Windows 7 desktop icons keep rearranging themselves

Anonymous
2009-10-07T02:55:22+00:00

Every few days, all the icons on my Win7 desktop rearrange themselves. Usually they move to the left edge of the screen. I laboriously move all the icons back to where I like them, and 3-10 days later, they all shift left again. I've found no pattern or event that might cause this -- but it's very annoying!

I've got Win7 build 7100 running on a Dell Latitude D830 laptop. Totally standard hardware and very little non-Microsoft software. In short, it's a pretty clean system.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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Anonymous
2009-10-07T17:38:17+00:00

To supplement Reyas.M.I.'s answer, Under View is the option to select the icon size, Auto arrange icons and Align icons to grid.  The Sort by option includes Name, Size, Item type and Date modified.  I suggest you check both View and Sort by.

Corrine, Microsoft MVP (Consumer Security). This posting is provided "AS IS" without warranty, and confers no rights.

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Anonymous
2009-10-07T04:51:35+00:00

Check whether "Auto Arrange" checked. To check this, right click on desktop and select "Arrange icons by".

I hope this helps.

Thanks and Regards, Reyas...

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-02-09T14:03:14+00:00

    There are several reasons, one is settings got corrupted or are being overlooked (too many) others being application plugins to Explorer which mess with either resolution or icon positioning.

    The simpler of the answers are already posted by the so valuable MVPs and boy are they useless, because most people who have these issues probably already tried them. Talking about u-r-dummy answers.

    In my case Windows 7 has more entries than it should about icon positioning and for some reason those settings got corrupted.

    To be prepared, use an icon position saving software. I use X-Mouse Button Control as it has multiple uses but you could use other software, and save the settings of your icons as you'd like them.

    1. Open Registry (Start > Run) and and navigate to:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\1\Desktop

    Here is the location where your icon positions are stored listed based on screen resolution.

    1. Delete all ItemPos####x####x### entries.
    2. Rearrange icons or use the restoring software (much quicker).
    3. After a while a new entry will be created by Explorer, one regarding the current screen resolution and icon positions. From here on, whatever got corrupted in the user Profile will be mended by this entry and possibly fix this problem.

    A different fix includes getting Autoruns from Sysinternals and removing Explorer plugins until you see that the icon positions won't be affected anymore. Restore other plugins and keep testing. Once you'll find out the culprit either remove it or contact author for a inquiry into the matter.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-02-06T00:48:22+00:00

    For years now, I have suffered with Microsoft's op systems screwing up my desktop every few days or weeks, and putting all the icons in an unsorted heap.

    I have been getting by, by using  DeskSave, a fine ~ XP utility.  I have to send them money!

    DeskSave works great, - it saves the icon locations when I exit , and reloads them when I boot the desktop.

    And still, from time to time, FOR NO REASON,  Windows will blink all the icons on the desk, that is,

    reload/ rewrite them I guess, which is often a prelude to screwing them up.

    And yes, I found  2 instances of desktop.ini on the desktop, and assumed they were worthless Microsoft crapola, and deleted them !  LOL.  I stand by my case that they are useless !

    MJ, if you would stop deleting those desktop.ini (SYSTEM FILES), maybe you wouldn't have so much trouble.   Just move them to a corner of your desktop and leave them alone!

    By the way, I have been using  Iconoid (from sillysot.com), (Do NOT download from other sites).  It's free, and it has always restored my icon locations when I want it to.   (My icons move around when I connect to different screen size monitors.)

    Old thread, I know...

    But I recently started running into the icon auto rearranging problem (most likely due to changing screen resolutions).

    Using Iconoid (from sillysot.com) (on Win7 64bit) solved the problem!

    With Iconoid, I save the icon layout for my standard resolution.  If the icons get moved around and after I get back to my standard resolution, I use Iconoid to restore the icon positions.

    Good luck...

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-09-15T01:39:04+00:00

    THanks Steve!            I'll try that Iconoid.

    BTW, I  = usually=  leave the desktop.ini file alone.

      I just deleted 2 of them the other day to get even with Win-7 ....

    -  Windows sometimes just lunches out my icons from time to time, I can't trust it ,

    and that's why I have to punish it every now and then !

    I still say,  why doesn't

    Microsoft make an OS that's  stable,

    that doesn't bother me with permissions, that doesn't use the Digital Millenium ****,

    and basically does

    what I want

    when I want it to,

    and shuts up and

    behaves itself otherwise !!!

    But Win-7 is tolerable, until  it hits me with permission crud.

    And the desktop freezes up from time to time....

    BUT Win 8 is just weird and unnatural !

    MJ

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