crtl zoom desktop icon resize driving me insane, please help disable??


  1. Posts : 30
    windows 7 64 bit pro
       #1

    crtl zoom desktop icon resize driving me insane, please help disable??


    I have searched all the internets without luck, and maybe/probably don't know the correct vernacular so here goes.

    In windows 7, when viewing the desktop... or when the mouse focus is off window (on desktop)... a "neat" feature of windows now is how you can resize all the icons with a crtl+wheel motion. Just click to the desktop, or have the focus there already, and viola, the crtl button plus a wheel move makes system wide changes to your desktop icon display.

    Well I am not sure what version this new trick was invented in, but it is a cool trick... ONCE. After that its a really stupid annoyance that is just insanity because today, in real life, every other time I sit down my icons are moved around, or all jacked up, or they are out of place, or just out of order, or there are gaps, or some or all of the above... what kind of useful feature is that? Have you thought of a lock for this gadget at all? As in allow the customization, then tuck it away so its not a flaming hotkey 24/7?

    Sure, the cause of this awesome trick of resizing the desktop with the scroll wheel, is my wife and kids. How did they PwN me with such 1337 h4x when they know nothing about root trickery and such... well easy, see just by using the PC on occasion, they have accidently cracked the code by accidently discovering this hack. Oh it took a while for me to solve that much sure, but once I did, it wasn't long before I discovered that this total PITA trick is actually a built in feature here to help me. Well stop helping me because someone who doesn't understand what crtl+wheel really does now has root access to repeatedly eff up my desktop.

    Well enough.

    I have looked for ways to lock the icons, or disable this trick but I can't find it. It seems beyond logic that a kid could completely hammer my desktop simply by resting his hand on the crtl key while rolling the wheel, but sure as the sun shines, not only has he done it several times, so has the other kid, and so has the wife, and honestly even I did it on accident the first time... that's how I discovered this stupid... umm... this amazing new hack... well sorry Microsoft, once is a win, but afterwords this is a fail.. a really big stupid one.

    So please, lets pick a flipping size desktop icons and leave it the @#$%^ alone. Put a toggle on it, make it one click away, anything... anything to keep my look static. As I said its a cool trick, but once its set it needs to stay set. Having unknowing users (kids) and technically challenged (wife) users able to wield such advance h4x treachery while I am AFK is retarded.

    Of course so is needing 2Gb of ram to simply boot an O/S, but I digress... can anyone help this?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 1,711
    Win 7 Pro 64-bit 7601
       #2

    I know what you mean. Tried it and f*** up my whole desktop's worth of icons.

    Anyway, found a solution, although it requires a third-party program and it disables the combination of Ctrl+mouse wheel in any program, including browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome and similar) and games.

    So, unless someone comes up with something better you can get ready for a l33t haxxorz thanks to a guy called rd2020 posted here.

    Usual disclaimer, WARNING, this worked on my current PC, and the amount of testing it received is minimal (so far it works ). DO AT YOUR OWN RISK

    Now, the third party program is the famous Autohotkey, so download it and install it. Go custom and select the 32 bit version. Probably either choice won't matter as this is a very tiny bit of code anyway but that's what I did.

    Then create a new script, by creating a new notepad file on the desktop.

    in the file, write
    Code:
    ^WheelDown::return 
    ^WheelUp::return
    #MaxHotkeysPerInterval 1000
    The ^ is "Ctrl" in this script language and the last line makes sure this script isn't executed hundreds of times per second.

    Then save the file with the extension .ahk, like say "stopzoom.ahk". You might need to go in Folder Options (type "folder options" in the Start menu searchbox) --> View --> deselect "Hide extensions for known file types" to make sure that the file isn't being named "stopzoom.ahk.txt" as that is still a notepad document, not a script.

    When it "becomes" a script, the icon of it should change to a piece of paper with a purple H on it. You can still edit it with notepad.
    To activate it, simply double-click on it.
    Test the behavior on an open folder (as this resizing happens with stuff in folders as well and is less annoying than doing on the desktop).

    If it works (on my PC it does), that is you do ctrl+ mouse wheel and nothing happens instead of that silly resizing, you just need to make sure the script runs on startup.

    So, move the script file somewhere safe, possibly with a README document that explains what it is and what to do to make it again, right click on that thing and select "create shortcut", then copy the shortcut into the folder called Startup in the Start menu.

    Hope it works on your PC as well.

    In case you feel lazy, I attach the script I made below. You can look at what is written into it by opening the file with Notepad.
    crtl zoom desktop icon resize driving me insane, please help disable?? Attached Files
    Last edited by bobafetthotmail; 18 May 2013 at 14:50.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 6,285
    Windows 10 Pro X64
       #3

    An alternative would be to install a program like DesktopOK that remembers where your icons are supposed to be, then when the family messes with the desktop, put it back to it's right size and do a Restore from DesktopOK and voilla`, all is well. There are other programs that do this too but this is the one I use.

    I like and use the Ctrl+Wheel so would not want it disabled.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 24
    Windows 7 Starter 32bit
       #4

    Rescuing your desktop icon layout from mouse wheel actions


    My apologies for replying to such an old thread, but I recently discovered another approach for backing up and restoring the positions of desktop icons. This utility has the rather odd name of SMIR, but it certainly works, and is completely portable, storing its settings as an INI file in its own folder:

    Modern software design: Smir - backup and restore Windows desktop icons position

    You can actually store any number of desktop arrangements and switch between them, as each one is stored in a separate INI file. You select the file when backing up or restoring the desktop.

    Sometimes, if you've been hit hard by Ctrl Mouse Wheel's presto-chango card trick, it may require several restore operations to get things back to normal, but it doesn't take very long, and you can watch the unscrambling process as it proceeds.

    By the way, some users have cited pinch zoom as a cause of the problem, but that's not the case, because I managed to disable pinch zoom for my touchpad, but the problem persisted. It's definitely caused by a Windows feature (aka bug), which I'd like to eliminate for good.

    Correction: I was wrong. Pinch zoom was the culprit, but I have eliminated it thanks to bobafetthotmail's post above.
    Last edited by LowStrung; 07 Dec 2015 at 17:40.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 24
    Windows 7 Starter 32bit
       #5

    @bobafetthotmail:
    Here I go again replying to a really old post, but I just wanted to stop by and thank you for recommending that AutoHotKey script. It works flawlessly, and my long search for a solution for the annoying zooming of my desktop is finally over! I have been using a Logitech wireless keyboard with built-in touchpad ever since my netbook's keyboard went kaputt. Unfortunately Logitech's touchpad has no option for disabling pinch zoom, and after a long involved installation of their SetPoint software, I found the option wasn't available there, either.

    I have compiled the script into an .exe, and have also placed a shortcut to it in my startup folder to run the script automatically on startup. It's going to stay there, too, as I detest pinch zoom.
      My Computer


 

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