My husband and I have a question about desktop icons. He says the Quick Start bar and the desktop both slow down computer speed when there are lots of icons there. I love the bar because it is visible even with full-screen applications and used to put a lot of stuff there. Now I've cleaned up my act in both spots, but wondered.
Is it better to use the toolbar? Is there a far, far better way of which I remain ignorant?
Thanks for your help!

Kathryn

   I hate to say this (I being a husband) but you are right (I was going to say that your husband is wrong but that sounded so bad).  Putting items on the desktop and on the Quick Launch (this is the items on the taskbar next to the Start button) will not slow down your computer.  They are simply small files (shortcuts) on the hard drive.  They are not like the icons in the tray over by the time which are actually indicators of programs running in the background.
   I never liked having a lot of items on the Desktop or on the Quick Launch bar anyway.  So I agree with your husband that you should clean them up.  
   I guess a person could argue that each item there has to be put there somehow (the computer looking on the harddrive for each item and then putting it in those places may take a fraction of a fraction of a second to do) and that it would take a fraction of a fraction of a second longer to draw the screen if there are more items on it.

I always have a lot of icons on my desktop...I like to be able to locate what I want quickly. I noticed no reduction in speed, but it does use video memory, so, if your video card can't handle it, you might notice a slower refresh rate/slower loading of graphics.

I like having certain program Icons on the Quick Launch tool bar for the same reason. Sometimes I am running a program and I need to open another and it's the quickest way to get to them. I have 18 Icons there now and I have never noticed any real reduction in speed because of having them there.