"Macintosh HD" Hard Disk Icon

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Level 1

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"Macintosh HD" Hard Disk Icon

Hi everybody,

I did a clean install of Snow Leopard last night (erased the hard disk first). So far it looks good and I haven't had any major issues. It seems faster. However, I do have one minor annoyance:

My Macintosh HD icon is nowhere to be found on my desktop. I can still get to the hard drive through the Finder's Go menu, but I'm used to having the icon on my desktop. The icons for my external hard disks still show up, so it isn't a global problem with all hard disks. Just my boot drive. Any ideas?

Thanks.

iMac 20", Mac OS X (10.6), 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo, 256MB Video RAM, 3GB RAM

Posted on Aug 29, 2009 9:14 AM

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Answer 1

V.K.

Level 9

56,174 points

Aug 29, 2009 9:16 AM in response to PeterBasha

go to finder preferences->general and check the box to show hard drives on teh desktop.

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Answer 2

PeterBasha Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 29, 2009 9:22 AM in response to PeterBasha

Doh! I didn't even know this preference existed. Mac OS has always showed the hard disk icons by default, at least in my experience as a long time Mac user, and I didn't know it could be turned on or off.

Thanks!

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Answer 3

Aug 30, 2009 12:26 PM in response to V.K.

Thanks for the tip. I did the same thing...fresh install of SL and the hard drive icon disappeared! First time for everything I guess.

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Answer 4

Sep 3, 2009 1:32 AM in response to PeterBasha

I wonder if this is an issue only with Clean Install? I also wonder if it's on purpose or if Apple just forgot. You can also get to your hard drive by clicking the Finder icon in the dock. You can set that window to open at the root level of your Hard Drive AND, that icon now does Spring Loaded Folders. Maybe Apple's thinking the Macintosh HD isn't necessary on the Desktop anymore?

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Answer 5

Sep 3, 2009 1:40 AM in response to webraider

webraider,

The presence of the startup drive icon has long been optional in OS X, as has the presence of mounted external/secondary volumes, CDs. DVDs. etc.

The only change that Snow Leopard brings is that not showing these items is now the default.

Until we change it otherwise 😉

Scott

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Answer 6

Sep 3, 2009 5:12 AM in response to Scott Radloff

Scott Radloff wrote:
webraider,

The presence of the startup drive icon has long been optional in OS X, as has the presence of mounted external/secondary volumes, CDs. DVDs. etc.

The only change that Snow Leopard brings is that not showing these items is now the default.

Until we change it otherwise 😉

Scott

Apple has been tryin to get away from those Hard Drive icons on the desktop for a long time. People complained that they weren't there when OS X came out. Now they are trying to do it Subtly.

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Answer 7

RyanTV

Level 1

4 points

Sep 3, 2009 11:19 AM in response to PeterBasha

Thanks for this tip, worked a treat. 🙂

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Answer 8

Sep 7, 2009 9:07 AM in response to PeterBasha

Thank you for the tip. I did not do a clean install instead ran the Leopard install disk on my current configuration. On the original account my preferences were the same, i.e. hard disk on desktop. But when I made additional accounts on the computer the hard drive had disappeared on their desktops. Preference fixed the problem! 🙂

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Answer 9

drmac004

Level 1

13 points

Sep 9, 2009 10:19 AM in response to scottvano

Thanks, V.K.

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