Hi,

I don't use Windows 10 as often as earlier versions of Windows.

One VERY ANNOYING thing about Windows 10, I have not been able
to get "This PC" icon on the Desktop. Only a TINY icon in the Task Bar

Google's AI was NO help. Using AI, I learned how to make the Desktop Icons larger.

Can someone please tell me how to get "This PC" icon on the Desktop?

Thank You in advance, John


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.1
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In article <fc91ikla81a6o2uqp5dr7bqsqgsdclvuob@4ax.com>, jaugustine@verizon.net ()
wrote:

*From:* jaugustine@verizon.net
*Date:* Fri, 21 Nov 2025 12:59:56 -0500

Hi,

I don't use Windows 10 as often as earlier versions of Windows.

One VERY ANNOYING thing about Windows 10, I have not been able
to get "This PC" icon on the Desktop. Only a TINY icon in the
Task Bar

Google's AI was NO help. Using AI, I learned how to make the
Desktop Icons
larger.

Can someone please tell me how to get "This PC" icon on the
Desktop?

Thank You in advance, John

I use Open Shell here, but the route with the standard desktop is the same:

Start Button > Settings > Personalisation > Themes > Related Settings > Desktop Icon Settings.

--
Regards
John

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.1
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

<SNIP>

To get the "This PC" icon back on your desktop in Windows 10, follow
these steps:

1) Right-click on the Desktop: On an empty area of your desktop, >right-click.

2) Select "Personalize": From the context menu, click on "Personalize."

3) Go to Themes: In the Personalization window, on the left side, click
on "Themes."

4) Click on Desktop Icon Settings: Under the "Related Settings" section
on the right, click on "Desktop icon settings."

5) Enable "This PC": In the Desktop Icon Settings window, check the box
next to "Computer" (which represents "This PC").

6) Apply and OK: Click "Apply" and then "OK."

Now, the "This PC" icon should appear on your desktop!

Hi Jack,

By golly, it worked!

I consider "This PC" ("My Computer") a very important Icon. Why Microsoft designed Win10 without it on the Desktop is way beyond my compression.

Again, Thank You, John


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.1
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 2025/11/22 23:17:19, jaugustine@verizon.net wrote:

[]

By golly, it worked!

I consider "This PC" ("My Computer") a very important Icon. Why Mi

crosoft

designed Win10 without it on the Desktop is way beyond my compression.

Again, Thank You, John

What does that icon do that Win+E doesn't? (I'm genuinely asking; I
rarely use desktop icons, as they're usually obscured.)

[I just minimised enough windows to be able to see whether I have a This
PC icon on my desktop - I do; activating it _looks_ as if it does the
same as Win+E, i. e. opens up Explorer at a high level - showing the
(library?) Folders (6), Devices and drives (4 in my case), and Network locations (1 in my case).]

--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()ALIS-Ch++(p)Ar++T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Electricians do it 'till it Hz.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.1
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sat, 11/22/2025 10:05 PM, J. P. Gilliver wrote:

On 2025/11/22 23:17:19, jaugustine@verizon.net wrote:

[]

By golly, it worked!

I consider "This PC" ("My Computer") a very important Icon. Why Microsoft
designed Win10 without it on the Desktop is way beyond my compression.

Again, Thank You, John

What does that icon do that Win+E doesn't? (I'm genuinely asking; I
rarely use desktop icons, as they're usually obscured.)

[I just minimised enough windows to be able to see whether I have a This
PC icon on my desktop - I do; activating it _looks_ as if it does the
same as Win+E, i. e. opens up Explorer at a high level - showing the (library?) Folders (6), Devices and drives (4 in my case), and Network locations (1 in my case).]

I use Disk Management for a steering wheel :-)

And if your screen is covered up, at least on W11 there is the "show desktop" bar in the extreme lower-right corner. You have to be holding your mouse pointer over it, to see it. Click it once, minimizes the desktop windows.
Click it again, un-minimizes them (but not necessarily in the same stacking order).

Linux has seen a similar kind of change, in that disk partitions don't have
the same graphical exposure. And I've been using the Gnome-disks application
(a look-alike to Disk Management) for steering there.

I expect this is all part of a "smartphone play". The changes being made to things, are not for user convenience, they're part of business plans.

Paul

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.1
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

jaugustine@verizon.net wrote:
[...]

I consider "This PC" ("My Computer") a very important Icon. Why Microsoft
designed Win10 without it on the Desktop is way beyond my compression.

It's actually the opposite: The only [1] icon which is standard on the Desktop is the 'Recycle bin' icon. Any other icons on the Desktop are of programs you've installed (or came installed on your computer).

[1] Not sure about Microsoft Edge. I have that icon on my Desktop and
I've obviously not installed Edge myself and it's unlikely that I
voluntarily :-) put it's icon on my Desktop.

Again, Thank You, John

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.1
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:

On 2025/11/22 23:17:19, jaugustine@verizon.net wrote:

[]

By golly, it worked!

I consider "This PC" ("My Computer") a very important Icon. Why Microsoft
designed Win10 without it on the Desktop is way beyond my compression.

Again, Thank You, John

What does that icon do that Win+E doesn't? (I'm genuinely asking; I
rarely use desktop icons, as they're usually obscured.)

