Why do I get duplicate desktop icons?

[emw]

For awhile now (before and after various point upgrades) I've been seeing something that is a little odd. When I save items to my desktop, I end up getting multiple "copies" of them. Except they aren't really copies, but just duplicate icons. If I throw one of them away, they both go.

Here is an example:

As you can see, it doesn't happen to all files all the time (and never to hard drives or CDs). What's even stranger is that occasionally, if I'm saving a file to the desktop, or modifying an existing desktop file, the icons multiply even more:

I've tried most things (repairing permissions, rebuilding user account, etc.) with no luck. I'm assuming I might need to do a fresh install or something.

Anyone else get this?

 

[stoid]

I had that for a bit, though I think it was in Jaguar, and not Panther. I don't remember a cure for that, and I recall it being quite irritating.

 

[Bear]

Try:

Go into Terminal
do: rm ~/Desktop/.DS_Store
Relaunch the finder.

 

[KD7IWP]

Weird problem. I know that sometimes when I close the lid on my pBook and then open it, my hard drive icon will move. I always put it in the upper right hand corner, but sometimes it will just move down 2 inches, none of the other icons move.

 

[emw]

Go into Terminal
do: rm ~/Desktop/.DS_Store
Relaunch the finder.

Thanks for the suggestion, but no go. Ah, well. I may just reinstall over the weekend.

 

[Bear]

Thanks for the suggestion, but no go. Ah, well. I may just reinstall over the weekend.

Actually before you do that, try applying the 10.3.7 Combo update (the one that goes from any version of 10.3.x to 10.3.7) - this can help some oddball situations.