Remove/Hide the drive icons from ubuntu desktop

You may want a clear ubuntu desktop with no icons at all. But there is no option in preferences for hiding the drive icons that usually show up on the desktop. You have to do it in the following way.
Press Alt+F2 to open the 'Run Application' window.type gconf-editor and press enter. This will open the sort of "registry editor" of linux.
Navigate to: /apps/nautilus/desktop
Clear the checkbox beside 'volumes_visible' key. The drive icons will immediately be gone.