Windows Explorer Auto Arrange - Disable

Brink · 11 Oct 2011

shipmate said:

Hello , I 'm new here , but I have found very usefull tips here as a guest , so thank you for that.
I have just got a new computer and found that I couldn't move files inside the same folder
I tried to install update KB2559049 but it failed several times, even DL it manually. This morning , windows was again nagging me to install it and because I switched to auto update , I thought to give it one more go.
I restarted my computer and again , the update failed. I cleaned my computer with Advanced system care and spybot and after that went in search again for the auto arrange problem.
I needed to look up a file on my external HDD and without thinking I moved one of my media files. To my surprise , it moved ! It didn't spring back and when I tried other disks , internal and external , it still worked. Also, moved files stayed in that place when I opened their folder again. When I changed the view from big icons to small and to detail , it still worked

Now , I know the update can't have anything to do with it , nor spybot or ASC , but that 's about the only thing I did with my computer , apart from browsing. Only changed from manually update to automatic update for windows.

I haven't used the drop down menu for arranging files yet , afraid I might somehow turn the auto arrange back on.

If someone has a similar experience , or maybe can tell me how this happened , I 'm all ears.

Hello Shipmate, and welcome to Seven Forums.

To enable auto arrange again, you would just need to do OPTION TWO in the tutorial to merge the Reset_All_Folders_To_Default_Folder_Views.reg file again.

As for update KB2559049, I would recommend to create a new thread in the Windows Updates & Activation forum area to get the best help for it.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

shipmate · 11 Oct 2011

Sorry , I meant that I somehow find myself with auto arrange disabled for all my disks ( external & internal). I believe , that is what everybody wants here in this thread. I too , want it disabled and to keep it that way.

Thing is , I don't know how it happened , but I did a restart for the update I mentioned before , although I can't imagine the update (which failed again) has anything to do with it.

I didn't use your tutorial , you mentioned at the beginning of this thread. I just hope anybody here has the same experience or maybe knows what has happened.

Brink · 11 Oct 2011

Sorry shipmate.

What method did you use to disable auto arrange if not the one from this tutorial?

If the external disks are connected via eSATA, then that may explain it since they would be treated the same as an internal HDD.

shipmate · 11 Oct 2011

I don't quite know what eSATA is. They 're just external HD 's with 2.0 USB.
And I have no method , it just happened. Apart from that update thing plus deepscans with ASC and spybot , I didn't change anything ( that I know of) in either windows or the bios

I have been moving files by dragging inside the same folder and moving them to other folders since this morning and it still works.

Brink · 11 Oct 2011

Shipmate,

Interesting. I'm afraid that I have no idea how you may have disabled auto arrange from what you described.

eSATA is just another type of connection used by a external device (ex: HDD) to connect it to the computer with. Your's is using a USB 2.0 connection though, so it would be seen as an external drive.

shipmate · 12 Oct 2011

A little more information I found about this item

I needed to restart the computer , but it still works. I have been moving files , groups of files and such all around , inside the same folder and to other folders. Just with the mose , left-click on file , hold left-click and move the file. It also stays where I have moved it.

I tried the arrange option of "type" in de dropdown menu. It neatly arranged everything by type , and I could still move them , like I described above

In the drop down menu , I click on "view" and apart from the choices for icons and list or details , below that was "auto-arrange" marked with a 'v" and align to grid.

So basically , everything works like it used to on vista and XP , except that somehow I can't switch the arrange-option any more between ascending and decending. It seem stuck in ascending

Hope someone can figure out what happened. Myself I 'm happy that it works again like it used to.

alex68785 · 18 Oct 2011

First of all thank you for the option to turn off auto sort. It's greatly appreciated since microsoft decided to strip the option. Has there been any way found to stop the initial auto sort on file creation/renaming? I recently had to reinstall windows 7 and I'm certain on the previous install(of 7 64bit sp1) I had this option disabled . For instance unzipping files using either 7-zip or winrar would go to the top of the folder they would unzip in regardless of name. Folders and files were also intermittently mixed. sadly I have no idea how I did this. Any ideas? I've run dry.

Brink · 18 Oct 2011

You're welcome Alex, and welcome to Seven Forums.

That is normal. When you disable auto arrange, and either unzip a file in a folder, move a folder, or rename a folder, it will refresh and auto arrange the files in that specific folder only after each time you do this. Auto arrange is still disabled for that folder, but you will need to arrange the files back to whatever non-auto arranged order you like again after unzipping a file in a folder, move a folder, or rename a folder.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

jondemassey · 05 Feb 2012

This tutorial will not be able to disable Auto Arrange in any of the Libraries or library folders locations.

Sorry, Brink, but what on Earth use is this "fix" to man or beast then?

99% of the cases where users need manual arrangement of files (as opposed to just want it) are for presentations (e.g. slideshows). That is precisely my need.

And where will these files be located?
...... in the library folders!

So what's left? Program files? Who has so little to do of import he thinks he needs to move these about?

Was this quote correct, or is it misleading and the fix actually will disable AutoArrange in my document folders?

If it is as written, how can we enable manual arrangement in the Library files?
After all, it was available in XP and Vista without disabling AutoArrange .......until bone idle programmers (that's all it possibly can be!) skipped it in Windows 7!

I seriously am looking forward to the day when I find something, just anything, in W7 that is not a DOWNGRADE on XP and Vista! One of the worst feelings in life is knowing you have been ripped off!

Can you please help, Brink, or direct me somewhere I can get some?

Brink · 05 Feb 2012

Hello Jon, and welcome to Seven Forums.

You have misunderstood that statement. That is for only within a opened library. For example, this tutorial will disable auto arrange in your opened C:\Users\(user-name)\My Documents folder, but not in the opened Documents library. You basically have to navigate to the folder instead of the library.

I'm going to do some experimenting today to see if I may be able to find a way to also have auto arrange disabled in libraries though, and will post back if I find anything.

UPDATE:
The tutorial will now allow you to disable auto arrange in the Libraries folder itself, but it still will not disable auto arrange in any of the other library folders (ex: Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos).

One step closer.

Windows Explorer Auto Arrange - Disable

auto-arrange disabled