Unable to remove Homegroup Icon

Anonymous
2010-04-11T18:26:47+00:00

original title: Homegroup Icon

The HOMEGROUP Icon suddenly appeared on my desktop. I can't move it. I don't want it there. Can I get rid of the icon without disturbing the HOMEGROUP file?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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Anonymous
2010-04-12T10:31:57+00:00

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\

  1. 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.
  2. 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 Forum and let us know what you think.

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-04-17T12:33:00+00:00

    This will not work on my version of Windows 8.  It won't allow me to delete the folder.  The only thing works is the trick with Sharing Wizard below that turns off the thumbnails.  MS sure doesn't seem to care much about fixing something they toss over the wall and the answers given by them never seem to quite work, or work at all.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-04-17T02:34:19+00:00

    Genius, was looking for a faster way than the regedit one, works with windows 8 64 bits :)

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-04-12T16:17:30+00:00

    All I had to do was refresh my desktop and it vanished, sometimes the simplest plan is the best.  Seems too easy but I'd definitely give it a shot before messing with the registry.

    Hopefully that works for others too.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-04-11T01:56:45+00:00

    Thank you Amrita it worked like a charm but the root syntax was little different in my system than what you had listed as "Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace" after the - Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFWARE\ there was no "Microsoft" so I searched until I found the folders following - Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\ - it took me about 30 seconds but found it in a different directory than Microsoft.

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