Unable to remove Homegroup Icon

Had the same problem after an update of 20 not important components.

Can't tell witch one caused the problem.

This worked for me win 7 - 64 bit home premium

1. Drive to "Folder Options"
2. Click "View"
3. Scroll down to "Use Sharing Wizard (Recommended)" it must be checked
4. Un-Check  the Check -box
5. Click "Apply"......the Icon will be removed from your desktop
6. Re-Check the Check-box .....the icon will not be back

Have fun and try not to mess around with registry :) if you do not know exactly what are you doing

Worked like a champ in Windows 8.1!  Thanks!!!

Had the same problem after an update of 20 not important components.

Can't tell witch one caused the problem.

This worked for me win 7 - 64 bit home premium

1. Drive to "Folder Options"
2. Click "View"
3. Scroll down to "Use Sharing Wizard (Recommended)" it must be checked
4. Un-Check  the Check -box
5. Click "Apply"......the Icon will be removed from your desktop
6. Re-Check the Check-box .....the icon will not be back

Have fun and try not to mess around with registry :) if you do not know exactly what are you doing

This worked for me on Windows 8.1 Pro - 64 bit

steps are a little different because difference in OS GUI

1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Single click the C:\ icon
3. Select the View tab
4. Click the Options button
5. Select the View tab on the Folder Options dialog
6. Scroll down and either check or un-check the "Use Sharing Wizard (Recommended)" option (depending on your current setting, do the opposite)
7. Click Apply
8. Change the "Use Sharing Wizard (Recommended)" option back to its normal setting
9. Click Apply
10. Close the options dialog
11. Return to desktop and the Homegroup icon is gone (you may have to refresh).

Hope this helps.

Dave

Hi Halnormank,

You may follow the link given below and follow the suggestion by ‘Dale’ to remove the folder from the registry.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itproui/thread/366b1b5d-e177-46be-84d1-9a7864a2725b

Below are the steps from the same link for your convenience.

Important: This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following link. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Back-up-the-registry

1. Press Win + R to open a run box.
2. Type: regedit and hint Enter.
3. Navigate to:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\

4. Find a folder (key) with the name {B4FB3F98-C1EA-428d-A78A-D1F5659CBA93} , this is the registry entry Homegroup icon. Delete the folder from the registry.
5. Press F5 to refresh the desktop and see if the icon disappears.

Hope this information is helpful.

Amrita M

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forumand let us know what you think.

Worked a treat, thank you :)

October 15 2014

I had this issue happen today.  The HomeGroup icon just appeared on my desk top.  Followed these instructions and the icon went away.

Thanks so much.

This worked for me win 7 - 64 bit home premium

1. Drive to "Folder Options"
2. Click "View"
3. Scroll down to "Use Sharing Wizard (Recommended)" it must be checked
4. Un-Check  the Check -box
5. Click "Apply"......the Icon will be removed from your desktop
6. Re-Check the Check-box .....the icon will not be back