On Thu, 25 Aug 2011 08:57:50 -0700, John Doe wrote: [...] > > Since you seem to be using Gnome and not KDE, you can google for "gnome > hide dekstop icons", and the first answer will tell you how to hide > those system icons (gconf-editor). But first reinstall nautilus. > > JD With the help of: ps -ef | grep -i gnome ps -ef | grep -i kde I determined that I am in fact running gnome. I am therefore reinstalling the system, selecting kde (as I did before) and deselecting (I hope) all gnome things. Thanks for your help. Mike.