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Question About Desktop Icons

15 years ago

Hi everyone,

Hope everyones day has been a good one.

Now for my question.

I know that you can lock in the taskbar so that things can't be moved. Now my question is about the Desk Top. My grandson was playing games on the computer and he changed the taskbar (which I had forgot to lock) and I got that fixed but I noticed that the arrangements on the Desk Top was also changed. In other words they were not in the order that I had them in. Is there a way to lock the icons into place so that they can't be moved? I was able to put them back in the order that I wanted them in but if someone else is on this computer and they accidently move the icons to a different order than where I had them in, I would have to do it all over again to set them back where I want them.

So, is there a way to keep the icons in the order that I want them in and lock them so they can't be moved? I do know you can set it by name, size, type and Modified but I don't see anything where it says lock Desktop Icons. Just curious.

thirdfrt!!!

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Comments (5)

zep516
15 years ago
Organize your desktop items in the order that you would like them to stay. Make sure they are all in the correct spot before you continue the process.

Right-click with your mouse anywhere on your desktop.

Select "View" on the options tab that comes up.

Select "Desktop Items" next and uncheck the line that says "Auto Arrange" by clicking on it.

Click "Align to Grid" to align your desktop icons in their current position.

Click "Show Desktop Items" to make any further changes and finalize the positions of your desktop icons.

Click "Apply" in the desktop menu and your icons will be locked in their current position the next time you turn off, reboot or reconfigure your computer.
owbist
15 years ago
Confuse the heck out of the grandson and remove all the icons. Right cClick the taskbar, click Toolbars, click Desktop. You now have 2 small chevrons facing right close to the clock, clicking those brings up all your desktop icons in a popup.. Now right click the taskbar, click to remove the checkmark beside Desktop. Now you have a wonderful clear screen to see the nice picture you have decided on as wallpaper.

You can right click on the new listing and click to sort alphabetically or you can drag the icons up or down to your liking.
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Well I hope the gremlins don't get this one. I just want to thank everyone for their posts to my other thread. Owbist, it was just a simple oversite on my part, I knew better but was in a hurry and forgot. The gremlins must be busy and giving the site's IT folks big headaches. They weren't the only one with the headache, I first thought something went wrong with my computer, then I started checking out other sites and discovered it was this site only. Does anyone around here have Raid? It might get rid of those pesky little critters. "LOL" ravencajun, I went back into that thread and was really surprised to see that the whole post was gone like you said. oh well it gets stranger still now your entire last post is gone and mine is the last one! the gremlins are busy here! They sure are, they must have really been hungry last night. "LOL" At least the IT folks got to them before they ate up the whole website. Oh that would have been a mess. Good Job to all. I wrote down your instructions too from the other thread just in case it would disappear too. btw will that install a short cut on the desktop too? Have a super day. thirdfrt!!!
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oh you mean you are trying to use it as your wallpaper? not simply trying to put an icon size of it? then yes urlee is likely right the picture was not of a high enough quality to be able to be stretched to the size you need for wallpaper, however in the wallpaper settings area you can choose how to display it, fit scree, original size, tiled etc, I would try one of the options other than fit screen and see how that works. (right click on desktop and choose properties to get to wallpaper area) Usually when people send a picture through email they limit the size so as not to bog down the persons email with a huge image, so those images are generally not good choices for enlarging.
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Caroline, I use Internet Explorer as my browser, and my operating system is Windows XP Pro. The default location for the icon for a new shortcut is this: C:\WINDOWS\system32\url.dll That's where you end up with the icon that looks just like the Internet Explorer icon. You already know how to get to the point where you can change the icon, so click on "Browse" to change locations and then go to: C:\WINDOWS\system32\SHELL32.dll There are a lot of icons to choose from in that dll.
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ravencajun Zone 8b TX
15 years ago
I have used a great little program for years that adds an item to the my computer context menu that allows you to lock down icons, I love this little program.
Icon Restore

this might be helpful also not sure which OS you are using though
Save and Restore Desktop Icon Layout in Windows Vista
thirdfrt
Original Author
15 years ago
I'm sorry I was in a hurry and failed to tell you that I have Windows XPSP3. I will have to ask zep516, owbist and ravencajun if any of what you have posted will work with XP? Again I am sorry for not posting my OS.

thirdfrt!!!
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
15 years ago
yes the icon restore is exactly what you need and it sure does work with your version of windows give it a try I think you will love it I know I do. Arrange them where you want them use the right click context menu to save layout and you are done.

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