For Windows

Notepad Opens Desktop.ini On Windows Startup? Here Is The Fix!

Srishti Sisodia
Published 2019-08-25

Despite of being immensly popular, the Windows platform sure has its fair share of annoyances.

Have you ever got a Notepad named desktop.ini with

'[.ShellClassInfo] LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%/System32/Shell32.dll,-21787'

as soon as you start your computer? Do you know what is it? Why did it happen? I have been dealing with this issue since last week and trust me it irritated me to the core. Well, if you have faced the same thing, then you can understand the feeling.

To answer all your questions and to know how to get rid of this irritating notepad popping up at your screen every time you turn on your PC, read on!

Well, this behavior could be due to a few things such as:

Desktop.ini file exists in one or more folders, usually installed in a drive with Windows on it, you can locate these folders:

Once you locate the Desktop.ini file, open it in Notepad

You will see [.ShellClassInfo] LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21787. So, now you know why you get that weird Notepad thing opening at the screen. Now, let’s know how to get rid of it.

Locate & Delete Desktop.ini File

To locate desktop.ini file in your computer and delete it, follow these steps:

  1.  Press Windows and E to get Windows Explorer.
  2. Click View tab and then click Options->Change folders & Search Options.
  3.  You will get Folder Options->View tab
  4.  Under Advanced Settings, locate Hide extensions for known file types & Hide protected operating system files. Remove the checkmark beside both the options, then click Apply and OK to make the changes.
  5.  Locate all the files named Desktop.ini which have the same statement earlier in the document, to locate follow these steps:

Once located, check whether the files contain “[.ShellClassInfo] LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21787”

If these files contain the lines, right-click on the file, then click Delete to remove all of them. Click Yes to confirm the action. If you have deleted all the desktop.ini files, then restart your computer. Once your system comes up, check for the notepad with weird lines.

Author’s Tip: You must have a protection tool on your computer, so that anytime anything fishy surfaces, you can get notified. One of the best security solution Advanced System Protector can handle all the bad stuff for you. It keeps an eye on your PC, detects and deletes if any threat found, keeping you safe always.

Method 2: Steps to Disable the Startup Items

To disable Startup items, follow these steps:

  1.  Press Windows and R to get the Run window.
  2.  Type msconfig and click OK to open.
  3. Click the Startup tab & click Open in Task Manager.
  4.  Now, check for any desktop entries in Startup items under Common Startup in the Location column, and if Yes, then look for the following location-

Restart your computer to confirm the problem is solved.  So, in this way, the issue of a notepad named desktop.ini file saying

“[.ShellClassInfo] LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21787” coming up is resolved. Try these methods, and let us know which worked for you in the comments section below. For more tech updates, keep visiting out website  WeTheGeek.

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