cluttered desktop

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Does the amount of files on a desktop slow the computer? My wife has a lot of files on her XP3 desktop and I am wondering if they can slow it down?

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Some questions are easier to answer than others. The answer to your question is no.

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Some questions are easier to answer than others. The answer to your question is no.

The correct answer is that it depends on whether these are “real” files or shortcuts to files. Real files slow down your user experience (and your PC) something dreadful, shortcuts, OTOH, slow down the length of time it takes you to find something…

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Icons can be compared to light switches……..You can have as many as you want, as long as you don’t have them ALL on at the same time.

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The only way it may slow you down is the time it takes to find the correct icon for the file you are looking for. A cluttered desktop slows down the human, not the PC.

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If there is a lot of clutter on the desktop it stands to reason there is alot of clutter in the taskbar?

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I have seen where if say one puts several thousand photos in a folder, repeats that for several folders and then actively works with those folders (making many edits to photos here and there), it can take significantly longer for explorer to display path trees and open prompts and stuff like that since it will have to do a quick index of items each time, but that would slow down a computer whereever those files were kept.

If one is not actively accessing and changing them all the time or there are only a few hundred or less, there would be no real perceptible change in speed.

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Thanks to all those responding. I didn’t think it could do any harm since most of the shortcuts are to web sites that she uses often and does not want to try to find them in Bookmarks. Just looks strange to see almost no available space on the desktop. And no, her toolbar is not cluttered. Just the things that are needed such as anti-virus etc.

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