New monitor scrambles icons

2010 08 25

I bought a new monitor for my home Windows XP pro system with a higher resolution and now my desktop icons won’t stay in the correct location. I installed a program called Iconoid and this program will put them back in the correct spot. But if I log on after my wife logs on, then my icons are messed up. HER icons are OK. We are both at the same monitor resolution. (We have different logon names.) I realize that this problem is very widely reported, but it’s not clear to me what the solution is. Is there anything I can do to prevent my icons from moving after my wife logs on (so I don’t have to run Iconoid every time) ? I never had this problem with the old monitor.

Thanks for any response.

 

Do you both use the same icon arranging system (right-click on the desktop -> Arrange Icons By->)?

Now that you have installed a program that is supposed to do it automatically, our suggestions might be worthless. You might need to uninstall it before any modifications can take place and let's hope it uninstalls cleanly.

You might need to upgrade your graphics drivers. You don't have your system details in your WindowsBBS user profile, so I can't direct you to where you will find them.
http://www.windowsbbs.com/adding_system_specifications.html

Are you using Active Desktop? Look it up in Help and Support. It didn't seem to work very well in previous versions of Windows, so I suggest you disable it if you use it.

"Do you both use the same icon arranging system (right-click on the desktop -> Arrange Icons By ->)?" Is Align to Grid checked?

Matt

 

Sorry for my lack of response. Many other unrelated problems - but this problem still exists. Answers: I use Iconoid, my wife does NOT - and doesn't seem to need it; her icons stay put. Align to grid IS checked on both sides, and I like to have it on when I move icons around myself. I don't know what Active Desktop is, don't use it that I know of, but don't know where to find it - there is no "Help and Support" option that I can find. I "ll try to check on graphics drivers but haven't done so yet, but also unsure how a graphics driver could cause this problem. Thanks for any other suggestions. I also edited my system specifications so they are up to date.

 

When you right click the desktop make sure Auto Arrange is unchecked.

 

I use Icon Restore

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

From the site ................

Icon Restore installs LAYOUT.DLL (along with the required registry entries) from Microsoft. Two new options are added to the pop up menu that opens when any Windows system icon (ex. My Computer) is right clicked. These options are "Save Desktop Icon Layout" and "Restore Desktop Icon Layout ".

After installing Icon Restore, simply place your icons wherever you want them on your desktop, right click My Computer (or any 'system' icon) and left click on "Save Desktop Icon Layout" from the pop up menu.

If your icons ever get moved because your computer entered safe mode or you changed the screen resolution, right click My Computer (or any 'system' icon) and left click on "Restore Desktop Icon Layout" from the pop up menu.