Images Copied to Desktop Are Saved as Active Desktop Items

ID: Q175242

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 4.0, 4.01, 5 for Windows NT 4.0
Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 4.0, 4.01, 5 for Windows 95

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to save an image file to the desktop by dragging the image from a Web page in Internet Explorer to the desktop, you may receive the following prompt:

   Security Alert
   Do you want to add a desktop item to your active desktop?

When you click Yes, the Add Item To Active Desktop wizard starts to set up a subscription for updating the image. When the wizard is finished, the image appears as an Active Desktop item, instead of a file icon.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur when you install the Windows Desktop Update component with Internet Explorer 4.0.

RESOLUTION

To work around this issue, use the appropriate method:

Manually Save the Image

1. Right-click the image to be copied, drag it to the desktop, and then

   click Copy Here.

2. Double-click your <desktop> folder, where the <desktop> folder is

   C:\Windows\Desktop in Windows 95 and C:\Winnt\Profiles\<name>\Desktop
   in Windows NT by default, and then click Save.

Uninstall the Windows Desktop Update Component

For information about uninstalling the Windows Desktop Update component, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q165695
   TITLE     : How to Add or Remove Windows Desktop Update

MORE INFORMATION

This behavior only occurs when you drag Web-based content to the desktop. You can drag items from My Computer or Explorer to the desktop and the file is copied normally.

Additional query words: 4.00

Keywords          : kbui winshell msiew95 msient 
Platform          : WINDOWS
Hardware          : x86

Last Reviewed: March 19, 1999