How to Keep Vista From Moving My Desktop Icons Around

Microsoft Windows Vista includes many features above and beyond those provided with Windows XP. In Windows XP, desktop icons remained in place until the user changed, or auto-arranged, the icons according to name, file type or a particular date. With Windows Vista, however, the "auto-arrange" feature for desktop icons is enabled by default. This causes the icons to rearrange on the desktop when Vista is restarted. To keep Vista from moving your desktop icons around, disable the "auto-arrange" feature on the desktop.

Instructions

1. Right-click on any blank space on the Windows Vista desktop.

2. Click the "View" option.

3. Uncheck the checkbox next to the "Auto-Arrange" option and click "OK." The Vista icons will remain in place when Vista is restarted.