Cant arrange icons

[Timsky]

I've just had a new hard drive fitted and now I can't arrange the icons on the desktop, they are all stacked up on the left side of the screen which makes it hard to find them. How can I fix it so I can place icons where I want on the screen so that they stay there and don't re-arrange themselves at restart or when the computer goes into idle mode?

 

[richc46]

Welcome and Happy Holidays
Sounds like auto arrange is on; turn it off
Go to desktop, right click then go to view and then auto arrange

 

[Timsky]

that did it - thanks

 

[richc46]

You are welcome. Glad to help

 

[Timsky]

But there is still a problem - If I leave the computer on but untouched for a long time (say 30 minutes) the icons re-arrange themselves, not all aligned on the left, but randomly across the screen. Why is this?

 

[richc46]

There are 2 primary reasons that this may happen.
If it happens after you play games, it means that the game changes the screen resolution and the icons rearrange themselves to fit the new screen size.

The second reason is that you have a faulty video card or outdated driver. Try updating the driver.

Try to note if the change occurs randomly after a certain period of time or after some action that you have taken, such as playing games etc.

 

[Timsky]

It always happens whatever I have been doing before, playing music, looking at email, anything. It is time spent not using the computer which causes it.