Dick Frank unintentionally changed something in Windows 7 so that each window, rather than each application, gets its own taskbar icon. That’s too many icons.

In Windows 7/8, to remove an icon from the notification area, you open Taskbar and Start Menu Properties > Appearance and Personalization > Taskbar and Start Menu. Under the Taskbar tab, click on ...

Separately, if you type in “Desktop icons” in the Windows search area, a new window opens that says “Desktop Icon Settings.” This area lets you change the image for Windows icons like ...

Quick Tip: If you prefer to call the desktop icon "Computer," like in Windows 7, instead of "This PC", you can quickly right-click the icon and choose the Rename option. Once you change the name ...

By default, Windows will show you as many alerts as possible. To tame this stream of notifications, open Settings via the cog icon on the Start menu, choose System, and select Notifications & actions.