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jszrules · May 4, 2003, 10:08 PM

Hi, what is the purpose of the Desktop folder in the Mac HD (not to be confused with the Desktop icon in Home)? There is nothing in that folder and yet I am unable to delete it. Is it important? If not, is there a way to delete it? Thanks.

OptimusG4 · May 4, 2003, 10:16 PM

Its part of OS 9 (classic), so if you have that installed, its still sorta useful if you use OS 9.

jszrules · May 5, 2003, 12:08 AM

But isn't there a hidden 'Desktop Folder' that does the same thing? What is the difference between this 'Desktop' folder on the Mac HD and this hidden 'Desktop Folder'? Thanks.

boma · May 5, 2003, 04:44 AM

Originally posted by jszrules:
But isn't there a hidden 'Desktop Folder' that does the same thing? What is the difference between this 'Desktop' folder on the Mac HD and this hidden 'Desktop Folder'? Thanks.

It was a while ago I got rid of Classic so I may be wrong. Isn't the Desktop Folder at the disk root an alias so that you can access classic desktop from OSX? The classic desktop doesn't respect different users so it would be wrong to have the link in ~/

ebolla · May 5, 2003, 03:29 PM

there is an alias of the os9 desktop folder at the root level
but there is also a folder named "Desktop" too that is different than the os9 desktop folder

does it hurt to delete this folder cuz it has been annoying me also?

gorickey · May 5, 2003, 03:39 PM

Originally posted by ebolla:
there is an alias of the os9 desktop folder at the root level
but there is also a folder named "Desktop" too that is different than the os9 desktop folder

does it hurt to delete this folder cuz it has been annoying me also?

You can just make the folder invisible, right?

7Macfreak · May 5, 2003, 09:26 PM

put it in your dock for quick and easy access when you have multiple windows/applications open.
now i'm not saying that's the only purpose of the desktop folder, but just ONE way that you could use it positively.

Phoenix1701 · May 7, 2003, 01:02 AM

Wow, this is obviously a confusing question, so let me answer very carefully.

There are three Desktop folders you may find floating around your workspace:

/Desktop
/Desktop Folder
~/Desktop

~/Desktop is the one 7Macfreak was referring to; /Desktop Folder was the one OptimusG4 was talking about. The "/Desktop" folder, on the other hand, seems to serve no real purpose. Indeed, on many systems it does not even exist. I think it may have something to do with misbehaving Carbon applications, but for whatever reason the Finder is set up not to let you delete it. I've gleefully deleted it anyway on numerous occasions, but it seems to just come back again after a few days. The solution I finally settled on was to edit the ".hidden" file at the root level of the hard drive and add "Desktop" to the list of filenames. That will render the folder invisible, and it will persist even if the folder gets deleted or recreated or reset in some other way.

jszrules · May 9, 2003, 12:40 AM

Originally posted by Phoenix1701:
Wow, this is obviously a confusing question, so let me answer very carefully.

There are three Desktop folders you may find floating around your workspace:

/Desktop
/Desktop Folder
~/Desktop

~/Desktop is the one 7Macfreak was referring to; /Desktop Folder was the one OptimusG4 was talking about. The "/Desktop" folder, on the other hand, seems to serve no real purpose. Indeed, on many systems it does not even exist. I think it may have something to do with misbehaving Carbon applications, but for whatever reason the Finder is set up not to let you delete it. I've gleefully deleted it anyway on numerous occasions, but it seems to just come back again after a few days. The solution I finally settled on was to edit the ".hidden" file at the root level of the hard drive and add "Desktop" to the list of filenames. That will render the folder invisible, and it will persist even if the folder gets deleted or recreated or reset in some other way.

I don't think I'm referring to ~/Desktop. So I guess my original question was how to get rid of /Desktop. I tried to add "Desktop" to the".hidden" file, but it tells me I cannot save because it is a read-only file and asks me if I want to overwrite. Should I overwrite?

My follow-up question concerns this already-invisible "Desktop Folder" (I believe this is /Desktop Folder). The Help Center says there should be an alias called "Desktop (Mac OS 9)" to open this invisible file but I think I deleted that a long time ago. So do you recommend making "Desktop Folder" visible at the same time I make the useless "/Desktop" invisible? Thanks guys.

jszrules · May 12, 2003, 04:18 PM

Hi, does anyone have answers to the questions in the previous post? Thanks a lot.

jszrules · May 19, 2003, 05:08 PM

Originally posted by jszrules:
I don't think I'm referring to ~/Desktop. So I guess my original question was how to get rid of /Desktop. I tried to add "Desktop" to the".hidden" file, but it tells me I cannot save because it is a read-only file and asks me if I want to overwrite. Should I overwrite?

My follow-up question concerns this already-invisible "Desktop Folder" (I believe this is /Desktop Folder). The Help Center says there should be an alias called "Desktop (Mac OS 9)" to open this invisible file but I think I deleted that a long time ago. So do you recommend making "Desktop Folder" visible at the same time I make the useless "/Desktop" invisible? Thanks guys.

If anyone thinks they can answer these questions, please take a stab at them. Thanks.

pat++ · May 19, 2003, 05:35 PM

Originally posted by jszrules:
I don't think I'm referring to ~/Desktop. So I guess my original question was how to get rid of /Desktop. I tried to add "Desktop" to the".hidden" file, but it tells me I cannot save because it is a read-only file and asks me if I want to overwrite. Should I overwrite?

Assuming devtools are installed, open Terminal :

sudo /Developer/Tools/SetFile -a V /Desktop

will make /Desktop invisible. I wouldn't put Desktop in .hidden because it might make all Desktop folders invisible. (correct me if I'm wrong)

My follow-up question concerns this already-invisible "Desktop Folder" (I believe this is /Desktop Folder). The Help Center says there should be an alias called "Desktop (Mac OS 9)" to open this invisible file but I think I deleted that a long time ago. So do you recommend making "Desktop Folder" visible at the same time I make the useless "/Desktop" invisible? Thanks guys.

In Terminal :

ln -s "/Desktop Folder" ~/Desktop/"Desktop (Mac OS 9)"