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
    2014-01-29T15:52:26+00:00

    Go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services and look for HomeGroup Listener and HomeGroup Provider.  For each one, right click and go to Properties. Even if the "Startup Type" is shown as Manual, change it to Disabled and this should cause the icon to disappear from your desktop.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-01-21T11:58:21+00:00

    Brilliant, this worked perfectly for me, thank you!

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-01-12T03:01:19+00:00

    I too had this magically show up after I rebooted my computer one day.  I saw the prior instructions about the sharing wizard, but I had already disabled it.  I was able to get rid of the pesky thing by simply creating and summarily leaving a homegroup.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-01-08T23:27:11+00:00

    I'm reporting back because I had to restore the registry key that I deleted on 2013.12.12.  Without the key I couldn't change or set a picture for my user account.  This is where I found out I needed the key.  It's been 2 days and the stupid HomeGroup icon hasn't return.  I hope it stays that way.

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