Bleachbit: Windows Explorer | Thumbnails resets desktop shortcuts order

[sshermz]

bleachbit 2.0 on windows 7 (installed as administrator).

Cleaning generally is working as expected.

The issue is...

I have various shortcuts on my Windows desktop and have the Windows desktop setting View | Auto arrange icons unchecked. With that setting unchecked, Windows does not disturb the order of my desktop shortcuts.

However, if I check the Bleachbit Windows Explorer | Thumbnails setting, my desktop shortcut order is reset. Some of the shortcuts jump to random locations when BB restarts Windows Explorer.

I don't know if this is a bug or if the Windows desktop shortcut order has a dependency on the Windows thumbnail cache.

IF it is the latter, is it possible to split out cleaning the Windows desktop thumbnail cache to a separate BB entry?

Something like the following...

Windows Explorer
Most recently used
Recent documents list
Run
Search history
Desktop thumbnails
Other thumbnails

Or however you want to word it.

[Tobias-B-Besemer]

Hi!

Sorry, that no one till now took the time to respond you in any way !!! :-/

But I will try now to improve the situation with you... ;)

First to your question about splitting the cleaning of the Desktop Thumbnail Cache from the cleaning of the other Thumbnails Cache:
Unfortunately this is at least at the moment not possible and IMHO unlikely that it ever will happen!

The explanation of this answer before:
Windows have only one Thumbnails Cache for all Thumbnails! I guess there exist only in the internals of Microsoft definitions how the Thumbnails Cache is really build and how it really works!
But what we know is, that this cache exist as some (database) files in a folder we know and if we delete this (database) files completely and trigger the use of the cache with restarting the Windows Explorer new, this files get newly and empty recreated!
So you see, we can only delete all or nothing! Sorry for that !!!

But I will try to improve the situation with you anyway!

First improvement is/will be to explain you a bit the cache and the reasons for cleaning it...
To be able to display small previews of pictures really fast, Windows (and many other programs) use nowadays so called Thumbnails what are basically nothing else as a really small version of the picture!
As Windows creates a lot of this small versions of pictures and it wouldn't be a goid idea to create for this hundreds or thousands of really small files, all this mini pictures get stored in one database for it.
Windows will from time to time maintain this DB (database) and remove old, no more needed pictues out of it and maybe compress this database even, too ('compress" means reduce the size used by it again) but here is also the problem again, that no one knows when and how, because this knows only Microsoft and it seems they keep it secret... :-/
But you can go sure, that this Thumbnails Cache was designed by intelligent people and it is designed to work for years on a Windows Install without the need of resetting it with a deletion!
This means, you maybe don't have to use this cleaner option at all (or at least not each time you run BleachBit) and so your Desktop icons don't get reset to the default position, like e.g. mine too, if I clean the cache from time to time!

So now you maybe get the question why we clean the cache at all if it shouldn't be needed, and therefore I can tell you three reasons/cases where it makes sense to clean the cache, anyway.
1.) You be e.g. a spy and work on your PC with really sensitive pictures and you will not leaf the smallest thing from them on you PC when you finished with working with the pictures on the PC, then you better clean the Thumbnails Cache after your work, too! ;)
2.) You maybe be something like a very busy photographer and work each week with thousands of pictures on your PC, and therefor your Thumbnails DB can eat very much space on your PC, till Windows things it's finally time again to clean the DB and to decrease the size! ;)
3.) And this case is not at all so unlikely: If you run your PC over years with the same installation of Windows like e.g. I do it, you easily can come to the point, that the DB gets corrupted in any way, because thats the nature of very often used, simple DBs. In this case a very simple but highly efficient solution to fix the issue again is, to just delete the defective DB and force Windows to start with a new build one, again! ;)

So, and finally, to change something really and improve the case in any way, what do you think about the following:
At the moment it get a warming shown when you select this cleaner option that say "This will restart Windows Explorer.".
What do you think about if we discuss with @az0, if this warning can maybe get improved and says after that "This will restart Windows Explorer and reset your Desktop Icons to the default position!" ???

Greets, Tobias.

[sshermz]

Much obliged for the detailed explanation, Tobias. Yes, the suggested updated warning message is the best solution, given the Windows single thumbnail cache.

[Tobias-B-Besemer]

Thought, if you have waited so long for an answer, you disserve one which explains it a bit more... ;)

OK, so we need next the OK from @az0 (Andrew), he is the founder, boss, lead developer and finally decides, what will be done and what not! ^^

After that I will change it...

Andrew, not sure about it, is it already possible to display two warnings after each other, or do we need to get it into one ???
If two would be possible, we could copy those from the shellbag cleaner which is yet exactly above the thumbnails cleaner and warn for "This will reset the position of desktop icons.", too. Then we wouldn't need any new translation in any language. ^^

https://github.com/bleachbit/bleachbit/blob/master/cleaners/windows_explorer.xml

[az0]

Andrew, not sure about it, is it already possible to display two warnings after each other, or do we need to get it into one ???

It's not supported, so it would be easier to have a new string.

[Tobias-B-Besemer]

OK, so I understand your short answer as a "Yes, make a PR with improved warning!", right? ^^

And if we already write about it, what's about a solution to make two warnings after each other possible?
There should be still a PR of an new cleaner open, where I already tried to use it, or had it at least in an early state implemented...
The prob on the cleaner where I tried to use it is, that there would be relative a lot to say and I think two warings after each other are more userfriedly, then just one big warning straight in the face... ;)

[Tobias-B-Besemer]

If you would make multiple warnings possible, I think it wouldn't be a big prob for anybody to let this issue some months unfixed open and make a PR after all, so we create no translation work and all should look a bit better... ;)