I have a lot of files and icons on my desktop and it’s filling up nearly 75% of my desktop space. Even though it’s quite messy but I remember exactly where the icons and files that I always use are because I don’t move them around or change the position on the desktop. Yesterday I booted my computer into Safe Mode and the screen automatically changes to a bigger resolution. When I booted back to normal Windows, all my files and icons on my desktop automatically got reshuffled! It took me sometime to rearrange the icons and files back to the place where it used to be.
There were also a few occasions where holding the Ctrl key plus scrolling on the mouse will change the size of the icons at Desktop, causing them to move out of the original positions. If you find such situation annoying, solving this problem is actually quite easy by using a utility to memorize the icon positions and allowing you to easily restore it back to the way it was.
Previously I featured Icon Restore on this page but it is outdated and no longer being maintained where it does not work with Windows 7 as well. So here is a worthy replacement tool called DesktopOK which is free, light, portable and does the job really well.
DesktopOK is very lightweight at only 135KB in size. All you need to do to save the desktop icon layout is run the program and click the Save button. If the desktop icons somehow got messed up, just run DesktopOK again and double click on the icon-layout that you have previously saved to restore back the icons to the original position. It is possible to save as many layout as you want which is very useful for different screen resolutions. For the fun of it, there is a button called “Punch the Icons” that randomizes the icons position which is useful to test the restoration of the saved desktop layout icons.
DesktopOK also comes with a few interesting features that can be found in the Tools menubar such as temporarily hiding the cursor when mouse is not moved for an amount of time, hiding the desktop icons and taskbar, and using the mousewheel to scroll even on programs that are ran in background. Do take note that DesktopOK must be running in order for all these features to be available. The options for DesktopOK allows you to configure the auto save interval, auto save before Windows shutdown, restore during Windows startup, and auto starting of the program.
DesktopOK is free and runs from Windows 98 to Windows 7 both 32-bit and 64-bit although the 64-bit.
These so-called desktop icon layout restoration softwares are bogus. They do NOT restore the layout after serious system failures or restores to earlier system configurations. What I want is the ability to SAVE my desktop layout to an EXTERNAL drive, thumbdrive, flashdrive, etc. Such that I simply restore my desktop even after I purchase a brandnew laptop. NOBODY even suggests such a thing on any of these forums, websites, etc. Any suggestions? And you may PUBLISH my email address on this subject. This infernal SCRAMBLING of my desktop icons has plagued me for years. Yes, I have learned a thing or two about this problem, such saving a “PRINT SCREEN” image of the layout so I can refer to it when the layout gets scrambled. And of course I save a backup file of the actual SHORTCUTS, which can then be copied and pasted back onto my screen/desktop after a total system failure or if I get a new laptop. Nonetheless, such entails much WORK to rearrange those damn icons back to the way you like it. I need a way to SAVE said layout to an EXTERNAL device. Anything “saved” into the laptop proper is in fact NEVER truly saved. It is always subject to total loss.
how does this work?
IconSort, also works from tray
ds-studios.com.ar/downloads/IconSort/IconSort_bin.zip
I forgot to mention:
90 kb in size
needs no installation
runs from the tray
Well, if you don’t like the context menu entry clutter you can use a little freeware app called Icon Saver, which does the same thing.
I think it has become extinct by now, but you can download it from here:
rapidshare.com/files/5560008/Icon_Saver.rar