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Frequently Asked Questions - XDESK

Q: If I enable 'Use separate icons on each desktop' it can become very complicated to manage those icons from the Desktop, what should I know about that ?

A: Basically the 'cleanup' should be done from your favorite file manager - probably for many people Explorer (in a stand-alone window, the desktop itself is actually an Explorer window, but a rather special one), for other people Total Commander or anything else.
The first trick is that the main desktop folder is not what you can see as the 'topmost root' in Explorer but instead most often something like "DRIVE:\Documents and Settings\USER\Desktop" !!! All items on that location will be present ONLY on the first virtual desktop.
Second trick - the equivalent folder for other virtual desktops are located under "DRIVE:\XDESK\DESKTOP\nn" - again those items should be only visible on a specific desktop!
Third (and last easy one) trick - there is one more folder involved and that is "DRIVE:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop" - that folder is normally 'mixed' by explorer with the 'normal folder' from above, but with regard with virtual desktops the result is that the items from there are normally visible on ALL DESKTOPS for ALL USERS !!!
The 'algorithm' is something like that - you should first clean "All Users\Desktop" (BUT WITH HUGE CARE since those are for ALL USERS on that Windows!) ; then you 'clean' the desktop for your user (which is normally first virtual desktop) and then all the other folders under "\XDESK\DESKTOP" !!!
There are some other items that are registry-based - those are best left alone and handled by the programs that put them there! (for instance under XP some icons can be managed under "Display properties" / Desktop / "Customize desktop").