periodic desktop icons moving?

[Guest J. P. Gilliver (John)]

From time to time, the icons on my desktop rearrange, all to the left. I

do not have auto arrange icons set.

 

I have Ez-desk, so it's not a major problem to put them back where I

want them, but it _is_ irritating.

 

It seems to come and go in phases, and I've had it on at least two

machines. At the moment, I can't remember when it last happened on this

laptop; on my desktop machine, it tends to happen at least once per

session, within about ten or twenty minutes of booting.

 

Any idea what's causing it?

--

J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL(+++)IS-P--Ch+(p)Ar+T[?]H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

** http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/G6JPG-PC/JPGminPC.htm for thoughts on PCs. **

 

"Bother," said Pooh, as Windows crashed for the umpteenth time.

[Guest thanatoid]

Re: periodic desktop icons moving?

 

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG@soft255.demon.co.uk> wrote in

news:v+mid5J4V55IFwlF@soft255.demon.co.uk:

> From time to time, the icons on my desktop rearrange, all

> to the left. I

> do not have auto arrange icons set.

>

> I have Ez-desk, so it's not a major problem to put them

> back where I want them, but it _is_ irritating.

>

> It seems to come and go in phases, and I've had it on at

> least two machines. At the moment, I can't remember when it

> last happened on this laptop; on my desktop machine, it

> tends to happen at least once per session, within about ten

> or twenty minutes of booting.

>

> Any idea what's causing it?

 

Standard Windows behavior. Get the prog from

http://www.iconsaver.com. If you can find an older version, it

was free, and had less unnecessary bells and whistles. This is

also, I regret to say, typical.

 

A sage regular in this group, Franc Zabkar, told me WHERE the

damn icon placement is kept - no one else could for TEN years.

It's the FIRST "stream" in the registry - and for reasons known

only to pimply MS programmers, it misbehaves. You/could/ try

exporting that stream to a reg file when your icons are the way

you want, and double clicking on that file /should/ restore

them. I never tried it because I use IconSaver. It might or

might not work.

 

There are about 5 other programs which keep your icons where you

want, but they are either goofy, expensive, vast overkill or all

of the above. Still, feel free to explore software sites.

 

 

--

Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the

votes decide everything.

- Josef Stalin

[Guest glee]

Re: periodic desktop icons moving?

 

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG@soft255.demon.co.uk> wrote in message

news:v+mid5J4V55IFwlF@soft255.demon.co.uk...

> From time to time, the icons on my desktop rearrange, all to the left. I do not

> have auto arrange icons set.

>

> I have Ez-desk, so it's not a major problem to put them back where I want them,

> but it _is_ irritating.

>

> It seems to come and go in phases, and I've had it on at least two machines. At

> the moment, I can't remember when it last happened on this laptop; on my desktop

> machine, it tends to happen at least once per session, within about ten or twenty

> minutes of booting.

>

> Any idea what's causing it?

 

Do you have TweakUI installed?

 

Open the Registry Editor (Start>Run>Regedit) and navigate to this key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

 

Look for a data value in the right-hand pane named "NoSaveSettings"

If it exists, is it a Hexadecimal, or a DWORD value?

Is it set to 0 or 1?

 

My first suggestion is, if the "NoSaveSettings" value exists, delete it and restart.

 

If no joy:

re-create "NoSaveSettings" but ensure it is Hex Binary rather than DWORD, and set

the binary value to 00 00 00 00

OR

if TweakUI is installed, check the box for "Save Explorer window settings"

 

A simple workaround is to use a tweak such as this to save and restore the

layout...it is by far the simplest workaround:

http://users.rcn.com/taylotr/icon_restore.html

 

--

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+

http://dts-l.net/

http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

[Guest J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Re: periodic desktop icons moving?

 

In message <Xns9B2DF3EBEB83Dthanexit@209.197.15.184>, thanatoid

<waiting@the.exit.invalid> writes

>"J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG@soft255.demon.co.uk> wrote in

>news:v+mid5J4V55IFwlF@soft255.demon.co.uk:

>

>> From time to time, the icons on my desktop rearrange, all

>> to the left. I

>> do not have auto arrange icons set.

>>

>> I have Ez-desk, so it's not a major problem to put them

>> back where I want them, but it _is_ irritating.

[]

>Standard Windows behavior. Get the prog from

>http://www.iconsaver.com. If you can find an older version, it

>was free, and had less unnecessary bells and whistles. This is

>also, I regret to say, typical.

