


> ____________
>
>
>>How to stop them from getting recreated?
>
>
> You don't want to.
> _____________
>
>
>>Should I delete them all, instead of replacing them with
>>blank files?
>
>
> Don't do either, leave them alone. They define system info about the
> folder they are in.
>
> --
> dadiOH
> ____________________________
>
> dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
> ....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
> LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
> Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion (More info?)

V S Rawat wrote:
> On 3/17/05 1:22 AM India Time, _dadiOH_ wrote:
>
>> V S Rawat wrote:
>>
>>> I "find" 93 desktop.ini files in my four partition in my
>>> 98se/ xp dual boot.
>>>
>>> How are these created?
>>
>>
>> Windows makes them
>
> Thanks. But what setting of windows makes them?

No setting (AFAIK), they are created as needed
_________________

> I am not comfortable with my system doing anything on its own.

Get real. Your system does virtually *everything* on its own and it's a
damn good thing it does or there would be precious few computer users.
About the only thing most people can do is modify that behaviour with
some predetermined option...an option integral to the system.
_______________

> 98 files. My god.


You are obsessing over a tiny number of small, useful files? Reality
check...

1. Start explorer
2. Select C:
3. Click in right pane
4. Ctrl+A
5. Right click on the selected files/folders
6. Properties

Now, is 98 files such a big deal in the grander scheme of things?

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion (More info?)

Here are two articles dug up by Glee from another thread.

Customizing a Folder's Web View:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/shell/programmersguide/shell_int/shell_int_extending/webview.asp?frame=true

Customizing Folders with Desktop.ini
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/shell/programmersguide/shell_basics/shell_basics_extending/custom.asp

And here is all I know about it, until I go study those articles myself.

Acc. to "Windows 98 Secrets" (Livingston/Straub), p. 172, a Desktop.ini
is a system file created when you "View, Customize" a folder, possibly
along with a modified copy of folder.htt (HTML template). Click one and
it will open in Notepad; they are not all the same inside. Supposedly,
the ini & the htt will be deleted when you remove the customization;
that doesn't quite appear to be true, but the ini is cleared of most
data. I appear to have 23 Desktop.ini's currently, as "Find, F&F,
Desktop.ini" shows. As far as the htt, I never did see one inside a
folder, using Explorer. I saw 17 of them BOTH before and after removing
a customization, however, using "Find, F&F, *.htt". (Update: I see those
htt's after setting:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Adv
anced
ShowSuperHidden 0x00000001 (1) <--DWORD: 1.)

Acc. to "Windows 98 Secrets" (Livingston/Straub), p. 199, special
folders can also contain a Desktop.ini which "may have a reference to a
dynamic link library (dll) file that defines a specific set of behaviors
for the folder".

There are other ways to create them, and they are sometimes involved in
copy protection schemes. Also third party programs, such as
http://www.pcmag.com/ 's Folders creates or modifies them to store
pointers to the folder icons. I have such pointers in some
desktop.ini's, although I never did install "Folders".


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR
pcrrcp@netzero.net
"V S Rawat" <VSRawat@invalid.none> wrote in message
news:upFl$OsKFHA.2716@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
| On 3/17/05 1:22 AM India Time, _dadiOH_ wrote:
|
| > V S Rawat wrote:
| >
| >>I "find" 93 desktop.ini files in my four partition in my
| >>98se/ xp dual boot.
| >>
| >>How are these created?
| >
| >
| > Windows makes them
|
| Thanks. But what setting of windows makes them?
|
| I have selected "DON'T remember setting of each folder" in
| windows explorer. I had thought that it should prevent
| creation of desktop.ini.
|
| Seems that is not so.
|
| I am not comfortable with my system doing anything on its own.
|
| 98 files. My god.
|
| --
| Rawat
|
|
| > ____________
| >
| >
| >>How to stop them from getting recreated?
| >
| >
| > You don't want to.
| > _____________
| >
| >
| >>Should I delete them all, instead of replacing them with
| >>blank files?
| >
| >
| > Don't do either, leave them alone. They define system info about
the
| > folder they are in.
| >
| > --
| > dadiOH
| > ____________________________
| >
| > dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
| > ....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
| > LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
| > Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
| >
| >
|

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion (More info?)

PCR wrote:

> Acc. to "Windows 98 Secrets" (Livingston/Straub), p. 199, special
> folders can also contain a Desktop.ini which "may have a reference to
> a dynamic link library (dll) file that defines a specific set of
> behaviors for the folder".

Yes indeed!

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion (More info?)

Certainly not compared to my several million files, <g>.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"dadiOH" <dadiOH@x-mail.net> wrote in message
news:ehnSfKvKFHA.3296@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> Now, is 98 files such a big deal in the grander scheme of things?
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion (More info?)

Right! So, as you said, BEST not to delete all of them!


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR
pcrrcp@netzero.net
"dadiOH" <dadiOH@x-mail.net> wrote in message news:%23noNRDvKFHA.2284@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
| PCR wrote:
|
| > Acc. to "Windows 98 Secrets" (Livingston/Straub), p. 199, special
| > folders can also contain a Desktop.ini which "may have a reference to
| > a dynamic link library (dll) file that defines a specific set of
| > behaviors for the folder".
|
| Yes indeed!
|
| --
| dadiOH
| ____________________________
|
| dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
| ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
| LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
| Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
|
|

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion (More info?)

