Hi Beth, The only thing it can do is to clutter your desktop with items. Personally, I prefer to keep a tidy desktop, just so I can find things... but that's me !!! To keep a lot of items on your Desktop, but keep it decluttered, you can always create "folders" on your desktop and drag your downloaded files to this folder to keep them organized.  I have a folder on my desktop called "little used" where I keep all of the desktop items I don't access very often. I have also moved all of the programs I use on a day-to-day basis from my desktop to my Quick Launch Toolbar. This allows me to open a program at any time without going back to the desktop to click on the Program Icon. If you want to use this technique or are not familiar with the Quick Launch Toolbar, here is a link for more info... http://johnbokma.com/windows/quick-launch.html I just want to note one more thing. Your Desktop is actually a visual representation of a FOLDER on your Hard Drive. If you want to see this folder you simply need to Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the following location... C:\Documents and Settings\<<YOUR USER NAME>>\Desktop There you will see listed ALL of the Items you have on your Desktop. I hope this helps a little and please ask if anything is confusing ! Regards, Kevin. On Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 6:30 PM, Beth Bowling <bodad@lavabit.com> wrote: > > This is a "Dummie" question, but please some kind person help me to > understand.... > > If I download an updated driver for a printer, and put it on My Desktop, > does it do anything, or cause any problems, or does it just sit there doing > nothing until I choose "Run" ????  And if I want to get rid of it, can I > just put it into the recycle bin with nothing left on the computer to cause > problems? If I do choose to "run" it, then does it overwrite the original > driver that is now installed?  And if I want to uninstall the updated > driver, how do you do that? > > I have never understood completely what the connection is between the > Desktop and the Computer operation...I always thought that it just holds > things until you need to "run" them. > > I have had enough problems in the last few weeks with my HP 2210 printer, > and trying to get it to operate properly...and since I accidentally > downloaded IE-8, the printer does not completely operate properly.  There > was a patch for IE-7 that took care of the problem, so I may download the > patch and reload IE-7.  It is so frustrating!  I don't want to buy a new > printer or computer...otherwise mine works just fine. > > Thanks for any help and clear explanations you can give me.  You all are the > greatest to help us confused seniors to keep our computers working. > Beth B > > > > > > > > :-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~: > > Take pity on Digest subscribers and remember to SNIP when replying. > > :-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~: > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to COMPUTERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- -------- K. Ross kr5927@gmail.com

Dear Kevin, BudScan and all....thanks for the information about the desktop. I believe I understand you correctly, that something on the desktop is really just sitting there, waiting to be opened and used. I have a folder with a couple of downloads so I will get the one for the updated printer driver and store it there until such time as I want to try installing it again. One thing I am not sure about is: do I uninstall the soft wear for the printer and then install the updated driver...or do I just install the update and let it overwrite what is presently on the computer? Thanks so much for your help! Beth Bowling <snip> Hi Beth, The only thing it can do is to clutter your desktop with items. Personally, I prefer to keep a tidy desktop, just so I can find things... but that's me !!! To keep a lot of items on your Desktop, but keep it decluttered, you can always create "folders" on your desktop and drag your downloaded files to this folder to keep them organized.  I have a folder on my desktop called "little used" where I keep all of the desktop items I don't access very often.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Beth Bowling" <bodad@lavabit.com> To: <computers@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2009 11:39 AM Subject: Re: [COMPUTERS] Download on Desktop >Dear Kevin, BudScan and all....thanks for the information about the >desktop. >I believe I understand you correctly, that something on the desktop is >really just sitting there, waiting to be opened and used. >I have a folder with a couple of downloads so I will get the one for the >updated printer driver and store it there until such time as I want to try >installing it again. > >One thing I am not sure about is: do I uninstall the soft wear for the >printer and then install the updated driver...or do I just install the >update and let it overwrite what is presently on the computer? Yes, it's usually best to uninstall the old driver before installing a new one. And you can just delete any folders you create to store files, if you decide you no longer need the file, deleteing the folder will also delete any files in that folder.