Jul192011

Why can I no longer move icons on my Windows 7 desktop?

Robert asks:

Recently, I can not drag my desktop icons so I can group them. Does anyone have any ideas of what to do? I already checked to see if Auto Arrange was on or off. It was set to off.

Also, if I click on the back arrow to go to the previous page, it creates another tab with duplicate info.



Comments for this Question are closed.

If you are looking for help, please ask a new question here.

We will be happy to help you!

2 Answers -

0 votes

Anonymous

July 20, 2011

Open regedit and check for a DWORD value “NoSaveSettings” in right-side pane under following keys

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer

HKEY_USERS.DefaultSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer

HKEY_USERS.DefaultSoftwareMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionProgram ManagerRestrictions

The DWORD value must present in any of above mentioned locations, most probably in the last one.

2.Once you find the DWORD value, delete it and restart your system. It’ll solve your problem and Windows will remember your desktop settings.

Rlangevin920

Thanks for the reply. I tried the REGEDIT you suggested and rebooted the computer. It still has the same problem. I guess I’ll have to a complete install of the OS.
Thanks anyway.

July 21, 2011
Anonymous

Have you installed any soft prior to your problem?

This problem may occur if you disable the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service.
Many Windows operating system procedures depend on the RPC service.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;830071

Try This. Right click on the Start button and click on
Properties.
. Click on the Start Menu button.
. Click on Customize
.Check Enable Context Menus and dragging and dropping 

Did you downloaded Refresh PC (first answer link) and run it?

July 21, 2011
0 votes

FIDELIS

July 21, 2011

Hello, first thing I would do, would be go into safemode and give computer a good complete scan with your antivirus/antimalware.  If your computer shows clean, you might want to check your explorer.exe. Try turning off explorer.exe on taskbar and then turning it back on.  If this fixes your problem you might want to reenable explorer.exe.

– click on ctrl + alt + delete (ctrl + shift + Esc)
– find explorer.exe
– highlight and select end process
– your icons will disappear
– if task manager closes, open it again by using the shortcut
– on menu click on File
– select new task
– type explorer.exe
– click on ok (icons should show)
– try moving your icons