Parallels randomly deletes my windows 7 desktop icons

Discussion in 'Windows Virtual Machine' started by Giacojames, Feb 7, 2012.

  1. Giacojames

    Giacojames Bit poster

    Messages:
    3
    Hi!

    As the title says, my Parallels randomly decideds to delete my windows 7 desktop icons. I've turned sharing off in Lion but am completely baffled why it is doing this!!!! Has anyone had this problem, or know of anyways to stop this happening? It's incredibly frustrating!

    Many thanks in advance!
     
  2. YanaYana

    YanaYana

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    1,666
    It is the first time i hear something like that. Do you mean Windows icons (like my computer or anything) or icons which are actually on your Mac's desktop?
     
  3. Giacojames

    Giacojames Bit poster

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    3
    It deletes windows icons and shortcuts on the windows7 desktop... Very very frustrating!
     
  4. YanaYana

    YanaYana

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    1,666
    Please make an example. particular item or shortcut which has been deleted
     
  5. Giacojames

    Giacojames Bit poster

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    Shortcuts to excel files, word documents, programs like autocad or outlook...
     
  6. Specimen

    Specimen Product Expert

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    3,236
    Are you sure this isn't windows archiving old icons on desktop functionality?
     
  7. Eirà kr

    Eirà kr Member

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    A question for you -- do these shortcuts on your Windows desktop disappear while the VM is running, or only when you reboot the VM?

    As unlikely as this is, it is possible that your VM is configured to boot every time from a snapshot -- that way every time you restart your VM, it will be exactly as it was the time the snapshot was saved.

    Also, do you ever find that actual data files are being deleted from your Windows desktop, or is it only ever the shortcuts? This could also be because of a "boot from snapshot" kind of configuration.

    There are also various viruses that might exhibit similar behaviour. Is there any possibility that your Windows VM might be infected with something?

    Is this a personal VM on a personal computer, or is this part of a VPN or other corporate network, where your IT department might have some Windows management policy in place?

    And when you say "desktop icons", do you mean that the files are still visible on you desktop, but they have some sort of generic "File" icon instead of the expected icon (i.e., only the icons are changing, but the files are still there)? And do you mean files on the desktop itself, or files in the "Quick Launch" area on the left side of the Taskbar? Or both?

    -----

    I know this is a lot of questions, but your post was very thin on detail. In any technical support situation, the more detail you can give, the better. :)

    Cheers,
     
  8. YanaYana

    YanaYana

    Messages:
    1,666
    sounds the same for me... have never came around anything like that and it sounds impossible Tools would intervent to desktop and remve icons. Or may be a virus.
     
  9. MadMellow

    MadMellow Bit poster

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    Another County heard from

    Having same problem on two installations of Parallels 7 with Windows 7. I never saw this before with 6/XP, but since upgrade Windows icons -- either on desktop or in dock -- "randomly" disappear. Rebooting may or may not fix the problem. Funny enough, the location of the icon remains, the label appears when hovering, and clicking launches the Windows app.

    I've seen several threads on this subject, with reports of futile attempts in contacting Parallels tech support.

    Anyone found a solution yet?
     
  10. Eirà kr

    Eirà kr Member

    Messages:
    42
    @MadMellow--

    So what you mean is that there is still an icon in the same location on the Windows desktop or the Windows Taskbar, only its *appearance* has changed, presumably to some kind of generic image?

    Or do you mean that the Windows desktop or Taskbar appear empty (or at least somewhat less populated), with just blank background where the icons used to be, and that mousing over shows that the icons are still there, only somehow invisible?

    In either case, this sounds a lot like something that Windows is doing. I suspect it might be related to the Aero theme, since that makes heavy use of graphics whizbang. In Windows, try going into Control Panels -> Performance Options, then the Visual Effects tab, and try disabling options like Aero Peek, transparent glass, show thumbnails instead of icons, and so forth, and see if that changes your symptoms. Be methodical -- disable / enable the options one at a time, reboot, and see what effect it has on your vanishing-icons problem.

    Hope this helps,
     
  11. MadMellow

    MadMellow Bit poster

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    Doc transparency , not start menu

    I don't particularly care about or notice what the Windows task bar/start menu is doing. I use Windows as a "helper" app for OSX, using Parallels in Coherence mode. The icons which I mention are included on the OSX Dock and OSX desktop (which is shared with the PC desktop). For example, at the moment my Powerpoint icon in the MAC Doc is transparent, while the Powerpoint icon in the Windows's Start Menu is present.
     

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