Shanghai Tech WriterTechnical Writing, Technology, WordPress, Web 2.0, National Instruments, LabVIEW, Shanghai, China

Windows desktop is the dumping ground for all sorts of files because it is the most easily accessible location to save and open files. I used to have tons of icons on my desktop like shortcuts and frequently accessed files/folders, but after I discovered a new quick launch and toolbars setup (in the next post), I prefer having a cleaner desktop.

Currently, I have about 10 icons on my desktop, give and take a few temporary ones that I try to clean out at least once a week. There are several reasons why I prefer having a cleaner desktop as opposed to having many shortcut icons and frequently accessed files/folders.

1. If there are too many icons on the desktop, it is harder to find/look for something. If one icon gets deleted, a hole is created in the rows/columns of icons. When a new icon is created later on, it would be placed in that hole rather than at the end. This creates a very disorderly desktop. Since I like saving temporary files on my desktop, I am unable to locate my newly created files sometimes. A cleaner desktop means I know exactly where a newly saved file will be located (at the end), and I make it a habit to move them somewhere else or delete them after I’m done with it.
2. For some reason, using remote desktop messes up the placement of my icons. What used to be at the lower left hand corner would one day relocate to another part of my desktop. I’m very particular about my icon placements and *must* group them in a certain way, so whenever the icons get reshuffled due to remote desktop or whatever reason, I’d take some time to put them back where they are supposed to be. The more icons I had, the more they moved/shuffled around. After a while, it was getting annoying.
3. Sometimes, I take screen/video captures that show off my desktop and it looks better if I didn’t have a cluttered desktop. I don’t have a wallpaper either. My desktop background is just plain black.
4. My new quick launch/toolbars setup eliminates the need to have frequently accessed files/folders/applications on the desktop. More on this in a later post. Stay tuned!
5. One reason why placing frequently accessed files/folders/applications on the desktop is not very helpful is because it is hard to open them when you have several windows open and you don’t want to navigate away from the current window. The Windows-D shortcut key is very useful to show the desktop; however, if I am working on a documentation and I want to open another document on my desktop to compare, I don’t want to minimize everything (Windows-D), open the file on the desktop, and reopen everything I was working on.

So what do I have on my desktop then?

1. My Computer
2. My Document
3. My Network Place
4. Mozilla Firefox
5. Internet Explorer
6. IrfanView
7. Useful folder (placed on the top right hand corner)
8. Temp folder (placed beneath the Useful folder)
9. Recycle bin (placed beneath the temp folder)

These are the permanent icons on my desktop. Everything else that is saved will be removed within the week. It’s a very simple and clean desktop. Files, folders, and miscellaneous shortcuts that I frequently access is located inside the “Useful” folder, which I added as a toolbar on my taskbar (will explain in another post).

Note: I changed my desktop resolution to 800×600 for the screenshot so that it isn’t too big and I don’t have to resize causing image distortion.

I’m always curious to look at other people’s desktop and how they organize it. I’ve seen some that are completely filled with icons that there are no more desktop space left! I would not work optimally in such configuration but that’s just my own personal preference.

On the other hand, my actual desktop—as in the physical desk that I work on—is a whole different story. There’s nothing much to be said other than it’s cluttered with papers, printouts, folders, pen, food crumbs, and used tissues. What an embarrassment.