I know this has been asked before, but we have tried EVERYTHING from previous
posts. Registry settings (too many to list) & layout.dll from MS resource
kit. I am convinced it is related to our company group policy. Users
complained about icons moving upon restart, but now we have users stating
desktop icons are autoarranged upon screensaver. It makes it hard to
troubleshoot because at times icons will stay in place for 1 week, but then
revert back to autoarranage. Although the layout.dll made it quick for the
users to restore their icon layout, they are having to do this 4-5 times per
day. No GP settings have been changed for quite some time. Someone please
help get this monkey off our backs!

On Sun, 18 Dec 2005 13:41:02 -0800, Matt N. wrote:

> I know this has been asked before, but we have tried EVERYTHING from previous
> posts. Registry settings (too many to list) & layout.dll from MS resource
> kit. I am convinced it is related to our company group policy. Users
> complained about icons moving upon restart, but now we have users stating
> desktop icons are autoarranged upon screensaver. It makes it hard to
> troubleshoot because at times icons will stay in place for 1 week, but then
> revert back to autoarranage. Although the layout.dll made it quick for the
> users to restore their icon layout, they are having to do this 4-5 times per
> day. No GP settings have been changed for quite some time. Someone please
> help get this monkey off our backs!

I've never understood the fixation with keeping icons in one spot. I use
Arrange By/Name and have no trouble finding what I need when I need it.

The only reliable way I've read about to lock the locations of desktop
icons is with third party programs. Could get expensive with multiple
systems to administer though.

MVP Kelly Theriot has a fix at her XP tweaks site for layout too (no third
party tool required). It's on line 188 right hand side of this
page:http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
I suspect this is similar to how you're managing this now but perhaps
looking at her code, you may see something you're missing with your method?

--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows Shell/User

Thank you for your reply. The supplied link is exactly the same solution we
have implemented for our users to quickly restore their icon layout. However
due to an unknown reason the icons autoarrange multiple times throughout the
day. We are trying to find the root of the problem, the fix & not a
workaround.

Any other ideas?

"Sharon F" wrote:

> On Sun, 18 Dec 2005 13:41:02 -0800, Matt N. wrote:
>
> > I know this has been asked before, but we have tried EVERYTHING from previous
> > posts. Registry settings (too many to list) & layout.dll from MS resource
> > kit. I am convinced it is related to our company group policy. Users
> > complained about icons moving upon restart, but now we have users stating
> > desktop icons are autoarranged upon screensaver. It makes it hard to
> > troubleshoot because at times icons will stay in place for 1 week, but then
> > revert back to autoarranage. Although the layout.dll made it quick for the
> > users to restore their icon layout, they are having to do this 4-5 times per
> > day. No GP settings have been changed for quite some time. Someone please
> > help get this monkey off our backs!
>
> I've never understood the fixation with keeping icons in one spot. I use
> Arrange By/Name and have no trouble finding what I need when I need it.
>
> The only reliable way I've read about to lock the locations of desktop
> icons is with third party programs. Could get expensive with multiple
> systems to administer though.
>
> MVP Kelly Theriot has a fix at her XP tweaks site for layout too (no third
> party tool required). It's on line 188 right hand side of this
> page:http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
> I suspect this is similar to how you're managing this now but perhaps
> looking at her code, you may see something you're missing with your method?
>
> --
> Sharon F
> MS-MVP ~ Windows Shell/User
>

On Tue, 20 Dec 2005 08:21:03 -0800, Matt N. wrote:

> However
> due to an unknown reason the icons autoarrange multiple times throughout the
> day. We are trying to find the root of the problem, the fix & not a
> workaround.
>
> Any other ideas?

Hi, Matt. In every version of Windows I've used the icons will eventually
move around. Reasons vary. Examples: a soft restart of Explorer under
various error conditions (a safety net built in to the shell), a reset of
video mode when running some programs, a reset back to preferred video mode
when closing those programs. NOTE: Not all video mode changes will
rearrange the desktop but eventually a hiccup occurs and the icons
rearrange.

Since the behavior has been consistent across all versions of Windows, I
don't believe there is a permanent fix. Workarounds or third party
solutions are the only recourse that I know of.

--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows Shell/User