[I just minimised enough windows to be able to see whether I have a This
PC icon on my desktop - I do; activating it _looks_ as if it does the
same as Win+E, i. e. opens up Explorer at a high level - showing the (library?) Folders (6), Devices and drives (4 in my case), and Network locations (1 in my case).]

Win+E opens File Explorer. *What* File Explorer displays on opening,
depends on the Folder Options settings [1]. Its 'Open File Explorer to:' setting offers 'Home' or 'This PC'. So if this setting is set to 'Home',
Win+E does something different than the 'This PC' icon on the Desktop.

[1] File Explorer -> <three horizontal dots> icon -> Options -> opens
'Folder Options' applet -> 'General' tab.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.1
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 2025/11/23 3:36:59, Paul wrote:

On Sat, 11/22/2025 10:05 PM, J. P. Gilliver wrote:

On 2025/11/22 23:17:19, jaugustine@verizon.net wrote:

[]

I consider "This PC" ("My Computer") a very important Icon. Why Microsoft
designed Win10 without it on the Desktop is way beyond my compression

.

[]

What does that icon do that Win+E doesn't? (I'm genuinely asking; I

Frank has explained that you can change what Win+E does (and how); have
you, jaugustine, changed it? If not, you might find it a useful
alternative to the "This PC" icon, especially when it's obscured, or on
PCs that don't have it. (I personally would use it anyway, but then I
tend to use the keyboard instead of the mouse more than some people do.)

I use Disk Management for a steering wheel :-)

Not sure what you mean by Disk Management in the context of This PC or
Win+E.

And if your screen is covered up, at least on W11 there is the "show de

sktop"

bar in the extreme lower-right corner. You have to be holding your mous

e

pointer over it, to see it. Click it once, minimizes the desktop window

s.

It's there on 10, though more hidden than previously; it was there on 7.

Click it again, un-minimizes them (but not necessarily in the same stac

king order).

(Are you familiar with the "Mr. Preview" sketch, concerning the Grieg
piano concerto?) Yes, that restoration is sometimes weird. Another such restoration that has caught me out lately is using Switch User from Ctrl-Alt-Delete, which was suggested (and yes it works) when my system
goes into the simulate-ctrl-key-stuck mode: most windows come back as
they were, but the main Thunderbird one comes back postage-stamp size,
and recently when I also had a compose window open, that was there
(alt-tab showed it was), but nowhere to be seen - but I remembered the alt-space menu, and got it back via that. (IIRR the menu popped up in a
random position.)

Linux has seen a similar kind of change, in that disk partitions don't

have

the same graphical exposure. And I've been using the Gnome-disks applic

ation

(a look-alike to Disk Management) for steering there.

I expect this is all part of a "smartphone play". The changes being mad

e to

things, are not for user convenience, they're part of business plans.

I thought Windows 8 was the attempt to direct us to 'phone thinking, and
has failed, not least because touch screens haven't caught on as much as
they perhaps expected, for desktop users. (And laptops - I haven't been
into a "Currys/PC World" for ages, but I think the majority of new
laptops still don't have touch screens.)

Paul

John


--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()ALIS-Ch++(p)Ar++T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

I finally got my head together, and my body fell apart.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.1
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Frank Slootweg wrote on 11/23/2025 4:05 AM:

Win+E opens File Explorer. *What* File Explorer displays on opening, depends on the Folder Options settings [1]. Its 'Open File Explorer to:' setting offers 'Home' or 'This PC'. So if this setting is set to 'Home', Win+E does something different than the 'This PC' icon on the Desktop.

[1] File Explorer -> <three horizontal dots> icon -> Options -> opens
'Folder Options' applet -> 'General' tab.

Fyi...on some devices when using an MSA when OneDrive is
installed(running or even 'Quit') a third choice(Personal) can be present.
=> Personal is the locally configured folders for OneDrive
The Personal option includes the MSA(online MSA profile user's first name)
e.g. If the MSA username first name is Elvis, then the additional
choice will appear as 'Elvis - Personal'

The MSA username can only be configured at
https://account.microsoft.com/profile/
Once logged on and loaded, click on 'Your info' in the left hand
navigation pane for the option to 'Edit' the full username.

The configured username(full - first and last) when changed will sync
back down to update its respective Windows logon MSA username.
- iirc a both first and last names are required, though one can, if
desired, use a blank/null(doesn't show) character using Windows
'Character Map' by copying the character and pasting in the last name
field; not all blank/null looking Character Map characters can be used.



--
...w­¤?ñ?¤

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.1
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 23 Nov 2025 11:05:24 GMT, Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid>
wrote:

Win+E opens File Explorer. *What* File Explorer displays on opening,
depends on the Folder Options settings [1]. Its 'Open File Explorer to:' >setting offers 'Home' or 'This PC'. So if this setting is set to 'Home', >Win+E does something different than the 'This PC' icon on the Desktop.

[1] File Explorer -> <three horizontal dots> icon -> Options -> opens
'Folder Options' applet -> 'General' tab.

The system dialog is way too limited, IMHO. Starting with 98SE and
continuing through to 10/11, I just edit the shortcut so that Explorer
opens in the folder that I want. In my case, 99.9% of the time I want to
start in D:\, so my shortcut points there.


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.1
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)