I am using Windows XP. I like to arrange my icons on the desktop in a
logical setup, with similar icons groups together, on different parts
of the screen, etc. Periodically, the system moves all my the icons
to the left, all mixed up, and I have to arrange them all over again!
Things that tend to trigger this are turning on my external USB drive,
and putting a CD in the CD-ROM drive. When I right-click on the
screen, and go to "Arrange Icons By", I have selected "Align to Grid,"
"Show Desktop Icons," and "Lock Web Items on Desktop." I have tried
some variations with no success. How do I fix this? I will accept an
answer if it provides instructions that fix this problem for a period
of two days without disrupting any other features of my computer. |
Request for Question Clarification by
tlspiegel-ga
on
15 Oct 2004 19:08 PDT
Hi answermyquestionnow,
Try this. If it works please let me know and I'll post in the answer box.
Go to Start, Run... type regedit. Click OK
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
Right-click in the right pane and select New, DWORD
Value name NoSaveSettings
and press the Enter key.
Right-click on the new NoSaveSettings item and select Modify.
Enter 1 in the Value data box.
Good Luck!
tlspiegel
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Clarification of Question by
answermyquestionnow-ga
on
15 Oct 2004 19:54 PDT
I tried the suggestions of tlspiegel-ga and andrewfitz-ga. They did not work.
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Request for Question Clarification by
tlspiegel-ga
on
15 Oct 2004 20:25 PDT
Thank you for your reply. Hopefully another researcher will have a solution.
Good Luck to you,
tlspiegel
|
Request for Question Clarification by
hummer-ga
on
16 Oct 2004 05:47 PDT
Hi answermyquestionnow,
This little utility won't keep your icons from moving, but will enable
you to save the layout so that restoring your desktop will be just two
clicks away. There are other third party tools that do this too, but
this one is small and free.
Icon Restore:
"Icon Restore installs LAYOUT.DLL (along with the required registry
entries) from Microsoft. Two new options are added to the pop up menu
that opens when any Windows system icon (ex. My Computer) is right
clicked. These options are 'Save Desktop Icon Layout' and 'Restore
Desktop Icon Layout'. "
"After installing Icon Restore, simply place your icons wherever you
want them on your desktop, right click My Computer (or any 'system'
icon) and left click on "Save Desktop Icon Layout" from the pop up
menu.
If your icons ever get moved because your computer entered safe mode
or you changed the screen resolution, right click My Computer (or any
'system' icon) and left click on "Restore Desktop Icon Layout" from
the pop up menu."
http://users.rcn.com/taylotr/icon_restore.html
Please let me know if this is a suitable answer.
Thank you,
hummer
p.s. It wouldn't hurt to run the following two programs to make sure all is well.
Run HouseCall first, a very thorough online virus scan:
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
Ad-aware ("check for updates" before running):
http://lavasoft.element5.com/default.shtml.en
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Clarification of Question by
answermyquestionnow-ga
on
16 Oct 2004 13:12 PDT
Actually, I was looking for something to keep the icons from getting
moved around rather than fixing them up afterwards.
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Request for Question Clarification by
hummer-ga
on
16 Oct 2004 13:58 PDT
I know, answermyquestionnow, but it might come in handy if another
solution isn't found. Cheers, hummer
|
Clarification of Question by
answermyquestionnow-ga
on
17 Oct 2004 15:09 PDT
For now, I want to focus on my original issue, but thanks. When I put
in a CD or turn on the USB hard drive, the computer is auto-responding
with something (it might be the thing that asks if you if you want to
play it, etc.) that feels the need to move my icons. I want to
disable whatever is doing that.
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Clarification of Question by
answermyquestionnow-ga
on
20 Oct 2004 06:55 PDT
I found the answer to my question (I think). This is a known problem
with the driver that came with my Western Digital USB drive. The USB
drive is now providing a fix at support.wdc.com/download.
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