The Myth Of Refreshing The Desktop

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metalspree said:
"Do you refresh your desktop?". Ask this to any Windows user and 99% of them will reply with a "yes". Of course, there are various needs for refreshing the desktop but the majority of people who does it doesn't even know why he is doing it. Refreshing the desktop is perhaps the biggest computer myth among all Windows users.
Every single person I have met does this or at least used to do it. It's not known who first discovered this remarkably useless trick and what he achieved from it, but it just spread. Most new users learn this trick from other new users without caring to know what it does. Some do it devotedly just because others do it, while some others have various weird explanations for it. A few of them assumes that it refreshes the RAM, while some others believe that doing it will somehow keep their PCs running smooth and easy. I have seen some users obsessed with refreshing the desktop, doing it every 30 seconds or so. They have even learnt the keyboard shortcut - F5 (just to mention, these are the people who never use keyboard shortcuts). They would press the key and wouldn't release it for a long time, sending the desktop into a frenzy of refreshes.

What does a desktop refresh actually do? Refreshing the desktop simply redraws the icons on the desktop. That's it! It doesn't refreshes the RAM. It doesn't clean your PC. It doesn't refreshes your computer the way it does to you when you wake up from a nap. Refreshing the desktop has absolutely no effect on the working or performance of the computer. So why is the tool there? As I said, refresh is used to re-display or redraw the icons on the desktop. Sometimes when you bring some changes to the desktop icons, the change doesn't get reflected instantly. In such cases, refreshing the desktop becomes necessary to bring the change to effect. Say, you have the desktop icons set to arrange themselves alphabetically on your desktop. When you add a new item to the desktop, this item wouldn't get arranged alphabetically, instead it would appear at the bottom of icon list on the desktop, irrespective of it's name. Now if you refresh the desktop, all the icons would be once more arranged alphabetically and the newly added item would go to it's appropriate position. This is what refresh is for. It is to re-display the desktop. Refresh has the same function when done in explorer. Also Refresh is basically the command used to refresh/reload the video buffer(VGA memory). Sometimes the changes made in the VGA memory are not reflected to the screen properly...Refresh just corrects the prob...

So, if you are in the habit of refreshing the desktop, stop it. You are just wasting your time and effort. And the next time you see a person doing it, don't forget to explain to him the futility of this action.
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Umm there is a bit of truth to the part that says that it makes the system respond better. The only reason I can think of is that if you do not have enough ram on the system and explorer has been swapped out of ram, at least a part of it, all of it can never be swapped out, then refreshing would simply load it back to ram, giving the appearance that the system is suddenly faster, while all along it is just the shell(explorer) that is faster. Of course having enough ram will help, but after a while windows swaps everything out that has not been used in a while.

Although I do agree that part of the experience is just placebo effect. I myself never have to refresh the desktop, 4GB ram FTW!!
 
if you actually want too refresh the desktop, you have to re-start explorer... this means killing it in Task manager and then starting it again from Task manager
 
PiXeLpUsHeR said:
if you actually want too refresh the desktop, you have to re-start explorer... this means killing it in Task manager and then starting it again from Task manager
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tats correct mate :D
 
ive seen so many ppl just refreshing the desktop for no apparent reason.. and even after explaining them its useless on most of the modern comps they still continue to do it even more so.. ive given up .. i guess once u get addicted to it.. its hard to let go.. i dont even remember when was the last time i right clicked and refreshed :P
 
Well the computer operator in our office keeps refreshing the desktop with a certain look/drive on her face..Sometimes it does actually make her look computer literate..
 
Party Monger said:
Well the computer operator in our office keeps refreshing the desktop with a certain look/drive on her face..Sometimes it does actually make her look computer literate..
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All computer operators in our office are addicted with it. As others have pointed it, trying to make them understand the futility doesn't work. And yes, they always do it with a peculiar expression on their face.:@
 
Had gone to a goverment office to get one certificate couple of months back. their server went down so the lady kept clicking on refresh on the desktop for like 5 mins. she even told her colleague that if u keep refreshing on the photo(wallpaper) server starts working again faster.

:)
 
showed this 2 my frnd who didn't believe me before....complete nonsense 2 hit tat pathetic F5 key....some guys just keep it pressed for a minute.....nouse..expect making them feel happy...

nice thread buddy...juz won my friends appreciation
 
The refreshing desktop thing is so pointless. I've seen people refresh it 4-5 times in a row using the mouse. Then they wait, analyze it, think about it "hmmm....that's not right....needs more refreshes" and then do it another 2-3 times.

I confess I've done it too but only a couple of times for the icons disappearing/corruption glitch..! :ashamed:
 
Hacker said:
Had gone to a goverment office to get one certificate couple of months back. their server went down so the lady kept clicking on refresh on the desktop for like 5 mins. she even told her colleague that if u keep refreshing on the photo(wallpaper) server starts working again faster.

:)
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:rofl: :rofl: ,what's refresh got to do with server :P
 
Most half-cooked so-called computer technicians do this as the first job....right click and refresh..! :P
Personally, I resort to refresh when I'm frustrated or angry with someone or something... Its just like a stress-breaker..!! :D
 
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