William Beaver asked for “a simple, safe” way to remove the arrows from the shortcuts on his desktop. Shortcuts point to files–usually but not always programs–that are stored elsewhere on your drive.

Real desktop optimization happens below the surface. These Registry hacks remove the small annoyances that negatively impact your workflow.

When you install Windows 7 and Windows 8 you will find that your desktop has only the Recycle Bin icon and any other icons enabled by your computer manufacturer. If you wish to add other icons such as ...

Although you can simply delete most shortcuts on the Windows 8 desktop, system shortcuts cannot be removed this way. Similarly, Windows adds shortcut icons on the taskbar's notification area to ...