Computer desktop icon

Don't you hate it when someone sitting at your desk moves the pencil jar or hides the stapler? If things aren't where you expect them to be, you can't work as efficiently. It's the same when the icons on your Windows Desktop are moved out of place. When you switch to a smaller screen size, for example, Windows shoves the off-screen icons into view, but doesn't put them back off-screen when you revert to a larger screen size.

This issue's utility, WinTidy 2, remembers your Desktop layout and restores it for you. You can place the icons by hand or use one of a dozen predefined layouts to arrange icons in the order you choose automatically. Save the arrangement as a named layout that you can restore at will, or associate the arrangement with the current screen size. When the screen size changes, WinTidy can automatically load the associated icon layout. And if you want to pack your icons into the smallest possible space, WinTidy will put the entire Desktop into small icons mode.

This version of WinTidy supersedes the earlier WinTidy95 utility, which was incompatible with Windows NT-based operating systems. WinTidy runs under Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0, and Windows XP. The Delphi 6 source code is provided with the utility for those interested in seeing how the program works. Note that PC Magazine programs are copyrighted and cannot be distributed, whether modified or unmodified. Use is subject to the terms and conditions of the license agreement that accompanies the programs.

Using WinTidy 2 To install WinTidy 2, run the supplied installation program, Setup.exe. To uninstall the utility, use the Add/Remove Programs applet in the Windows Control Panel.

To apply an icon layout when the screen size changes, WinTidy 2 must be running in the background, so the install program puts a WinTidy shortcut in your Startup menu. Initially, WinTidy 2 appears as an icon in the system tray (see Figure 1). Click on the tray icon to see WinTidy 2's main menu, or right-click the icon and choose Open from the pop-up menu. The main window is organized into three tabs, Save and restore layouts, Icon order, and Predefined layouts. Let's look at the last tab first (see Figure 2).

Predefined Layouts When you right-click the Desktop and choose Arrange Icons | by Name, Windows arranges the icons downward in columns starting at the left. There are no other options. WinTidy 2 gives you a dozen options for automatically arranging icons. You can arrange them in rows or columns starting at any of the four corners of the Desktop. You can use both the left and right edges, or the top and bottom of the screen, leaving the center clear. Or you can spiral icons around the perimeter in either direction. Each of the 12 large buttons on the Predefined Layouts tab displays a diagram of the corresponding layout, and clicking any of the buttons arranges your icons instantly.

Note that the Desktop's Auto Arrange feature must be turned off if you're using WinTidy 2. Otherwise, every time WinTidy 2 moves an icon, the Desktop will move the icon right back. Because of this, WinTidy 2 won't launch unless Auto Arrange is off. To turn off Auto Arrange, right-click the Desktop, choose Arrange Icons from the pop-up menu, and remove the check next to Auto Arrange. If you're running Windows XP, you should also remove the check beside Align to Grid, if that box is marked.

You can't always see the entire Desktop. Even if you minimize all other programs, WinTidy 2 itself obscures a portion of the desktop. To help you visualize the different layouts, the Predefined layouts tab provides a Current layout map that represents each icon with a small rectangle. No area occupied by a non-hidden taskbar or by a docked toolbar is available for icons, so these areas are crosshatched in the display. The Current layout diagram updates automatically when you click any of the predefined layout buttons. If you drag icons around the Desktop by hand, you can update the diagram by clicking the Refresh button.

The predefined layouts arrange icons in a grid whose dimensions are based on the system's settings for Icon Spacing (Horizontal) and Icon Spacing (Vertical). If there are more icons than will fit in the grid, WinTidy 2 will warn you of the problem and recommend that you either remove some of them or decrease the icon spacing using the Display Properties applet in Control Panel. Note that the Desktop's own Arrange Icons | by Name feature does not offer this same protection, and will arrange icons right off the edge of the screen.

Icon Order All of the predefined layouts have an inherent order. The first icon goes in a particular starting spot, and the rest continue in a specified direction. But which is the first icon? To start, WinTidy 2 uses the same order that the Desktop does. When you right-click the Desktop and arrange icons by name, they are listed in three distinct groups. First come the non-file icons, next are the common Desktop icons, and last are the user Desktop icons. I'll explain what each of these is.

Non-file icons are special-purpose icons such as My Computer, Network Neighborhood, and Recycle Bin that don't correspond to any particular file, folder, or shortcut. They are not part of the file system.

In certain versions of Windows, file system icons on the Desktop can be common to all users of the computer, or specific to an individual user. Every Windows installation includes a folder that represents the user Desktop. The folder will usually have a name like C:\Windows\Desktop, or C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name\DESKTOP. Any shortcut, file, or folder placed in the user Desktop folder will appear as an icon on the visible Desktop. Windows 2000, NT 4.0, and XP include another Desktop folder that's common to all users of the computer. Typically, this folder will have a name like C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\DESKTOP. As with the user Desktop folder, any shortcut, file, or folder placed in the common Desktop folder will appear as an icon on the Desktop. Non-file icons are usually stored in the common Desktop folder.

The default order puts the non-file icons first, but you may have other ideas about what's important. WinTidy 2's Icon order tab (see Figure 3) lists all the icons by name and lets you specify your own order. The icon list uses different font styles to distinguish different types of icons. User Desktop icons appear in plain text, and common Desktop icons in italic. Non-file icons are displayed using bold-italic. And if an actual file or folder (as opposed to a shortcut) appears in either Desktop, WinTidy 2 underlines the entry. As icons are added or removed, WinTidy 2 automatically updates the list.

You can reorder the items manually by dragging them to the desired location. Drag an item above or below the list, and the list will scroll in the appropriate direction. You can also select an item, then move it by pressing the Up arrow and Down arrow buttons. If you hold the button down, the item will keep moving in the specified direction. The Alpha button will put the icon titles in strict alphabetic order, without regard to the three groups. To reverse the current order, click Invert. Finally, to reread the list from the Desktop, then put the list in the order dictated by Windows, click Reset.

When you've defined the order you want to use, go back and apply one of the predefined layouts. The predefined layouts provide a starting point for creating your perfect icon arrangement. After working with them a bit, you can tweak the final icon placement by hand. When you've got something worth saving, click on the Save and restore layouts tab.

Named Layouts The Save and restore layouts page has three sections (see Figure 4). The first section, Layout by name, allows you to save, restore, and remove named layouts. When you click the Save button, WinTidy 2 will prompt you to enter a name. You can give the layout any name you wish, as long as it isn't blank and doesn't use the characters >, Restore button adjacent to the Save button will be enabled. Clicking on Restore brings up a menu of named layouts. Selecting a layout applies it to the Desktop.