Once Windows has fully booted up, the Personalize option will appear when right clicking on the desktop.Ī user or admin can now modify their desktop icons as needed. Once the machine has rebooted, it should take about a minute to install the new roles.

Once Windows is done installing the new features, a reboot will be required to finalize the installation. Once installation is clicked, the menu will show the progress of the installation. Click Add Feature to install these roles.Ī confirmation / review page will appear with all the roles and features to be installed on the machine. The next window will prompt for any additional roles that m ay need to be installed. On the Select Features page, find User Interfaces and Infrastructure and click Desktop Experience. The Server Roles section can be skipped for purposes of this article. Since the icon cache file is a hidden file, click View. Note: If you performing a manual sysprep versus a vCenter template, sysrep will remove the role. If desktop icons turn white, it indicates that the cache process has failed.

In my example, I am modifying a VMware template. Once you have opened up Server Manager, click on Add Roles and Features.Ĭlick Next on the Add Roles and Features WizardĬlick Role-based or feature-based installation then Next. By default this will open when logging into Windows or alternatively navigate to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Server Manager. To add the Personalize option back into Windows, navigate to Server Manager. Installing the Windows Desktop Experience Role On a Windows 7 or 8 machine, to add these icons you could right-click on the desktop and go to Personalize. However, by default, this option is not available on a fresh copy of 2012 / 2012R2.Īlthough a shortcut can be added to the desktop for each of these icons, items such as My Computer will not have the same right-click drop-down menu. Now you’ll get all the initial Desktop default icons. Then on the Top Left Corner, You’ll find Control Panel Home Change Desktop icon Change mouse pointers 3. Right click on the desk top and select Personalize 2. When installing a fresh copy of Windows 2012 or 2012R2, some of the more common items on the desktop, such as My Computer, User’s Files, Network, Control Panel are missing or no longer part of the default configuration. Well to get a My Computer Shortcut, or This PC, for Windows 8.1 Simply do this 1.

Windows 8 my computer icon