Is there a way to force Windows to save desktop icon positions?
How to Force Windows to Save Desktop Icon Positions
desktopiconslayoutwindowswindows-explorer
Related Solutions
Windows actually has this ability built-in, but it's not in the UI anywhere by default.
http://snipplr.com/view/5295/saverestore-desktop-icon-layout/
Save the following snippet as layout.reg and double click it to add its contents to the registry. Then you'll be able to save/restore icon layout by right-clicking on the desktop.
Adds ability to save and restore desktop icon layout from the desktop context menu.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{19F500E0-9964-11cf-B63D-08002B317C03}]
@="Desktop Icon Layout"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{19F500E0-9964-11cf-B63D-08002B317C03}\InProcServer32]
@="Layout.dll"
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\IconLayout]
@="{19F500E0-9964-11cf-B63D-08002B317C03}"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions\Approved]
"{19F500E0-9964-11cf-B63D-08002B317C03}"="Desktop Icon Layout"
They are located in the registry under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\1\Desktop.
The key that should interest you is the ItemPosXXXxXXX(where XXX is your resolution).
The relevant values are Mode, LogicalViewMode, IconSize.
You can combine them as shown in the table:
Style Mode LogicalViewMode IconSize
X-Lg Icons 5 3 0x100
Lg Icons 5 3 0x60
Med Icons 5 3 0x30
Sm Icons 2 3 0x10
List 3 3 0x10
Details 4 1 0x10
Tiles 6 2 0x30
Update
Fortunately found an article that can help you. See: Windows Shellbag Forensics.
Best Answer
You can simply right-click the Desktop & click Refresh. This saves the icon positions (at least it does on XP, also confirmed on Windows 7).
Here's a simple way to confirm that this method works:
explorer.exe(& restart it, if it doesn't auto-restart)explorer.exe(& restart)