# Desktop icon keeps appearing in WinXP....what is it?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desktop-icon-keeps-appearing-in-winxp-what-is-it/211488>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 5, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desktop-icon-keeps-appearing-in-winxp-what-is-it/211488 "2003-11-05T04:15:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![pilot141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e0b2c6/32.png) [@pilot141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pilot141)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desktop-icon-keeps-appearing-in-winxp-what-is-it/211488/1 "2003-11-05T04:15:22Z")

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OK, so I’m running WinXP with a clean install on my new machine.

I run Norton Anti-Virus, ZoneAlarm and periodically run both Spybot and Ad-aware.

Yet every couple of days this “program” icon shows up on my desktop with the name of “~” (tilde). Under properties it says:

Type of file: File  
Description: ~

The creation date was two days ago. I’ve deleted this thing many times with no apparent ill effects, but a couple of days later it shows up again.

Is this anything to worry about? Is this a known WinXP issue, or is there something running in the background that Spybot and Ad-aware are both missing?

Thanks!

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**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desktop-icon-keeps-appearing-in-winxp-what-is-it/211488/2 "2003-11-05T04:25:20Z")

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[What is the Tilde (~) file that appears on Desktop?](http://www.pchell.com/support/tildefile.shtml)

That link gives the background, but not much of a fix. Something I’ve heard works is to right click your desktop Outlook Express shortcut, choose Properties, and change the “Start In” directory from blank to somewhere you don’t care if the ~ file gets created.

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**Author:** ![pilot141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e0b2c6/32.png) [@pilot141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pilot141)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desktop-icon-keeps-appearing-in-winxp-what-is-it/211488/3 "2003-11-05T04:47:39Z")

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**SmackFu** thanks - that is exactly what I’ve been seeing. I don’t have an Outlook Express desktop shortcut, but I do have an IE one. I always check e-mail from inside IE, which came from a shortcut, so…I get the file.