◊ Total Desktop Rebuild is a free system extension that allows you to completely erase all your desktop files so that they are rebuilt from scratch when the startup process is over. To delete all the desktop files on all your disks, simply hold down the Command and Option keys while Total Desktop Rebuild is loading. A small red flash is then added to the startup icon, and Total Desktop Rebuild attempts to do its job.
◊ Total Desktop Rebuild needs the desktop files to be closed in order to delete them, which may not be the case if some previously loaded extension has opened them. I added a space character before the extension’s name to make it load early, but you might have to further arrange your extensions’ loading order if Total Desktop Rebuild doesn’t seem to work.
• Warnings
◊ Total Desktop Rebuild will completely delete all your file comments. If you wish to preserve them, use Kelvin Delbarre’s Commentator utility or the Finder’s built-in desktop rebuild capabilities instead (by holding down Command and Option at the end of the startup process, while the Finder is loading). Commentator lets you save your file comments before you rebuild the desktop and restore them later. You can find the latest version on any info-mac mirror, this is the current HyperArchive URL:
◊ More generally, Total Desktop Rebuild is a power user tool and shouldn’t be used if you don’t know what you are doing. I assume no responsibilities for it.
• Notes
◊ Yes, I know there are dozens of other utilities that do the same thing (for example, check out AutoBuild by René G.A. Ros if you want to automatically rebuild your desktop every once in a while). But I needed to rebuild my desktops from scratch, and I had to use an extension, and of course I couldn’t find the one I used to play with. So I cooked up my own in ten minutes, and since I’m passing it to you for free you shouldn’t be complaining in the first place…
◊ Why did I need an extension? Because applications can only move the desktop files to the trash or reset them without actually deleting the files. In the first case, the old files still exist when the Finder builds the new ones, which can be annoying if you have limited free space on your disks. The desktop files easily grow up to several megabytes, so there may not be enough space on the disk for both the old and the new ones. And even if there’s enough space, it may be badly fragmented so that the new desktop files are saved in many small chunks all over the disk and become much slower. In the second case, the desktop files are rebuilt on top of the old ones without creating a new file from scratch, which is usually OK but may not be enough if the desktop files were seriously damaged.
• Installation
◊ To install Total Desktop Rebuild, move it inside your Extensions folder (inside your System folder) and restart your Mac.
◊ To run Total Desktop Rebuild, hold down the Command and Option keys while the extension is loading.
◊ To disable Total Desktop Rebuild, remove it from the Extensions folder.
• Version history
◊ 1.1 - Now attempts to mount all disks before deleting the desktop files.
◊ All online services and bulletin boards may make it available to their users at no charge other than the normal connection fees.
◊ All non-profit user groups may distribute it at no charge.
◊ All magazines may publish it on floppy disk or CD-ROM without asking me first, as long as I get a copy of the issue containing my software.
◊ All CD-ROM shareware collections and CD-ROM magazines may include it without my prior consent, as long as I get either a copy of the CD-ROM or an offer to buy the CD-ROM at a discounted price.
◊ All redistribution companies such as Pacific HiTech, AMUG, Celestin or Educorp may distribute it, as long as I get a copy of each media containing my software and a catalog of the company’s offerings (where applicable).
◊ You may find the latest version of all my shareware and freeware programs by anonymous ftp to ftp.alpcom.it, inside the /software/mac/LMontalcini directory. The ALM Share and ALM Free packages, which contain most of my stuff and can be registered at a very low price, are also available there.
• Disclaimer
◊ This software should never cause any damage, but you’re using it at your own risk. As an independent software developer, I can make no warranties whatsoever on it.
• Have fun!
◊ And don’t forget to register your shareware, so that more cool inexpensive utilities can see the light in the future.
