the desktop icons have got wierd..

[rohit]

Was cleaning my comp after a long time and pressed the keys of keyboard while the comp was ON. Since then i get this SHADOW on the desktop icons.
Also, it takes like 5 seconds to REFRESH desktop.
Wierd really, dunno wat actually has happened..:confused:
Been Busy lately, brains not workin.. lol.
Here is how it looks.
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/289/whathappnd0of.th.jpg (http://img8.imageshack.us/my.php?image=whathappnd0of.jpg)

[TierMann]

Have you tried quitting all the other processes you have going (like that launcher at the top)? I've never seen explorer add a shadow like that under icons, only under the text itself. With shadows under icon labels disabled, I still don't get those wierd shadows that you have. I could be wrong and maybe someone else has had this happen before, but worth a shot.

[rohit]

Yeh, i did all that. that was the 1st thing i thought of actually.
But no luck.
I went to Appearence settings too. no use.
I went to the performance settings too.. no use.

i dont think its a spyware / adware etc..
As i said, i was cleaning the keyboard, and pressed many buttons together. i switched ont the monitor and saw the icons get wierd.
what could it be..
thanks for the input.

[Ancient]

It doesn't look to me like a drop shadow, more like transparency was somehow turned of for the icons. You might have either locked the desktop items or you disabled Active Desktop.

See if this article helps:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1828916,00.asp

[rohit]

Ancient.. thanks for that.
But unfortunately, i tried that and it wasnt it..
I got it fixed.. spoke to friends on msn and got it solved..
It was so close and i overlooked it.. damn im a nOOb..

Display Properties-->Desktop-->Customize Desktop--WEB and untick lock desktop icons.
Damn it.. no wonder it used to take 5 secs to refreshh desktop..
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/7079/fixed4yl.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Ancient]

The article I linked tells you to do just that - unlock the desktop items - but I'm glad you solved your problem. :)

[TierMann]

Ah, silly web/active desktop stuff. I didn't think that was still around after win98. I never used it since then and 64bit actually doesn't have a web tab there. Good that you're back to normal now :).