 

Ez-desk does me fine. I just wondered what was causing the "Standard

Windows Behaviour".

>

>A sage regular in this group, Franc Zabkar, told me WHERE the

>damn icon placement is kept - no one else could for TEN years.

>It's the FIRST "stream" in the registry - and for reasons known

>only to pimply MS programmers, it misbehaves. You/could/ try

>exporting that stream to a reg file when your icons are the way

>you want, and double clicking on that file /should/ restore

>them. I never tried it because I use IconSaver. It might or

>might not work.

>

>There are about 5 other programs which keep your icons where you

>want, but they are either goofy, expensive, vast overkill or all

>of the above. Still, feel free to explore software sites.

>

Ez-desk is light and in effect free (nominally just a trial version, but

I did try to contact the author about some minor technical query and

there seemed to be no response, so I assume she's lost interest).

>

--

J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL(+++)IS-P--Ch+(p)Ar+T[?]H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

** http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/G6JPG-PC/JPGminPC.htm for thoughts on PCs. **

 

This area of 'when does a computer know that it doesn't know' is relatively

undeveloped. - Colin Barker (Computing, 1999-2-18 [p. 20])

[Guest J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Re: periodic desktop icons moving?

 

In message <OnM9h3vJJHA.3460@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl>, glee

<glee29@spamindspring.com> writes

>"J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG@soft255.demon.co.uk> wrote in message

>news:v+mid5J4V55IFwlF@soft255.demon.co.uk...

>> From time to time, the icons on my desktop rearrange, all to the

>>left. I do not have auto arrange icons set.

[]

>Do you have TweakUI installed?

[suggestions snipped]

 

I have Ez-desk to save and restore the positions, it was more a matter

of wondering what is causing the behaviour in the first place. Windows

will boot up and settle down with the icons where I want them - then

they'll spontaneously rearrange sometime within the next ten or twenty

minutes. I think it only happens when I'm doing something, not when the

machine is idle, but I haven't been able to pin it to (my doing)

anything specific so far.

--

J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL(+++)IS-P--Ch+(p)Ar+T[?]H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

** http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/G6JPG-PC/JPGminPC.htm for thoughts on PCs. **

 

This area of 'when does a computer know that it doesn't know' is relatively

undeveloped. - Colin Barker (Computing, 1999-2-18 [p. 20])

[Guest glee]

Re: periodic desktop icons moving?

 

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG@soft255.demon.co.uk> wrote in message

news:NSLqGaIAvV6IFw6d@soft255.demon.co.uk...

> In message <OnM9h3vJJHA.3460@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl>, glee

> <glee29@spamindspring.com> writes

>>"J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG@soft255.demon.co.uk> wrote in message

>>news:v+mid5J4V55IFwlF@soft255.demon.co.uk...

>>> From time to time, the icons on my desktop rearrange, all to the left. I do not

>>> have auto arrange icons set.

> []

>>Do you have TweakUI installed?

> [suggestions snipped]

>

> I have Ez-desk to save and restore the positions, it was more a matter of

> wondering what is causing the behaviour in the first place. Windows will boot up

> and settle down with the icons where I want them - then they'll spontaneously

> rearrange sometime within the next ten or twenty minutes. I think it only happens

> when I'm doing something, not when the machine is idle, but I haven't been able to

> pin it to (my doing) anything specific so far.

 

That is what my suggestions were for. Check what I asked you to check in order to

determine if those settings are involved. The icons are moving when your system

decides to refresh the desktop, and the NoSaveSettings data is often invloved in the

rearrangement of the icons at that time.

--

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+

http://dts-l.net/

http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

[Guest glee]

Re: periodic desktop icons moving?

 

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG@soft255.demon.co.uk> wrote in message

news:xBHVC5HxrV6IFw8s@soft255.demon.co.uk...

> In message <Xns9B2DF3EBEB83Dthanexit@209.197.15.184>, thanatoid

> <waiting@the.exit.invalid> writes

>>"J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG@soft255.demon.co.uk> wrote in

>>news:v+mid5J4V55IFwlF@soft255.demon.co.uk:

>>

>>> From time to time, the icons on my desktop rearrange, all

>>> to the left. I

>>> do not have auto arrange icons set.

>>>

>>> I have Ez-desk, so it's not a major problem to put them

>>> back where I want them, but it _is_ irritating.

