Windows 7 was not my idea

[perc-o-prince]

I liked XP SP2 just fine. Just sayin...

 

Something I haven't found how to do yet in 7: if I restart the computer all of my desktop icons move to the left of the screen. I (normally) have them staggered so they're grouped in a way I like them. I haven't found how to lock them so that this doesn't happen on restart. Is it even possible in 7? Auto arrange is not checked in the view menu, BTW.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Chuck

 

 

[retropia]

I liked Windows XP just fine, too, but was more-or-less forced to upgrade to Windows 7 because software manufacturers keep moving on.

I've not tried arranging my icons in any particular way, but I noticed there is a switch that lets Windows "themes" have some sort of control of icons.

If you right click in an open area of your desktop, then select Personalize from the bottom of the pop-up menu, a Control Panel>All Control Panel Items>Personalization screen pops up. Click on "Change desktop icons" and there is a checkbox at the bottom, already checked (on mine anyway), that reads "Allow themes to change desktop icons." Try unchecking that box, and see if it then allows you to arrange icons the way you want, and keep them that way.

 

[DADoES]

 
Win7 on a Dell (ugh!, not my main machine, used for contract web work).  I don't have the aforemention themes option unchecked.  Desktop icons stay as I place them.

After arranging icons as desired, press F5.  YMMV, but that has long been a Windows trick to 'save' the desktop layout.

 

[jmurray01]

Windows XP? I'm still on Windows 2000!

 

[whirlcool]

According to the Google Analytics of my two websites I find that 42% of my viewers are still using Windows XP. Less than 1% are using Windows 98. But Windows 7 is now at 52% and growing quickly.

A lot of people won't upgrade their operating systems until they have to. Why spend $200 just to get prettier Windows? The reason I upgraded from Windows 98 to XP is because I couldn't find an Anti-Virus program anymore that would work with 98. Some people upgrade because the software they are using require a newer version of Windows.

However, I am thinking about upgrading to 7 just for the heck of it. Computers using 7 seem to run faster due to the better memory management of Windows 7.

 

[perc-o-prince]

Hey Doug, that was already unchecked

 but thanks!

 

DADoES- I'll have to try that!

 

Allen- I found that XP was so much more user friendly, but I've gotten used to 7. I only upgraded because my Viao with XP was damaged and SquareTrade refunded every penny I paid for it 2.5 years later. Bought another Toshiba (had one before the Viao) but 7 was standard then. We've been using the laptop as the main computer, hooked up to a monitor, keyboard, etc, for about 5-6 years now. Still have the XP Insignia desktop that I fired up about 2 weeks ago to load wireless software and a new Norton into, and didn't realize how much I missed it!

 

Chuck

 

 

 

 

[perc-o-prince]

Well, just closed out the browser and email, arranged the icons and hit F5. That moved all the icons back to the left side again, same as when I restart. Thanks anyway! Windows 7 was NOT my idea!!!

 

Chuck

 

[whirlcool]

I've run into a few people who haven't been able to make the jump to Windows 7. They knew how to use Windows XP, but when they saw the 7 interface they were totally lost. In fact, one of my neighbors said that she never turns her Windows 7 laptop off because she doesn't know how! She just lets it run and run and run.

A friend of a frind referred me to a medium sized liquor distributor who has one main Windows XP Pro server and 12 PC's hanging off of it. They have never:

Had an anti-virus software installed on any of the machines
Have never run any system utilities like Scandisk, Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter.
Backed any of the systems up.

The owner has two teen age daughters and has their computers linked to the business server too.

They want to know if I can come out and "straighten" things out for them. Their last "computer guy" got arrested for kiddie porn.

 

[perc-o-prince]

That's funny, because, IIRC, the shut down is about the same. Yes, "Start" was replaced with the Windows logo, and if you click Shut Down you don't get the choices XP gives you (unless you click the little arrow next to Shut Down). Right there, two user friendly things gone in 7.

 

Sounds like their last computer guy wasn't doing his job and the client got very lucky!

 

[solsburian]

There are some interesting comments regarding the usability of XP and 7.

When Vista (and eventually Windows 7) came out, I though they broke some well established user interface paradigms, such handeling system settings and the file paths in Windows Explorer. Vista and 7 feel much more cumbersome than XP and earlier, and some common tasks feel more long winded and difficult.

However, if you think Vista/7 is bad, just wait until you feast your eyes on Windows 8. I have access to the retail version of Windows 8 Enterprise and it is an absolute train wreck. I've never used a OS that is as frustrating and downright annoying to use than Windows 8.

