How to manually arrange folders in windows 7__

Anonymous
2009-10-24T14:09:18+00:00

When i try manually move one folder to be the first i can t whay

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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Anonymous
2009-10-25T13:55:54+00:00

Hello ivan099, welcome.

You can manually arrange desktop icons, however, any other icons within folders are auto-arranged and cannot be altered by direct access. You can arrange them in a multitude of different ways by right clicking open space (within a folder) and selecting Sort By > More...

A problem was discovered in Windows XP when users would accidentally manually arrange folders and icons and, in turn, they would overlap eachother. For simplicity's sake and for performance reasons, this feature was removed.

There are a number of 3rd-party programs that exist that allow you to do this, however, they would of course not be supported by Microsoft.

I would search the internet for 'File Manager', 'Alternate Shell', or something of the like. You may find some support forums that have users that specialize in just the exact thing you are looking for.

Hope this helps,

Thanks!

Ryan Thieman

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-09-04T00:04:21+00:00

    I am struggling with Windows 7 - I used XP before and always arranged my folders for easy access  - I would not reccomend 7 to anyone.

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-07-26T04:45:55+00:00

    I discovered this very problem just days after i updated my computers with Win7 and purchased Office 2010 Pro.  Not being able to arrange my icons within a folder and verious other reasons, I will be buying Macs in the next 12-18 months.  All of my computers are less than 6 months old.  I was having issues with Vista so I purchased Win 7 on the advice of an IT Pro.  He said it was a more stable platform.  Well it hasn't beem for me.  I'm tired of all the blue screens, no responding and now the screwy file folder mess.

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-06-16T02:16:32+00:00

    That batch file towards the bottom of that page worked very well for me, so far no problems and i can now manually move my stuff. Nothing corrupted, no fire.

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-05-07T17:18:56+00:00

    The site Konst-33 linked to also has this set of instructions:

    http://www.unawave.de/windows-7-tipps/disable-sorting-auto-arrange.html?lang=EN

    HOWEVER, this involves registry editing and playing around with entries using only their GUIDs (read this may void your warranty be a Very Bad Thing and could corrupt all your data or at least make it inaccessible; but your computer probably won't catch fire).  If you must try it, backup all your important data first, set a restore point, and backup your registry - if you don't know what that means or how to find the instructions on how to do it and accept the risks; don't try the above.

    I hope this helps the people crazy (or smart) enough to experiment; but you've been warned it might not be a good idea.

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