How to disable auto arrange in Windows 7 Explorer?

  I have the same issue.  For about 7 years now, I've created folders to store my pictures.  I started doing this because I had a digital camera that created a new folder for any day when I took pictures.  This handily grouped them into similar batches, and I only had folders for the days I was actually taking photos.

  So anyway, inside my "pictures" folder I have "2008", "2009", and I just created the "2010" folder.  Inside each year, I create relevant month folders.  For example, I just created 3 in 2010: "January 2010", "February 2010" & "March 2010".

  Windows has always been too stupid to realize these are months of the year, even though I write the month out completely.  As such, it always wanted to do some arbitrary organizing of its own.  Instead, I would drag them into an order with January up towards the top and upper left, and I could quickly find the photos I wanted.  For example, if we had taken a vacation in July 2006, it was easy to find.  Now, if I want to find January, I have to actually take time to look around and see where Windows has decided to put that folder.  Whatever logic it uses, I can guarantee that it makes absolutely no sense to a person.

  This is why I want back control over my folders.  Whoever made the decision to take away this user control goofed!  After upgrading this PC to Windows 7, I have decided not to upgrade the other 3 systems (2 desktops and a laptop) in my house until/unless this problem is properly addressed.  So microsoft, if you're listening, no more money for you until you take care of this issue.  No excuses.

I do so agree!   I have masses of files stored in My Documents which -  in XP on my old computer (now sadly broken) - I had arranged in the way that made sense to ME.   Now I am having to spend hours renaming them all so that, despite what Microsoft would choose, the files still appear in the order of MY choosing.   What an appalling waste of time!   And it's quite difficult deciding what name is going to give the desired result.

Please restore the facility to disable auto-arrange soon - or at least tell us what you are proposing to do about the problem.

LOL  Thats a good one!

and these  FORM Moderator answers crack me up too.... they read just like the crappy online help we get -  where you can barely understand the tech, and all they keep repeating is  'I'm so sorry you are having a problem......'   blah blah blah.  

Really Divya?   Microsoft is asking us what we think?    Are you / they   NOT LISTENING?

I SO AGREE!!!!!!!!   This makes me absolutely, without doubt, vote Windows 7 to the trash can ....  In my small business I rely heavily on taking photos of things that I do, and then sharing them with others, either on my blog, or via email, or on my website.  Most often I will take 5 times as many shots as I need -  the photos load onto my computer in order. However, I might only want to email  3,5,8 and 9.   With prior versions of Windows I could drag and drop the photos I was interested in, right next to each other, then send in one step.  Now I have to either waste my time copying these files into a new folder, so that I can then do a send,  or worse, I have to send them one by one. 

What a joke.  And whats worse,  it is February already, an dfolks have been complaining about this since late Fall of last year -  WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR MICROSOFT???  

Yup,  what a joke.  WHY DIDN'T I BUY THE MAC???????    Microsoft, you keep NOT listening to THOSE that buy your stuff,  then you WILL see all of us switching out to Macs....