Desktop Icon question

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 2 Jul 2011 10:46 am

I have a Dell laptop with Vista. I use an external monitor at home, but the laptops monitor elsewhere. I like my icons arranged on the desktop in groups of similar programs (music/video, MS Office, Adobe etc...). When I switch monitors, the icons end up rearranging themselves in no particular order. Is there a way to lock the icons in place?

Jim Cooley · Post by **Jim Cooley** » 2 Jul 2011 11:04 am

Richard,

I'm not sure about Vista, but I had the same problem on my XP Pro laptop. Right click on your desktop. Mouse over "Arrange Icons BY" or similar. See if "Lock Items on Desktop" is checked. If it is, uncheck it. That fixed mine. You might have to restart. I hope it helps.

-Jim-

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 3 Jul 2011 1:18 pm

No item like that in Vista. I have "Auto Arrange Icons" unchecked and just now unchecked the "Align to grid" selection. We'll see if that helps. Also, the icons remain how I arranged them when I plug the external monitor in, but they end up mostly sent to the left edge of the screen and in no particular order when I just use the laptop alone. What's even stranger is, the icons that were originally to the left edge sometimes get moved.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 3 Jul 2011 8:27 pm

Richard Sinkler wrote:No item like that in Vista. I have "Auto Arrange Icons" unchecked and just now unchecked the "Align to grid" selection. We'll see if that helps. Also, the icons remain how I arranged them when I plug the external monitor in, but they end up mostly sent to the left edge of the screen and in no particular order when I just use the laptop alone. What's even stranger is, the icons that were originally to the left edge sometimes get moved.

I can't resist: So, what you are saying is that your icons are a bunch of Leftists?

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 5 Jul 2011 4:13 pm

Yup Wiz, that pretty much sums it up.