desktop.ini??? whats up with these

drvtec

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May 10, 2002
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hi, Whats up with these desktop.ini all of a sudden one ended up on my desktop. and during startup 2 Desktop.ini-Notepads opened up.. I removed them from the startup.. and then i notitced there were a few here and there. like under Games, and Music, and then i searched for more of them. and found 8 more, when i clicked on one under my SEARCH SCREEN. a new one popped up instantly under mydocument\RECENT.. whats up with these..
CAN I DELETE THEM? why are they all of a sudden popping up?

IM using XP Pro -----THankS
 

Toejam31

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Dec 31, 2007
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20,780
This is perfectly normal.

I have 44 of them on my (C:) drive, with only one visible all the time, at the root of the Favorites folder. The rest are hidden, and only visible when the "Hide protected operating system files" check box is cleared. (Windows Explorer\Tools\Folder Options\View.)

Here's a link that will tell you more about the files, and how they are used:

<A HREF="http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/shell/programmersguide/shell_basics/shell_basics_extending/custom.asp?frame=true" target="_new">Customizing Folders with Desktop.ini</A>

How one ended up on your desktop, and two more in your Startup folder ... ??? Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe better.

If you never want to see them again, click "Do not show hidden files and folders" in the same section mentioned above with the Folder Options\View settings.

Toejam31

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