Thanks PCR.

I have decided not to delete these files. If someone can
assure us that these can be deleted without causing any
harm, pl. do share.

--
Rawat

On 3/17/05 1:25 PM India Time, _PCR_ wrote:

> Here are two articles dug up by Glee from another thread.
>
> Customizing a Folder's Web View:
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/shell/programmersguide/shell_int/shell_int_extending/webview.asp?frame=true
>
> Customizing Folders with Desktop.ini
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/shell/programmersguide/shell_basics/shell_basics_extending/custom.asp
>
> And here is all I know about it, until I go study those articles myself.
>
> Acc. to "Windows 98 Secrets" (Livingston/Straub), p. 172, a Desktop.ini
> is a system file created when you "View, Customize" a folder, possibly
> along with a modified copy of folder.htt (HTML template). Click one and
> it will open in Notepad; they are not all the same inside. Supposedly,
> the ini & the htt will be deleted when you remove the customization;
> that doesn't quite appear to be true, but the ini is cleared of most
> data. I appear to have 23 Desktop.ini's currently, as "Find, F&F,
> Desktop.ini" shows. As far as the htt, I never did see one inside a
> folder, using Explorer. I saw 17 of them BOTH before and after removing
> a customization, however, using "Find, F&F, *.htt". (Update: I see those
> htt's after setting:
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Adv
> anced
> ShowSuperHidden 0x00000001 (1) <--DWORD: 1.)
>
> Acc. to "Windows 98 Secrets" (Livingston/Straub), p. 199, special
> folders can also contain a Desktop.ini which "may have a reference to a
> dynamic link library (dll) file that defines a specific set of behaviors
> for the folder".
>
> There are other ways to create them, and they are sometimes involved in
> copy protection schemes. Also third party programs, such as
> http://www.pcmag.com/ 's Folders creates or modifies them to store
> pointers to the folder icons. I have such pointers in some
> desktop.ini's, although I never did install "Folders".
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion (More info?)

ABSOLUTELY, as dadiOH said, some of them are best KEPT. However, you may go through your folders & turn off customization in each one. That may do a lot, as 93 of them seems excessive.

WELL, did you install an app, like "Folders" that creates them to put individual Icons on your folders? THEN, better leave all of them alone, & maybe don't even do the following...

(1) Undo Active Desktop.

(a) R-Clk the Desktop, point to Active Desktop, & select Customize my
Desktop.
(b) Uncheck "View my Active Desktop as a WEB page" & Apply.

Is there anything in the box under that item? Those are WEB sites that
would appear on the Desktop. Delete them.

(c) At the Effects tab, uncheck "Hide icons when the Desktop is viewed
as a WEB page" & OK.
(d) R-Clk the Desktop, & uncheck "View as WEB page".

(2) "START, Settings, Folder Options, General tab". Set to "Classic
style". If all gets better, click "Custom...", & gingerly go back to how
you like it. But stay away from "Enable all Web related content...".


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR
pcrrcp@netzero.net
"V S Rawat" <VSRawat@invalid.none> wrote in message news:ebni0mxKFHA.3296@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
| Thanks PCR.
|
| I have decided not to delete these files. If someone can
| assure us that these can be deleted without causing any
| harm, pl. do share.
|
| --
| Rawat
|
| On 3/17/05 1:25 PM India Time, _PCR_ wrote:
|
| > Here are two articles dug up by Glee from another thread.
| >
| > Customizing a Folder's Web View:
| > http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/shell/programmersguide/shell_int/shell_int_extending/webview.asp?frame=true
| >
| > Customizing Folders with Desktop.ini
| > http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/shell/programmersguide/shell_basics/shell_basics_extending/custom.asp
| >
| > And here is all I know about it, until I go study those articles myself.
| >
| > Acc. to "Windows 98 Secrets" (Livingston/Straub), p. 172, a Desktop.ini
| > is a system file created when you "View, Customize" a folder, possibly
| > along with a modified copy of folder.htt (HTML template). Click one and
| > it will open in Notepad; they are not all the same inside. Supposedly,
| > the ini & the htt will be deleted when you remove the customization;
| > that doesn't quite appear to be true, but the ini is cleared of most
| > data. I appear to have 23 Desktop.ini's currently, as "Find, F&F,
| > Desktop.ini" shows. As far as the htt, I never did see one inside a
| > folder, using Explorer. I saw 17 of them BOTH before and after removing
| > a customization, however, using "Find, F&F, *.htt". (Update: I see those
| > htt's after setting:
| > HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Adv
| > anced
| > ShowSuperHidden 0x00000001 (1) <--DWORD: 1.)
| >
| > Acc. to "Windows 98 Secrets" (Livingston/Straub), p. 199, special
| > folders can also contain a Desktop.ini which "may have a reference to a
| > dynamic link library (dll) file that defines a specific set of behaviors
| > for the folder".
| >
| > There are other ways to create them, and they are sometimes involved in
| > copy protection schemes. Also third party programs, such as
| > http://www.pcmag.com/ 's Folders creates or modifies them to store
| > pointers to the folder icons. I have such pointers in some
| > desktop.ini's, although I never did install "Folders".
| >
| >
|