> []

>>Standard Windows behavior. Get the prog from

>>http://www.iconsaver.com. If you can find an older version, it

>>was free, and had less unnecessary bells and whistles. This is

>>also, I regret to say, typical.

>

> Ez-desk does me fine. I just wondered what was causing the "Standard Windows

> Behaviour".

>> snip

 

It's NOT standard Windows behaviour by any means. I have worked on more Win9x

systems than I care to count, and I have only seen that behaviour when returning

from Safe Mode on some of them, or when certain Registry settings either get

corrupted or a DWORD NoSaveSettings value is in force.

--

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+

http://dts-l.net/

http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

[Guest thanatoid]

Re: periodic desktop icons moving?

 

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG@soft255.demon.co.uk> wrote in

news:xBHVC5HxrV6IFw8s@soft255.demon.co.uk:

 

<SNIP>

> Ez-desk does me fine.

 

As usual, I read carelessly or I would not have suggested

iconsaver.

> I just wondered what was causing the

> "Standard Windows Behaviour".

 

That, I hope, is a rhetorical question.

 

 

 

--

Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the

votes decide everything.

- Josef Stalin

[Guest J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Re: periodic desktop icons moving?

 

In message <OhzJ#H1JJHA.1160@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl>, glee

<glee29@spamindspring.com> writes

[]

>That is what my suggestions were for. Check what I asked you to check

>in order to determine if those settings are involved. The icons are

>moving when your system decides to refresh the desktop, and the

>NoSaveSettings data is often invloved in the rearrangement of the icons

>at that time.

 

Ah, I see.

> Open the Registry Editor (Start>Run>Regedit) and navigate to this key:

>

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\E>

xplorer

> Look for a data value in the right-hand pane named "NoSaveSettings"

[]

> If no joy:

> re-create "NoSaveSettings" but ensure it is Hex Binary rather than

> DWORD, and set the binary value to 00 00 00 00

> OR

> if TweakUI is installed, check the box for "Save Explorer window

> settings"

 

I do have TweakUI, and that box is already ticked, so I've gone into

regedit, and that value wasn't there at all, so I've created it and set

it to 00 00 00 00. Will report back what happens!

(Why on earth they have keys with inverse names ...)

 

Thanks.

--

J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL(+++)IS-P--Ch+(p)Ar+T[?]H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

** http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/G6JPG-PC/JPGminPC.htm for thoughts on PCs. **

 

This area of 'when does a computer know that it doesn't know' is relatively

undeveloped. - Colin Barker (Computing, 1999-2-18 [p. 20])

[Guest teebo]

Re: periodic desktop icons moving?

 

>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

>> Look for a data value in the right-hand pane named "NoSaveSettings"

> (Why on earth they have keys with inverse names ...)

 

:-)

 

I guess we should be happy they didn't use double negations ;-)

DontHaveNoUnSaveSettingsOff = 1

 

is it possible to have the same settings in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE ?

 

HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

is only used when creating a new account I hope.

 

 

If windows explorer would have been open source, there would be

lot of features I would remove and lots of registry keys that

would be un-used

 

 

It looks like the icon positions is saved here in this registry key:

HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Desktop\ViewView2

The other numbered ones in Explorer\Streams\ I guess are for other folders

that have

their icon placement saved... I have 0 to 199 and they have all allmost

the same data

 

1C 0 0 0 03 0 0 0 (one hade 04 instead of 03)

0 0 0 0 0 0 30 0

02 0 0 0 01 0 0 0 (or 00 instead of 02)

FF FF FF FF F0 F0 F0 F0

14 0 03 0 30 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 

Desktop begins the same too, but after that, there is more data

and filenames (both the LFN and short filename) with 22 byte

data for each, that looks like for example these:

 

35 01 00 00 98 00 00 00 31 00 32 00 36 00 24 00 25 39 D8 19 20 00

35 01 00 00 4D 00 00 00 30 00 32 00 96 4F 05 00 25 39 DB 04 20 00

D8 00 00 00 C4 01 00 00 39 00 32 00 87 43 0D 00 21 39 FA 05 20 00

17 02 00 00 AC 01 00 00 19 00 32 00 3F 11 00 00 B9 36 00 00 20 80

06 03 00 00 E3 00 00 00 2D 00 32 00 97 03 00 00 DD 38 BD 8C 20 00