One of my favorite programs in the Windows 2000 era was a utility called SetShellView. This little app tweaked the Windows desktop making your icons appear as “large icons” or “small icons” or as “list view” or “detailed view” – just like any other folder in Windows. Sadly, this program was not updated for, and does not work in, Windows XP.
I searched high and low for a replacement, and for the longest time I couldn’t find one. Eventually I found a post at some now-forgotten message board. It seems that someone else loved SetShellView too, and was also looking for a replacement. One of the replies to the original post was the two-word reply “Try this:”, with a direct link to a program called deskview.exe. I downloaded it and used it for the rest of my Windows XP days. And since it seems that my old site was the last place on the Internet that offered it for download, I decided to “port it” to the new site. So if you’re interested, read on!
As mentioned, deskview.exe changes your desktop icons from “large icons” to “small icons”. Unlike SetShellView, Deskview doesn’t have any options; you just double-click it to change the icons, then double-click it again to return your desktop to the default setting:
You can also put a shortcut to deskview.exe in your Startup folder. Deskview doesn’t remember your settings, so if you set it up and reboot your computer (or if Explorer crashes) you’ll need to double-click on deskview.exe and re-organize your desktop icons again.
Deskview works in Windows Vista, but requires some tweaking. By default, it will only shrink your existing icons by a certain percentage. For example, in the following picture the icons were originally set at “Medium icons” before deskview.exe was run:
To really shrink your Vista desktop icons, you need to hold down the CTRL key, then scroll the mouse wheel (this will shrink – or enlarge – the desktop icons), and then run DESKVIEW.EXE to shrink them even further.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I am not the author of deskview.exe, nor do I know how to contact the author of the software. I have no idea if this software is licensed, and if so, what terms are provided in said license. If you are the author of deskview and want me to remove it, or credit you with its authorship, please don’t hesitate to contact me!
Download Deskview
11kb, zipped
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Try this: http://iamwill.com/dev/desktopListView/index.php :)
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Hey, nice work! I saw a jpeg of a desktop that looked really busy and it had your icons, so I wondered if I could find something to make mine smaller. It works great!
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Thanks for this. Icons on the desktop are a listview with icons set as the default view. To illustrate this, open Windows Explorer and View the right pane as Icons, then Tile, then List. Deskview changes the view from Icon to List.
Another program that that performs what Deskview does and offers much more is D-Color XP. It is tiny in size too. Check it out.
http://dliboon.freeshell.org/?view=software
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Jim:
You are so gracious to continue to host this utility. I have linked to your page for it countless times. I realize it’s only out of the goodness of your heart, but if you would set up a paypal donation link, I’m sure some people (myself included) would like to show some gratitude. I believe in putting my money where my mouth is by repaying such kindness. Deskview makes the screen I look at every day more pleasant.
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Vista = Hold down CTRL and scroll down with mouse.
Wonderful find!!! I normally hide all my desktop icons, but turn them on when I’m on a downloading spree. This makes everything look nice and neat. Nothing worse than a cluttered desktop.
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What an awesome tool! I hate having icons all over my desktop, so this will be very handy.
In order to change size in vista with icon hold ctrl and scroll your mouse (make sure desktop is left-clicked once and active) it will shrink your icons, now run the .exe of this soft and it will look nice.
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Thank you sooooooooooo much
I just have to say…. I have wanted this program for SO DARN LONG! Not really so badly that I’d go out and comb the internet, but it was one of those things that would “tickle” the back of my brain when my desktop would get to cluttered or my projects would get intensive/heated… Translation = When I’d get busy, i’d bury or loose files on my desktop… sad. This is the perfect item!!
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i have been using this little geme for a long time, and thanks so far for keeping it for us ….
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I have been using Pistachio for about two years and it provides small desktop icons along with dozens of other desktop and mouse features. It is FREEWARE and can be added to your STARTUP so that it functions at bootup. Free at: http://pitaschio.ara3.net/
I’ll try some of the other progs mentioned to see if they are better. I only needed small icons, so if they work as well, then I may change, since that is the only function I use in Pistachio. So far, for small icon progs, I’ve found Pistachio, Deskview, Win Tidy (but it warns you not to use on XP SP2 and higher, but heck, I’ll try it), and Verve.
Deskview is just about the best feature I have seen for a long time… amazing Windows haven’t had it on their menu for destop view.
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good site unxrie
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SetShellView 2 is available, and it works for VISTA:
http://www.virtualplastic.net/download/apps/setshellview2.exe
The site hosting it also has a plethora of other great desktop information:
http://www.virtualplastic.net/html/icn_desk.html
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Thank U Sir,
But my problem still there constant. i could not get back my icon back in normal size. it look like nagetive picture and overlaped.
give me a solution.
thanks
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Sudhanshu: have you deleted the file SHELLICONCACHE and rebooted? that should fix the problem.
If you have TweakUI installed, there is also a “repair icons” option that should fix it (note: all it does is delete and recreate SHELLICONCACHE, which you could easily do yourself).
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