How to Arrange and Organize Desktop Icons with Stardock's 'Fences'

My windows desktop icons were a cluttered mess, and I needed to arrange my icons by use and category, not by name. After a long frustrating search for a program to help me get organized, I came across a new program from Stardock.com called 'Fences'. It does everything I need, without a lot of needless bling and flash. Here's how you can organize your cluttered desktop using Fences.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A Windows XP or Vista computer
• If XP, you'll need .NET Framework 2.0 or later installed (it's standard on Vista)
• Fences from Stardock.com

1. Fences are transparent shaded boxes on your desktop that hold icons. You can name, resize and move fences, and can add or remove the icons in them. You can also customize how they look. You will need to install Fences on your computer.

2. 
   My desktop before Fences

   Go to www.stardock.com/products/fences/ and download their free 'Fences' program. Follow the instructions to install it on your computer. Here is a photo of what my Windows desktop looked like before Fences . . .

3. 
   Group of icons ready for fencing

   To add a fence to your desktop, hold down the right-click button on your mouse and drag a box where you want to create the fence. If you have a group of icons you want to put in the fence, drag the box around them. Click the button that appears saying "Create new fence here". Give your new fence a name, one that means something to you, and there it is!

4. 
   Fence with scrollbar

   Drag icons into the fences you want to keep them in, and they will stay in that fence even if you move the fence around or resize it. If a fence is too small to show all the icons in it then when you hover the mouse over that fence a scrollbar will appear allowing you to scroll down to see them all. You can actually have more icons on your desktop than before!

5. 
   My desktop after quick-hide

   To quick-hide all your fences so you can see your wallpaper without all the clutter, just double-click anywhere on the desktop and all your fences will fade away (unless you designate some to stay). Double-click again, and they fade back in.

6. 
   My desktop after Fences

   To delete a fence, simply right click it and select "Delete fence". The icons in it will be placed back on your desktop. Fences is a great program and has saved me a ton of time.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep the icons for the programs you use the most in one fence where you can find them easily.
• Make a new fence for each new project, where you can keep related link and folder icons for quick reference.
• I haven't come across any problems with Fences yet, and I've been using it on an XP and a Vista computer now for several months.

Resources

• Stardock Fences Information

[gahazeleyes]

on 7/28/2009 Thanks for sharing your information. 5*****

[cclofmead]

on 5/19/2009 This is cool I like arranging, and organizing icons with Stardock's fences!! 5 *