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Mouffette
Asked: 2010-05-24 19:21:35 +0800 CST

change computer desktop icon in Windows 2008 R2 to display computer name

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In Windows 2003 I was able to change the registry key as follows to display the actualy computer name on the desktop using the Computer Desktop Icon.

System Key: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}] Change "LocalizedString" value to %COMPUTERNAME%

I'm getting access denied messages using regedit for this key and I'm unable to give full rights to this specific key as well as administrator.

Does anyone have a better solution for displaying the computer name on the desktop?

Thanks.

windows-registry windows-server-2008-r2

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    There is always the Sysinternal's (now part of Microsoft) BgInfo:

    It automatically displays relevant information about a Windows computer on the desktop's background, such as the computer name, IP address, service pack version, and more. You can edit any field as well as the font and background colors, and can place it in your startup folder so that it runs every boot, or even configure it to display as the background for the logon screen.

    Update: To fix the problem of the desktop icon in W2k3 R2 as per Mouffette comments below based upon this TechNet thread:

    Right click on the registry key in regedit, select permissions then in the advanced tab change the owner from TrustedInstaller to Administrators, hit apply then you are able to grant administrators full control over the key. At that point you can edit the LocalizedString and save then hit refresh on the desktop and it works!

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  2. I realize this question has an answer that's been accepted, and maybe I'm missing something, but why not right click the Computer icon on the desktop and select "Rename" and name it based on the computer\server name? I've been doing it for years and it works on W2K8 just as it did going all the way back to Win9x.

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