Where Did My Icons Go and How Do I Get Them Back?

Tuckerfan · #1 8th December 2011, 03:58 PM

I was having problems with a program on my PC, as it turned out, the issue was caused by an add-on which I'd installed for that program. There not being an easy way to uninstall said add-on, I did some poking around on the web to find out what I needed to do to remove that add-on. The solution involved poking around in the User folder. It turned out that file was hidden and I had to tell Windows (I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium) to show the file. I picked "Apply" in the dialog box, and Windows proceeded to spend several minutes scanning the folder. Once it was done, I realized that I needed to go to bed, since the dialog box was still up, I clicked 'Ok' and it began scanning again. Not knowing how it'd react if one of the cats began walking on the keyboard while I was away (and really wanting to get to bed), I canceled that, canceled the operation, closed everything out and discovered that all the icons on my desktop were gone.

Looking in File Manager (or whatever they're calling it these days), I can't find a bunch of the folders which were once there (including the Users folder). None of my stuff seems to be deleted, nor did I click on anything last night to delete any files. Rebooting didn't fix the problem, so I'm stumped. Anyone know how to unfubar this?

Random Precision · #2 8th December 2011, 06:27 PM

Have you checked ~~behind the couch cushions~~ the recycle bin? You can reach it by pressing [windows key] E, for Windows Explorer.

There's also the option of restoring to the last break point from the control panel.

Harry · #3 8th December 2011, 06:48 PM

Restoring from an earlier date would be my suggestion, too. Go to "restore" from the control panel and Windows will show you a calendar. Days you can restore from will be in bold.

Annoying Retard Nonny · #4 8th December 2011, 07:00 PM

Right click on desktop.
Go to View submenu.
Make sure "Show desktop icons" is checked.

Tuckerfan · #5 9th December 2011, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Annoying Retard Nonny

Right click on desktop.
Go to View submenu.
Make sure "Show desktop icons" is checked.

Its checked, and the only restore point I have is from freakin' March, which means that it'll take 16 hours to reinstall all the various updates if I go that route.

Harry · #6 9th December 2011, 04:42 PM

Try this. You've still got the programs. Open the list for "all programs," right click on the name of the appropriate program and you should get a menu that includes "send to." That will open another menu which will include "desktop (create shortcut)." That don't work, I got no other ideas.

Tuckerfan · #7 9th December 2011, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry

Try this. You've still got the programs. Open the list for "all programs," right click on the name of the appropriate program and you should get a menu that includes "send to." That will open another menu which will include "desktop (create shortcut)." That don't work, I got no other ideas.

That won't reveal where Windows has hidden my "Users" folder, which I kind of need to find.

Harry · #8 9th December 2011, 05:17 PM

In the "Start" menu did you search for "user's folder?" It's in a sub folder of the favorites folder.

Wolf Larsen · #9 10th December 2011, 08:36 PM

Your icons have gone to live on a farm where they can run around free.

Tuckerfan · #10 11th December 2011, 06:39 AM

I've managed to get them back without nuking the thing and starting over. I just happened to need to download and save something off the web to burn to a CD before I nuked the thing and that's what enabled me to find the folders and get them back. The folder Firefox is set to save things to just happened to be in my Users folder, and I didn't change it before I saved the file.

After I saved it, I was able to find the file using search, from there, I was able to reset the preferences to make the files and folders visible.