Show My Computer icon on Desktop in Windows 7

The classic Start Menu, which was available till Windows Vista and is removed from Windows 7, allowed you to put the My Computer (or just Computer in Vista) shortcut on the Desktop. When you double-click on this My Computer icon, you would see all your hard disks and other removable devices. If you miss this classic My Computer shortcut, you can create one on Windows 7 desktop as well. Here is how :

My Computer icon on Desktop in Windows 7

  1. Right-click on the desktop and choose New → Shortcut as shown.

    Create new shortcut on desktop

  2. Type in the following in the text field and click Next :
    %windir%explorer.exe “::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}”

    Create My Computer shortcut on desktop

  3. Type in My Computer as the shortcut name and click Finish.

    Set shortcut name as My Computer

  4. Right-click on the newly created shortcut on your desktop and choose Properties from the right-click menu.
  5. In the Properties window, choose Shortcut tab and then click on the Change Icon button.

    Change the shortcut icon

  6. Type in Shell32.dll in the Look for the icons in thie file field and press Enter. Then click on the Computer icon as shown. It is located in the 4th row and 4th column. Click OK to save the settings.

    Choosing the My Computer icon

  7. Click OK in the Properties window to set the icon for the newly created shortcut on Desktop.