LOCK DESKTOP ICONS IN PLACE

[Sandy J]

Does anyone out there know how to lock desktop icons in place? Every time I
restart my computer my icons are all out of order. I have made sure that the
choices for Auto Arrange and Align to Grid are unchecked.

[Richard Urban]

Desktop icons can change location if the video resolution changes during
booting up, when once you get to the desktop. I can force it to happen on
some computers.

Check to see what the recommended resolution is for your monitor. Make sure
that your video card can handle that resolution. Obtain the latest drivers
for your video card.

[Bang_Head_Here]

I understand that changes in resolution moves things around, but what if I
simply want my icons to stay put while logging on and off? I have also
unchecked auto arrange and align to grid, but every time I log off or click
refresh they get automatically arranged to the left hand side of the screen.
I will fix things if i change my resolution, but i want my icons to stay
where I put them otherwise.

[rcollins]

Hi Sandy,

I was having the same problem and frustrated b/c I could not find a solution
that worked. Called Dell and talked to a tech. Anyway, try this as it
worked for me.

1. Arrange your desktop icons the way you want them
2. Right click on desktop and uncheck View Desktop Items
3. Right click on desktop and check View Desktop Items
4. Re-boot

Hope this fixes the problem for you as well.

Thanks,

[kellyk]

Where is the "lock desktop" function? Not that it worked so well in XP, but
at least my desktop was arranged the way I intended. I am 2 days into Vista
Ultimate on a brand new laptop - after switching to a Mac and coming back to
PC. Now I find that my desktop items move around at will while I am logged
on and not changing resolution. It's astonishing how much useful
functionality is lost everytime Microsoft issues a new operating system and
new Office products. Darn.

[JerryM]

Hi, kellyk,

Right click on the desktop and select View,
Uncheck Auto Arrange,
click Align to grid
click Show Desktop Icons.

Drag your Icons to where you want them.

[kellyk]

Thanks Jerry, but I had already configured it that way (*not* to auto arrange
nor to sort by name, date or other). No options appear relevant to setting
desktop items under "personalize" either. This is a brand new Toshiba
laptop, so I would expect the video card and resolution to be up to snuff.

Thanks for trying though.

[leosil]

I have exactly the same problem. Did you get any solutions to the
problem?? Leo


--
leosil

[felinis]

Download the fix from :

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,600479,00.asp

Register the Layout.dll as described.

This will add two new right-click actions to your Computer object:
"Save Desktop Icon Layout" and "Restore Icon Layout".

It does not Freeze your icons - it only allows you to restore them to their last saved position once the PC has scrambled them - which is frequently.

Each user of the computer can use this functionality to save and restore their specific icons.

What they do not tell you is this;

1. Always update the saved icon list EACH TIME that you add a new icon.
2. Leave a blank row at the bottom and right of your desktop.
3. Do use the "Desktop\View\Align to Grid" option.

If you add a new icon that is not saved in the Layout, then the PC will try to squeeze it onto your desktop the next time that your reboot or refresh the screen, ruining your layout.

Leaving blank rows leaves you a buffer zone for those times when you PC decreases screen resolution without your permission. This may not help if the desktop resolution is reset so small that the icons cannot be relocated at their saved coordinates.

Use "align to grid" unless you are trying to manually squeeze icons into locations that are not grid-aligned - like when you run out of desktop real-estate.

The above solution that suggested that you use the "Desktop\View\Show Desktop Icons" action is wrong and was probably suggested by some idiot at an Indian help-desk. Believe it or not, here are no native features for saving and restoring Desktop icon layout in XP or Vista - only for hiding, sorting and aligning them to a grid.

Video drivers have nothing to do with the problem - if you can see the desktop, then you should be able to save icons to it. It will destroy your icon layout if you change resolutions.

[felinis]

Further comments on desktop icons/shortcuts:

Manual restoration (for those of you who did not use my previous suggestion):

You can select multiple desktop icons/shortcuts with the mouse by right-clicking the mouse at the top-left of the desktop group to be moved and then dragging the mouse to the bottom-right corner of the group. You will use multi-selection to select partial columns (up/down) of desktop icons.

If your PC scrambled your customized desktop layout, then it probably started re-ordering them from the left-most column, working its way down, then thru the remaining columns from left to right. We will fix the layout in the same order.

Try to remember how your icons were organized - by column (up/down) or by row (left-to-right). You will quickly notice that the first column is only slightly off or not changed at all.

The object is to process each column in order, starting from the left. Singly relocate each single icon that does not belong in the current column from the top of the column to the bottom of the previous (left) column. Continue until you encounter an icon that does belong in the current column. Then multi-select the remaining icons in the current column and move the entire selected group to the top of the column. Set aside any icons that do not fit the pattern. Review your work, correct any errors, then start again on the next column to the right.

Stray icons that do not fit the pattern were probably orphan icons that were taken from the right of the screen and used by the PC to fill empty spots in the layout during the re-layout (scrambling) process.

Reduce your icon count:

Place commonly used icons such as IE, Media Player, Notepad and Paint onto the Quick-Launch bar. Quick Launch icons can still be used as drop targets for your documents and pictures.

If you have a Word document on your screen, then you do not need a seperate icon for the Word program - simply double-clicking on the document will start Word for you. It is the same for all documents that have associated default processing programs, as nearly all of them do.

Organize your icons:

Place the Recycle bin at the top corner of your screen. Place the "Computer" icon at a bottom corner. Seperate your program, document, IE and folder shortcuts into dedicated sections or rows on your desktop.

Using "Desktop\view\align to grid" will keep your icons in nice straight rows and will keep you from "losing" shortcuts by preventing one icon from being hidden behind another. It will not consume blank desktop space by "compacting" you layout.

Give your shortcuts simple descriptive lables. Shorten the size of the label by removing the word "Shortcut". Shortcuts can always be distinguished by the arrow on their icon. Icons that represents actual documents do not have such an arrow. Many users drag actual documents to their desktop. Remember that you can create a true shortcut to the document instead.

Search the internet:

Google for tips on how to manage icons, such as how to remove the word "Shortcut" from each new icon title and how to restore the Recycle Bin to the desktop. Most of these involve Registry hacks.

Remember that you are not alone with any of your PC problems - someone else has had the same problem and has asked for advice online somewhere.