 

[marthalover4eve]

simples

just get a mac :L

i got a mac mini

 

[DADoES]

 
Chuck,

I overlooked this -- right-click on the desktop.  Select View.  Confirm that Auto Arrange is not check-marked.  Uncheck Align to Grid if you really want ability to scatter them any-which-way.  F5 snaps everything aligned to the gridlines, it may or may not actively save the positioning if Align to Grid is not enabled.

 

[perc-o-prince]

{annoying buzzer sound}

 

Sorry DADoES. Tried unchecking and checking align to grid- F5 still auto arranges even when auto arrange isn't checked. It's such a small annoyance, and ot probably takes a little less than a minute to re-arrange the desktop, but.....

 

For sh*ts and giggles I swapped two of my icons that were all 7 lined up. When I hit F5, they went back the way 7 wanted them. I'm gonna start calling 7 "Hal."

 

Mac- won't be doing that any time soon. Besides, Apple seems to have just as much of a monopoly on their stuff as MS does, except they only have about 10% of the number of users (computer-wise) and, therefore, much less compatible software. Then there's the cost, from what I've seen. Maybe I'm misinformed, but that's what I've seen.

 

Win 8- I'll resist as long as I can, until I have to buy a new computer. Why the h*ll can't they leave well enough alone? They actually made progress with XP after SP2 and didn't learn!

 

[mattl]

7???? I'm moving on to 8!!!

At least on afew of my computers. I have been using win7 since it was beta, and am very happy with it. I'm going to jump on the $39 upgrade offer for win 8 that runs through jan. on a couple of my computers. I've been running win8 on one of my units for 8 months or so, seems pretty stable. Not sure I like all the features, but the price is right.

 

[jerrod6]

I've been using windows 7 for about 2 years and like it very much.  I don't seem to have the problem with everything moving to the left side but that may be because I manually moved every icon to the left I have two columns of them down the left side.  I have a 28 inch screen so having everything over to one side allows me to have a large browser and application area window to the right while still being  able to get to other icons on the left  if I want to use them.

 

Windows 8: The focus of this release is on touch screen interfaces on tablets and displays not mouse. While you can use it with a mouse it is said to be considerably clunker when using a mouse vs a touch screen.  There is also the case that windows 8 uses a new  metro display style in which all existing apps will need to be updated to take advantage of it.

 

So for now I will wait to see what the real world usability feedback is before even considering an upgrade.

 

Anybody seen pictures of the new Windows 8 display with the large too colorful tiles instead of icons.  The look reminds me of toy  3 year old children are playing with while in a playpen.  The colors are too bright, the tiles are too big and it all looks childish - nothing stylistic about it.  Of course perhaps you can modify the tile colors and their look to suit yourself but I don't know at this point.  For me the large too colorful in you face tiles are a turn-off .  I guess time will tell. 

 

Mattl - how does Windows 8 work for  you with a mouse?  Can you make use of the Metro style with existing apps?  Can mix  your own colors and change the colors and size of the titles or are you stuck with the colors Microsoft gives you?

 

[mattl]

I pretty much ignore the main screen.  I just click on the main desktop and it looks and acts very much as Win 7 does.  The main screen works fine with a mouse, you just have to get used to some of the little quirks.  I'm sure it will get tweaked very quickly after the release of the real version.  You can change the main sfreen as you see fit, colors, what icons and so on.

 

[Iowegian]

I'll take Win7 for it's cootie blocking ability over XP Service Pack xx any day.

I'm not sure why desktop icons snap back to certain locations other than MS doesn't really want you working from your desktop - I think in their mind that's what the big windows icon at the lower left is for - that's your starting point, not the desktop. Just like you need to follow their workflow concepts in Word, Excel and so on.

 

[nurdlinger]

I just saw this thread today. My Win7 desktop icons stay where I put them as far as I can tell, but I have columns of them on the left edge of the screen. Five columns of ten rows, plus a couple at the top of the sixth column.

I looked at the desktop right-click menu options. Auto arrange is not checked. Align icons to grid is checked. Under "Sort by", nothing is checked. Under Personalize and the next one, the option for allowing themes to change, or whatever, is checked.

I would see whether selection of a sort scheme or not makes a difference.

 

[mattl]

On trick that might help after you arrange thi icons is to right click on a blank area of the desktop ah click "refresh". This should lock in the placement of the icons, at least it does for me.