Reinstalled Windows 10 has 2 Desktops, the 2nd is above ThisPC Window.

wintenforom6945 · 05 Nov 2017

I have a 2nd Desktop above ThisPC access via the up arrow ( up one level ).

I have reinstalled Windows 10 using a USB, that should be a clean install, but the problem is still there - how?.
Have i got the wrong end of the stick, or was the Windows structure always like this.

So i open ThisPC folder it looks correct - folders Docs, Music.... Disc Drives C: ... Opening the Desktop folder that is in ThisPC is fine, shows 1 file on my desktop - correct.

Click back to ThisPC - and at the top is an up arrow, the arrow that takes me up one level to a different Desktop,
one that has folders in it.

O.K so i click the up arrow and it takes me up to a Window that is titled Desktop in the address bar.
It has icons for
Onedrive,
a copy of my username folder from Users,
ThisPC,
Libraries,
an external drive E: i plugged in,
Network,
Control Panel and
R-Bin
- whats going on ???

None of the above links and folders are in my desktop accessed through the ThisPC window.

So now in this 2nd Desktop ? i can open ThisPC icon and go up another level (up arrow) and repeat forever. Into ThisPC and then up arrow to the 2nd Desktop which contains a ThisPC icon and a copy of my username folder from Users.

Is the 2nd desktop ( which also contains myusername folder ( the one from Users folder )) a corruption of a secondary account.

Is this a bug in Windows itself - because this is a clean install via Media from a USB created by downloading the Media Creation Tool.

If Media Creation tool uses my system files to create the boot i can see if my registry is corrupt it would pass the corruption on, but as i understand it media creation tool uses a clean copy from Microsoft.

This is the 3rd reinstall and i have this other desktop above the ThisPC folder ?.

dalchina · 05 Nov 2017

Please confirm that when you did the clean install you booted your PC from your bootable USB disk, and deleted all existing windows partitions before the installation sequence began.

(Note that an EFI windows installation comprises 4 partitions)

Thanks!

wintenforom6945 · 05 Nov 2017

dalchina said:

Please confirm that when you did the clean install you booted your PC from your bootable USB disk, and deleted all existing windows partitions before the installation sequence began.(Note that an EFI windows installation comprises 4 partitions)Thanks!

Yes i did, i deleted all 4 partitions - do you think this is a problem ?. I dont know wether to start sorting out my settings and so on or to do a 2nd clean install.

Edwin · 05 Nov 2017

@wintenforom6945

If you collapse all trees in the Navigation Pane, you will see there are only two parent environments in File Explorer: Quick Access and Desktop.

Quick Access is virtual folder, or, a bookmarks bar if you will, to pin or access your frequently used files and folders;

The Desktop entity is the entire Explorer environment including OneDrive, Libraries, Control Panel plus whatever is in the user Desktop folder itself.

Desktop under This PC is the user Desktop folder.

dalchina · 05 Nov 2017

@wintenforom6945 A screenshot would be helpful...

wintenforom6945 · 05 Nov 2017

Edwin said:

@wintenforom6945

If you collapse all trees in the Navigation Pane, you will see there are only two parent environments in File Explorer: Quick Access and Desktop.

Quick Access is virtual folder, or, a bookmarks bar if you will, to pin or access your frequently used files and folders;

The Desktop entity is the entire Explorer environment including OneDrive, Libraries, Control Panel plus whatever is in the user Desktop folder itself.

Desktop under This PC is the user Desktop folder.

My file explorer collapsed has
Quick Access
One Drive
This PC
Network
in that order. Desktop only appears in the navigation panel if i open This PC.

essenbe · 05 Nov 2017

wintenforom6945 said:

My file explorer collapsed has
Quick Access
One Drive
This PC
Network
in that order. Desktop only appears in the navigation panel if i open This PC.

If I am understanding you correctly, that is the way it should be.

Edwin · 05 Nov 2017

wintenforom6945 said:

My file explorer collapsed has
Quick Access
One Drive
This PC
Network
in that order. Desktop only appears in the navigation panel if i open This PC.

Even when you right click an empty spot in the Navigation Pane and choose "Show all folders", then collapse all possible trees?

dalchina · 05 Nov 2017

Reinstalled Windows 10 has 2 Desktops, the 2nd is above ThisPC Window.-1.jpg

- mine's the same as @wintenforom6945 's (except Libraries isn't mentioned)

The difference is in the defaults - what's hidden by default, I think.
Add or Remove Default Desktop Icons in Windows 10 Customization Tutorials

E.g. Network is not shown on the desktop by default- but could be.

wintenforom6945 · 05 Nov 2017

Edwin said:

Even when you right click an empty spot in the Navigation Pane and choose "Show all folders", then collapse all possible trees?

When i do what you suggested i do indeed have
Quick Access
Desktop
Thank you
So the "Desktop" reached through This PC folder then click up arrow ( go up one level ) is simply a conceptual representation of the Global system.
Well it was an interesting dead end for a while.
What alarmed me is that
this PC - up one level - to concept desktop adds a level to the drop down level menu - small downward arrowhead between forward right arrow and the address bar.
I saw as i went This PC - up one level - then into This PC - up one level ... repeat x number of times - that the the drop down level menu indicator got longer and longer in the order of
Desktop
This PC
Desktop
This PC
.... and so on, as lengthy as the number of times the loop, This PC, up one level, into this PC, up a level was repeated.
I thought i had some serious registry corruption.
Although i have had Win 10 for a couple of years - and really like it - i never got caught in this dilemma before, either i never went up a level from This PC or never thought anything was wrong. But all of a sudden yesterday i got a bug in my head about it, i thought this has goto be wrong when the drop down level indicator got to about 9 or 10 repeat levels.
Wow - what a daft thing to get lost in.
Thanks very much, i shall sort out my setting now.