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This has been an issue since Windows XP if not earlier. Whenever I tell Windows to sort my desktop icons "by name," it completely ignores actual alphabetical order and just puts them wherever it feels like. Back in Windows XP, it even put My Documents above My Computer in the upper left corner of the screen (when using the Classic start menu).
That's Windows 7, taken today after telling it to sort by name. As you can very clearly see, that is NOT sorted by name. Anyone have any ideas why Windows does this? The only solution I've found is to turn off auto-arrange, turn on align to grid, and sort them by hand. This is a major pain. In addition, any time I resize the window (it's 1366x768, laptop screen; some of my games can't run at that and reduce it to 1360x768), the icons spaz out and wind up scattered across the desktop.
Original Title: Windows doesn't understand the order of the English alphabet.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Answer accepted by question author
First set of icons (A-Z) are the namespace icons like My Computer, Recycle Bin etc.
Second set of icons (A-Z) from Public Desktop or Common Desktop.
Third set of icons (A-Z) come from your Desktop (user account).
And this is how it worked in earlier OS as well.
Answer accepted by question author
Thank you for taking the time to respond without bothering to read what I said. I right-click on a blank area of the desktop, click "sort by name," and get what I posted a screenshot of, which is NOT sorted by name.
The problem the icons that make up the desktop come from three places.
The Desktop folder in your user account
The Public Desktop folder
System icons e.g. Recycle Bin
The two folders are sorted individually and what you see is the result on the desktop.
The only way to get all the non system icons to sort together is to move the shortcuts into only one of the desktop folders.
move the shortcuts into only one of the desktop folders. HOW DO YOU DO THAT ? CLICK BY CLICK PLEASE.
Thank you for taking the time to respond without bothering to read what I said. I right-click on a blank area of the desktop, click "sort by name," and get what I posted a screenshot of, which is NOT sorted by name.
Hello,
Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.
To arrange icons by name, type, date, or size, right-click a blank area on the desktop, and then click Sort by. Click the command that indicates how you want to arrange the icons (by Name, by Type, and
so on). If you want the icons to be automatically arranged, click Auto Arrange under View. If you want to arrange the icons on your own, click Auto Arrange to remove the check mark.
Also, Refer to the suggestions provided by Corrine on October 7, 2009
The desktop (overview)
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ca/windows/desktop-overview#1TC=windows-7§ion_1
For issue with Games:
I would like to update you that some of the games require specific resolution and that is probably the reason the games are not working. However I would suggest you to update the latest graphic drivers from the manufacturer website and then check if that makes the difference.
Automatically get recommended drivers and updates for your hardware
Hope this resolves the issue. If issue persists, you can write back to us and we will be glad to assist you further.
