Just wanted to say...thank you for your help. I've installed a new version
of virus software....I think it may have been a virus in my SYSTEM that was
causing the problem. When I rebooted after installation...it was back to
normal.

Robin

"Wesley Vogel" wrote:

> Show in Groups will be grayed out unless you select one of these; Name,
> Size, Type or Modified.
>
> Name, Size, Type, Modified, Show in Groups and Align to Grid will all be
> grayed out if you do not have Show Desktop Icons selected.
>
> Show Desktop Icons will not be displayed if you have unchecked:
> Allow Web content to be added to the desktop in TweakUI.
>
> Or if this registry value is set to 1...
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
> CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
> Value Name: NoActiveDesktop
> Data Type: REG_DWORD
> Value Data: 0 or 1
> 0 = Allow Web content to be added to the desktop
> 1 = Don't allow Web content to be added to the desktop
>
> Also the Web tab will not appear under Desktop Items (Display Properties |
> Desktop tab | Customize Desktop button).
>
> Also, *.jpg files will not be listed in...
> Display Properties | Desktop tab | Background
>
> Lock Web Items on Desktop
> [[Specifies whether Web content windows or items that you have placed on
> your desktop are locked in place and can’t be moved. Select the check box to
> lock Web content in place. Clear the check box if you want to be able to
> move Web content.]]
>
> If Lock Web Items on Desktop is checked...
> Items can be moved, but they are moved back after reboot.
>
> "Show Desktop icons" and other options missing in the Desktop right-click
> menu
> http://www.winxptutor.com/showdesktopicons.htm
>
> Arrange Icons By...
>
> Name
> [[Arrange icons in alphabetical order by the icon name. ]]
>
> Size
> [[Arrange icons in order of file size. If the icon is a shortcut to a
> program, the size refers to the size of the shortcut file. ]]
>
> Type
> [[Arrange icons in order of type. For example, if you have shortcuts to
> several PowerPoint presentations on your desktop, these will be arranged
> next to each other. ]]
>
> Modified
> [[Arrange icons in the order that the shortcut was last modified. ]]
>
> Show in groups
> [[Show in Groups allows you to group your files by any detail of the file,
> such as name, size, type, or date modified. ]]
>
> AutoArrange
> [[Arrange the icons in columns along the left side of your screen.]]
>
> Align to Grid
> [[Snap icons into place as designated by an invisible grid on
> your screen. The grid keeps the icons aligned with each other. ]]
>
> Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard
> [[The Desktop Cleanup Wizard displays a list of the desktop icons that have
> not been used for 60 days or more, enabling you to remove those icons that
> you don't want on your desktop. You can retrieve icons you have removed by
> opening the Unused Desktop Shortcuts folder on your desktop. ]]
>
> --
> Hope this helps. Let us know.
>
> Wes
> MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
>
> In news:10905751-446E-49DF-B75C-ECE23B449365@microsoft.com,
> Robin <Robin@discussions.microsoft.com> hunted and pecked:
> > Maybe a month ago my desktop icons started showing up aphabetized on my
> > screen and I can't get it back to the normal auto arrange or just placing
> > them anywhere on the screen. They are all on the left and theres a line A
> > with A programs under the B and so on. The problem is when I go to right
> > click on the desktop to bring up properties for the desktop the whole
> > middle section of Arange Icons by.... are greyed out. The greyed out
> > item are 'show in groups' (not checked), 'auto arrange' (not checked),
> > and 'align to grid' (checked). I am unable to drag the icons anywhere on
> > my screen.
> >
> > Any thoughts.
> >
> > I am running XP Professional SP2.
> >
> > Thanks.
>
>