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George B. from the
Lakefront writes:
"The last time I ran the Desktop Cleanup Wizard, I accidentally deleted the icon for Internet Explorer. Before, you could go to the display control panel and get it back, but now the checkbox is gone! Help!"
ANSWERED JULY 29: Some icons on your desktop are what Microsoft calls
namespaces. They're not shortcuts but are actually part of the operating system. Examples are
My Documents,
My Computer, and
Internet Explorer. Restoring a deleted namespace was once challenging, because it involved editing the registry, which inexperienced users know is something best left to professionals. Microsoft's
Fix it Solution Center, however, made restoring missing IE icons simple. A tool provided in Microsoft Knowledge Base article
945402 automates the process. Now, however, the tool doesn't always work, and neither does editing the registry. The change seems to be linked somehow to Windows 7. According to Microsoft, "Windows 7 no longer supports the ability to modify the registry to get the special Internet Explorer icon to appear on your desktop. This change was made to ensure Internet Explorer could be removed easily for compliance reasons. The only way to add the Internet Explorer icon to the desktop in Windows 7 is to create a shortcut." No one seems to know why this also affects earlier versions of Windows. Nevertheless, a telltale sign that you can forget about restoring the IE namespace is when the checkbox for displaying the Internet Explorer icon, found in the
Customize Desktop section of the
Display Properties control panel, disappears. See Microsoft Knowledge Base article
330170. When this occurs, creating a shortcut for IE could your only option, unless you're lucky, like George, and
System Restore saves the day. My advice, even if this problem didn't exist, would be to disable the Automatic Desktop Cleanup feauture in XP. For instructions, see
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 320154.
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Clayton L. from
Old Metry asks:
"A buddy of mine says the guy in those Verizon ads is a real engineer. He got picked to be in a TV commercial years ago, and now that's all he does. I think he's got him confused with Jared (Fogle), the Subway guy. What's the scoop?"
ANSWERED JULY 29: Paul Marcarelli, who plays the "Can you hear me now?" tester, a.k.a., "The Verizon Guy," in advertisements for Verizon Wireless is an actor. Sources, however, say that the black, horn-rimmed glasses he wears in the ads are his own.
