Desktop Icons shift when changing Multiple displays

[W7friend]

I occasionally Extend my displays to work off of my 65 inch HD TV. But when I shut down the TV and go to the single display on my laptop, my desktop icons will shift around. How do I get the program icons to lock in place so they don't shift around when I change back and forth from extended to single display modes. I'm working with Windows 7 x64 bit with an HD display on my laptop. Thanks.

 

[DELLsampadc]

Hey W7friend


I am Sampad from Dell Social Media and Communities team.

This issue might occur if the “Auto Arrange Icons” option has been checked.

Step 1: Let’s try to uncheck this option first and then arrange the icons by grid and check if the issue persists.

Follow this step to do the same.

1. Right click on an empty space on the Desktop-> Click on View.
2. Uncheck the option “Auto Arrange Icons”.
3. Check the option for “Align the icons to grid”.

Check if the issue persists now.

Step 2: Also I would suggest you to reduce the resolution of the monitor so that it will not extend beyond the display area.
Change your screen resolutionhttp://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Change-your-screen-resolution
Additional reference on:
Work and play better with multiple monitorshttp://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/work-and-play-better-with-multiple-monitors


Regards
Dell-Sampad C
Dell Social Media and Communities Professional

 

[W7friend]

And now the when I turn off the Extended mode and go back to just the laptop's display, the desktop icons disappear all together. A restart does not bring them back. I can only get them back if I do a System Restore to a prior date. Totally unacceptable! Any help is appreciated.

 

[Ztruker]

One way to fix this is to install a program like DesktopOK that remembers desktop icon placement, then when they get scrambled, just right click and restore and all is back as it should be.

 

[W7friend]

One way to fix this is to install a program like DesktopOK that remembers desktop icon placement, then when they get scrambled, just right click and restore and all is back as it should be.

I tried that program, but it seems to be an Add-On trap. After rejecting all the Add-On option in the install procedure. I never really installed the program. So I had to do a system Restore to before I tried to install it.

 

[Ztruker]

Here is a better link with a clean download. There is no installation needed, you just start the program.

Download DesktopOK 3.33