Desktop Folder Fixer for Mac

From Robert R. Crowther:

The Desktop Folder Fixer will toggle the state of the invisible bit of the Desktop Folder. If you are unable to see the Desktop folder when FileSharing or if Sherlock reports it is unable to open items on the Desktop because they are in an invisible folder, the invisible bit on the Desktop Folder may have been set. The Desktop Folder Fixer will make the Desktop Folder visible so that others connected to your computer via file sharing are able to access the Desktop Folder of your computer.

Making the Desktop Folder visible does not mean that after running this utility you will be able see the Desktop Folder at the root level of the hard drive. The Finder treats the Desktop Folder as a special case and even when the Desktop Folders invisible bit is not set, the Finder does not display the Desktop Folder in the root level of the hard drive.

The current state of the desktop folder can be checked with and special utility software. While booted into Mac OS 9.x, create an alias of the hard drive and place it in the Apple Menu Items Folder. When you select the Apple Menu scroll down to the name of your hard drive and look at the first hierarchical menu. This should be a listing of the items on the first level of the hard drive. If the Desktop Folders invisible bit has been set, it will not appear in this listing. If it is not, and it should not be, the Desktop Folder will be shown.

The Desktop Folder Fixer is a Carbonized application and can be run from either Mac OS 9.1 or Mac OS X. While the Desktop Folder Fixer is a carbonized application, it targets the "Macintosh HD:Desktop Folder" regardless of which system version it is run from.