How to manually arrange folders in windows 7__

the taskbar won't allow you to put anything on it that isn't a program!

That's not quite right. You also can:

• **pin files to taskbar**
• **pin folders to taskbar** (even network folder, when using UNC path)

I just discovered that, in addition to not allowing users to manually position icons in folders, the taskbar won't allow you to put anything on it that isn't a program! What's up with that? This is so crazy that Microsoft has decided to reduce all of the user customization on Windows 7. I'm adjusting to Windows 7, but you can bet I'll be checking out Chrome OS when it's released. Yikes!

Microsoft intentionally removed the option to disable Auto Arrange, but it's still possible with a workaround.   See the Auto Arrange links below in the "Guides" section.

Microsoft's answer for not being able to disable auto arrange:Can I manually arrange files within folders?

From Microsoft: Working with files and folders

Also, installing Classic Shell helps with many of Windows Explorers issues. See the links below.

Unfortunately when Microsoft redesigned Windows Explorer they made some pretty horrendous decisions - of which many people have complained about. There are many other file managers available, both free and for a price. One of them might be easier to use and have the features you want, here is a list of most that are available:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_managers

Classic Shell

• Customize Windows Explorer with removed features (more helpful options and info below):

http://classicshell.sourceforge.net

Xplorer² Lite

• single or dual pane file browser with tabs and many features:

http://www.zabkat.com/x2lite.htm

Guides on how to manually make changes to Windows Explorer

How to Fix The Left Pane Scroll Bug

       See the bottom of this post for help with the left pane scroll bug using Classic Shell.

       Click here to view one of several methods to reproduce it.

       Click here to vote for fixing the left pane scroll bug.

Note: The links below involve editing the registry - be careful!

**Auto Arrange Option #1 - How to disable Auto Arrange in Windows 7**

Auto Arrange Option #2 - How to disable Auto Arrange in Windows 7****

Libraries Folder - How to Add or Remove the Libraries Folder from the Navigation Pane

**Favorites Folder - Add or Remove the Favorites Folder from the Navigation Pane**

User Folder - How to Add or Remove your User Folder from Windows 7 Navigation Pane

Homegroup - Add or Remove from Navigation Pane

Network - Add or Remove from Navigation Pane

Full Row Select - How to Disable Full Row Select (details view) in Windows Explorer

_________________________________________

Extra links - help guides for using Windows Explorer

Folder Options   Change View Settings   Using Search   Change User Folder Icon   Associate File Type   Share Folders - XP & Win7   Add/Remove Columns   Add Folder To Library

Most important features to fix or return to Windows Explorer:

1. The option to disable Auto Arrange.
2. Fix The Left Pane Scroll Bug: If you are viewing a folder and expand it in the left pane to show it's subfolders, the folder is annoyingly auto-scrolled to the bottom of the pane causing the subfolders to not be shown, making it difficult to work with. Double clicking a folder in the left pane can also cause this problem.  Vote to fix it.
3. When multiple files are selected they should stay selected when changing the sorting order (ex: Name to Size). Maintaining selected files when sorting should be a requirement and this feature should not have been removed.
4. The option to remember each folder's view settings (remembering individual folder window sizes and positions).
5. The option to remove "Full row selection" for details view. "Full row selection" is very annoying when the folder is full and has no empty space to click on. Also, when dragging/dropping files to a different folder - if you release the file on the row of a subfolder or .exe/.zip/.rar file "full row selection" causes the file to be moved into the subfolder or .exe/.zip/.rar file rather the the intended folder.
6. A search window with all the advanced search options. No syntax required.
7. The option to always show free disk space and folder size in the status bar and/or details pane. Also always automatically show the size of selected files (when many files are selected it will not show the total size).
8. The option to scroll the pane your mouse is in with mouse wheel even if that pane is not selected.

Let Microsoft know you want Windows Explorers features returned:

Since many people seem to agree that some or all the changes made to Windows Explorer have actually made it less user friendly, you can go to the Windows 7 Feedback page and (politely) let them know your suggestions for improving it:

http://mymfe.microsoft.com/Windows%207/Feedback.aspx?formID=195

Note: don't make the message too long, there is a size limit to your message even though the page doesn't tell you about it. Also, don't just copy and paste from the list above - they will think the same person is repeatedly submitting feedback.

Left pane scroll bug (and other fixes):

Using Classic Shell To Restore Some Features To Windows Explorer

After installing the free Classic Shell you can customize Windows Explorer closer to how you want it, the quote below is just one way to do so. Click here to see some of the options you can customize, and here is the FAQ page for Classic Shell.

A solution which did work for restoring some features.

1. Install the free Classic Shell.  This is very customizable, and works as a mod for Windows Explorer rather than a full blown replacement. You didn't need to install the Classic Start Menu option, but you can if you want.
2. Reboot the computer.
3. Launch Windows Explorer (Start - Computer) and turn on "Always Show Menus" (Organize - Layout - check Menu Bar). This is just for configuration, you can turn it off again afterwards if you want.
4. Right click on the menu bar and turn on the "Classic Explorer Bar". This adds a series of cut/copy/paste icons to Explorer. Crucially, it also adds the "Configuration" icon.
5. Go into the configuration and from here you can tweak things to your heart's content. To kill the horrible Windows 7 folder-jumping, switch the "Navigation Pane Style" to Vista. You can even knock it back to XP mode if you want (this adds in the lines to the folder tree and adds a classic "+" icon for expanding folders). The Windows Vista style folder view looks pretty much the same as the Windows 7 view, but gets rid of the horrible jumping.
6. Tweak any other settings you want.

After this, you can turn the toolbar and menus back off in Explorer if you wish. Windows Explorer looks largely the same, but folders no longer jump around. Vote for Microsoft to fix this bug.

Now, if only MS could code properly so that we don't have to mess with third party apps to get Windows to actually work properly...

Dear Ryan,

Actually, no, this wasn't at all helpful. Let me get this straight ... Rather than engineer a fix so that icons could not be placed on top of each other, Microsoft decided to just do away with allowing users to customize their Windows experience? Microsoft might want to check out all of the very unhappy chatter on the web about this decision and come up with a patch for it pronto. This kind of lazy thinking approach to a resolving a problem is not at all what one expects from Microsoft. I'm amazed that this decision made it past the first engineering meeting.