Hello,

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Hi,

If you're talking about the icon on your desktop :

When you hover over it, that little checkbox will appear.

When you click the icon once : the box will be ticked.

When you click the icon twice : it'll take you the page it's supposed to take you.

When you get back to your desktop that check box will still show a tick (as you have activated it) - click on an empty space (or another icon) and the ticked check box will disappear.

See also:

• http://www.thewindowsclub.com/windows-explorer-disable-checkbox
• https://www.groovypost.com/tips/remove-windows-icon-check-boxes/

Thanks Happy112, Unfortunately that doesn't solve the problem. Yes, it's the Firefox icon on my desktop and I'd already tried what you said and when I click it off, yes it disappears, but the box is always there when I hover over the icon, and even when it's unticked, as soon as I click anywhere on the icon the tick reappears in the box - whether I click once or twice, it makes no difference. So I can't click to open the browser without the box being ticked. I just noticed it's the same story with my other desktop icons. ???

Thanks FredMcD, I tried to take a screenshot but it doesn't seem to work if you want to take a screenshot of the desktop itself - it seems it only takes shots of what's in the browser window once it's been opened. But thanks anyway :)

I'd appreciate any more suggestions.

Thanks for your help. :)

Is this what you mean? Double click away from that box. Last resort, right-click and select Open.

Yes, that's it, Fred McD. When I double-click (or single-click) away from the box it does get rid of the tick from the box - that's not the problem. The problem is that when I want to open the browser (whether by double-clicking or right-clicking and selecting Open) the tick returns into the box, so that when the browser window opens, the box is still ticked in the icon. The fact that I can't get rid of it bothers me because I don't know what it means. I don't recall the tick box being there at all when I had the icon on my old laptop. Thanks for replying. Cheers :)

This is a special select checkbox to facilitate working with multiple selected items.

You can disable this feature in the Windows Folder Options setting like described in the articles I posted above in case you didn't look at them.

You can disalbe this feature to show a checkbox in the Windows Folder Options.

• Folder Options -> View tab -> "Use check boxes to select items"
• http://www.thewindowsclub.com/windows-explorer-disable-checkbox

Thanks cor-el, I'll look into that when I get plenty of time. I appreciate your help.

jaibee said

The fact that I can't get rid of it bothers me because I don't know what it means.

What you describe and what your screenshot shows is exactly what I was talking about in my post. If you don't want to see this 'ticked box' : all you have to do is click on an empty space or on another icon (if you want to open another page). Why does this happen  ? It's a matter of action => reaction.

In other words, don't worry about it.

FredMcD said

In other words, don't worry about it.

As a matter of fact, my first sentence was :

" Why do you let this bother you so much  ? "

But I deleted it .......

I tried clicking on an empty space or another icon and that doesn't work. I appreciate your help but I must not be explaining myself clearly. Sorry everyone. I'm going to let it go and wait until I can get a tech-savvy person to come over in person and help. Or I'll try following up the links given when I have more time. Fred: I guess I just want to know what I'm agreeing to. For all I know (I'm not very tech-oriented) it could mean I'm agreeing to something I wouldn't want. But it's all getting too time-consuming and I feel like I'm annoying people, so I'll wait until I can get someone to help me in person. Many thanks to everyone for your time and attention to this.

jaibee said

I feel like I'm annoying people

You are absolutely not annoying us  ! Hence I deleted the sentence I initially wrote, as I realized that you need to have something, that didn't happen before, explained.

And if clicking on an empty space or another icon does not make the check box disappear : then there is definately something else going on, which needs to be explained. I am now just as puzzled as you are ..... and I apologize for trivializing the issue.

"I guess I just want to know what I'm agreeing to "

You're not agreeing to anything - by clicking that shortcut icon, you're telling it to open whatever page you set it to open .....

jaibee said

I tried clicking on an empty space or another icon and that doesn't work.

Ahh, it stays on. What about the other boxes? Any problem with on/off?

Start your Computer in safe mode with network support. Then start Firefox. Try Safe websites. Is the problem still there?

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Linux+Safe+Mode Starting Any Computer In Safe Mode; Free Online Encyclopedia

Happy112, Thank you for your help and your kind words. An apology is a very sweet thing  :)

Fred, Yes, it also happens with the other icons. Thanks for that link. I'll look into it when I get a chance (or get a friend to).

To all: I need to shelve this for now but I really appreciate that there are people out there who will take the time to help the technologically ignorant for no other reason than goodwill to fellow humans. Cheers :)

Try to hold the Ctrl key and left-click the checkbox to see if that makes the icon get unchecked.

I wish I could say yes to such a quick solution cor-el but, sadly, that doesn't do it either. I've decided to let it go for the moment so no need to keep trying. Your suggestions have been very welcome though, so thank you!  :)

You should also ask your question here;

https://support.microsoft.com

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/forum/windows_10

Thanks FredMcD, I'll look into it later. Cheers :)