Windows 10: Windows 10: Folder View Settings and Desktop Icon Positions Not Saving

Hello guys,

The issue is back on my pc today. Looks like its a virus that makes something to system files or registry settings, that is related to folder view settings and desktop shortcuts settings.

Eset antivirus couldn't help nor detected any virus in my pc. Even torjan removal tools like roguekiller, malwarebytes showed any signs but I'm sure its a virus that is doing this. It happened when I plugged in a pendrive of my friend. I remember something had happened before after that I had to reset my PC.

Still struggling to find a which is that virus and what is that its breaking.

Thanks...
Best Regards

 

I'd still go with a system restore in that case, but once you've restored it and confirmed your icons/folder view are back to the way they're meant to be, boot into safe mode and remove that NVIDIA driver (I use "Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) V15.4.1.1" and it does a very good job and cleaning out drivers if you need to do a clean install of them). Then download the latest drivers and make a restore point again.

Although saying that, you could try to uninstall a few of the updates that pushed through from when you noticed the issue occur.

 

Did you find the solution for this?

My PC just started to have this problem last week.

I already formatted the partition and did the clean installation.
The problem came back soon after I finished updated my Windows
and restarted the PC.

 

Nope, I couldn't find a solution so had to do system restore. So far the issue has not raised. I have also enabled UAC this time to keep watch on system changes.

For you, the issue should have gone after fresh install. See if the virus exists in other drives. Use roguekiller, malwarebytes or etc virus scanning tools.

 

Did you detect any virus?

 

No, I didn't find one but the issue had happened when I plugged in my friends pendrive. The drive took few minutes to open instead of opening right away so I doubt it was a virus was doing something in background. Later the virus might be deleted itself so that antivirus software cannot see it. When I restarted the pc, the issue started.

My pc doesn't have any virus in hdd so it didn't occur again after reset or restore.

There is a Trojan named zeroaccess which breaks folder view settings and desktop auto arrange, you can find more info on google as well as solution here but that isn't the same virus affected to my computer. It might be different and its way of breaking settings. None of antivirus could find it.

 

Hey everyone, just wanted to give an update regarding this. So far since doing a system restore and reinstalling updates, the issue has not come back at all. Makes me wonder if for some it was a bad installation of an update as opposed to a bad update. I appreciate not everyone has fixed their issue even with reinstalling Windows from scratch, however this seems to have worked in my case. Good luck!

 

I think so. I do not have it's the virus. I think it's caused by some bad update
because the issue came back immediately after I updated the Windows last time.

I've just formatted my PC and it's already been 2 days that it has no issue.
The different this time is... I did not remove all modern apps and metro apps.

 

I downloaded free mp4 to mp3 converter from cnet yesterday and ESET gave me a warning so I let it delete the file and did not install it. Every boot after that or hitting f5/refresh completely resets my desktop icons positions and size. I scale them way down, but they just resize when I reboot and reposition if I refresh/reboot. Dunno if it has something to do with something having corrupted, but installed premiere CS2 and that unwated install warning are all that have happened in the past day since this started....

illustrator and photoshop cs2 were already on here and illustrator cs2 has some color issues where it can reset class color themes while it's running, but that's never been a problem... I'm assuming premiere is not the cause =[ really annoying unless I want to name everything 0. Computer, 1.Recycle Bin, etc

 

Oh... This is what almost exactly happened
to me before my PC started to have this problem
first time.

What kind of ESET software do you install?

Mine is ESS 9 Beta.

 

and now the issue came back.. i have setup desktop icons small and it becomes mediums size again and keeps arranging on it's own after reboot just like what happen in the past.. this just happened recently i don't know if it's anti virus i got eset nod32 antivirus 7.. it happened after i've made changes on the battery sleep and power settings from high performance to recommended by dell settings without unplugging i mean it's charging when i do the restart and then when it came back it's a mess again... and another problem occur while the laptop is shutdown it keeps discharging until 0% from 100% within 4-5hrs i guess completely drain...

 

On fresh install of Windows 10 PRO 64 Bit with or without windows update with only Eset Smart Security 8 or with office, ccleaner, adobe, mozilla, cdburnerxp the ISSUE "
Windows 10: Folder View Settings and Desktop Icon Positions Not Saving " COME OUT ONLY AFTER ESET detect virus or adware or PUA ...
i download CCLEANER and Eset detect as PUA after reboot .... icon position not saving ...
i TEST IT on 1 desktop, 1 notebook for 4 time every time new installation

on Twitter:

 

The way Windows 10 seems to randomly position the File Explorer window on the desktop annoyed the hell out of me so I looked around for a fix but could not find anything in the way of registry tweaks to fix it.

I did find a terrific little app (it uses less than 15 MB of RAM!) called WindowManager though from DeskSoft.com: DeskSoft - WindowManager - Window position and size manager which had been updated to support Windows 10. I was a bit apprehensive about whether it would actually work but I can confirm that, yes, it does! It works extremely well, in fact, and since installing it my File Explorer window has always appeared nicely centred in the middle of my desktop. No more wandering windows.

The software is small but very flexible allowing to force not only size and position but also whether you want the window maximised/minimised etc. There are also other options too, including the option to remember folder view settings, plus the ability to create templates, although so far I've found that I do not need to use them. The software has been 100% stable in the last week or so I have been using and has not interfered in any way with other apps/programs I am using. You get a 30 day trial but the software is only £7 (+ £4 for a lifetime time upgrade option, which I paid for). It is well-worth the tiny outlay IMO. And, no, I do not work or have connection with DeskSoft.

Why on earth Microsoft cannot code an operating system that remembers window positions and sizes, I do not know, but I guess the third-parties can make some money out of it. This is an issue that has plagued every version of Windows I've ever used. Even Windows XP evenually would "forget" folder settings and placement after a certain number of times opening windows.

 

P.S. Desktop icon placement can be worked around by using a program from Stardock called Fences. This allows you to create small windows that fix to the desktop and contain your icons. The software takes daily snapshots of these so if a program messes up the folder arrangement (using NVIDIA's DSR and higher than native resolutions can do this unfortunately for icons that are loose on the desktop rather than in Fences windows) then it is very easy to restore them.

 

Thanks for all information about WORKAROUND but if the ISSUE is reproducible is better found a real solution @Microsoft @eset