Personal computing discussed

Moderators: renee, Flying Fox, Ryu Connor

 
danny e.
Maximum Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 4444
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2002 3:09 pm
Location: Indonesia/Nebraska/Wisconsin

disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 1:47 am

Where is my "auto-arrange" checkbox to uncheck in Win7? Am I blind?

Auto arrange is about the most annoying thing ever. Why does MS default to it?
You don't have to feel safe to feel unafraid.
 
danny e.
Maximum Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 4444
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2002 3:09 pm
Location: Indonesia/Nebraska/Wisconsin

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 1:56 am

hmmmm seems like MS decided they know best again and killed disabling it? So says the technet forums.
If that is true they are really idiots. I mean I know there are idiots among them but whoever approved that change should be flogged.

The auto-arrange thing is superbly annoying. It means you cant drag things around at all.
Ugh. Seems like whenever MS takes a step forward they always insist on making a bunch of dumbass changes just to even things out.
You don't have to feel safe to feel unafraid.
 
danny e.
Maximum Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 4444
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2002 3:09 pm
Location: Indonesia/Nebraska/Wisconsin

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:09 am

What's even more idiotic is they added a million different things to sort on?
Which manager made this decision because I sure as heck know it was not a programmer. Leaving the user options is good. Trying to force the user to do something they do not want is bad.. especially because you probably don't know the reasons for why they do what they do.

Just when I was starting to like Win7.. I just had to go and try to get work done.


See.. I have thousands of photos and I like to be able to grab them and throw them into piles. I do this very quickly to sort ones I want and blurry / fuzzy ones that I do not want to keep.
I dont want your FN auto-arrange to be forcing me to select one freaking photo at a time or to have to do an extra step and create another folder to toss them into.

why why why.
woe is me.
where is the option to sort photos by best looking MS? of all your hundreds of idiotic sorting methods you didnt think of that one? yeah you dumbtard manager.
Last edited by danny e. on Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
You don't have to feel safe to feel unafraid.
 
Logdan
Gerbil
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 7:33 pm

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:11 am

I'm going to assume you mean auto arranging desktop icons. If so, right click the desktop, pick "View>Auto Arrange Icons", make sure it is unchecked.

If this isn't what you mean, can you clarify a bit?

Edit: Ok, by your response, I'm guessing this isn't what you mean.
Last edited by Logdan on Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
 
danny e.
Maximum Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 4444
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2002 3:09 pm
Location: Indonesia/Nebraska/Wisconsin

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:12 am

Logdan wrote:
I'm going to assume you mean auto arranging desktop icons. If so, right click the desktop, pick "View>Auto Arrange Icons", make sure it is unchecked.

If this isn't what you mean, can you clarify a bit?

I want that functionality within all folders. I dont store thousands of photos on my desktop.
You don't have to feel safe to feel unafraid.
 
danny e.
Maximum Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 4444
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2002 3:09 pm
Location: Indonesia/Nebraska/Wisconsin

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:20 am

seems I am not alone.

http://www.windows7taskforce.com/view/3353


Problem:
Not being able to drag the order of files and images around to my liking is an immensely irritating limitation for me and all professionals who constantly work with images. It's even more irritating in that W7 is inconsistent in allowing it on the desktop but not anywhere else.

Solution:
Please allow us to rearrange our items in our own fashion that does not involve renaming all of our files or even taking our hands off the mouse. This limitation seriously cuts into productivity, and it is a simple, essential, extremely useful function that is available in every OS to my immediate knowledge.

Please allow us to untoggle Auto-arrange in Windows Explorer.
You don't have to feel safe to feel unafraid.
 
Looking for Knowledge
Darth Gerbil
Posts: 7032
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2003 11:31 am
Location: AM's underground complex
Contact:

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:29 am

I agree. I like to arranged my pr0n by size. Now those hundreds of GB's of video are a mess.

Maybe the next service pack will have a fix?
Probably PUI. Definitely an كافر
 
crazybus
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2261
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2003 9:25 pm

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:14 pm

danny e. wrote:
where is the option to sort photos by best looking MS? of all your hundreds of idiotic sorting methods you didnt think of that one? yeah you dumbtard manager.

Isn't that what the star ratings are for?
[email protected] | GA-P35-DS3L | 8GB DDR2-800 | MSI GTX 560 Ti | Lian Li PC-7B | Corsair 450VX | Dell 2005FPW
 
Skrying
Gerbil Jedi
Posts: 1792
Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:37 am
Location: Missouri

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:20 pm

You can use ratings. You could use folders. You could even do what a reasonable person would do and use a program (or even just the photo browser in Windows) and do it that way. What type of person works with thousands of pictures and doesn't use a dedicated application to do their sorting with anyway? It seems you're complaining because, like some other people here, you work in an extremely bizarre way that's no longer supported. Sorry, the rest of the world has moved on to more sensible approaches.
 
danny e.
Maximum Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 4444
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2002 3:09 pm
Location: Indonesia/Nebraska/Wisconsin

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:48 pm

crazybus wrote:
danny e. wrote:
where is the option to sort photos by best looking MS? of all your hundreds of idiotic sorting methods you didnt think of that one? yeah you dumbtard manager.

Isn't that what the star ratings are for?

So, you're suggesting to add another step in which I have to rate thousands of photos?
You don't have to feel safe to feel unafraid.
 
danny e.
Maximum Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 4444
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2002 3:09 pm
Location: Indonesia/Nebraska/Wisconsin

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:48 pm

Skrying wrote:
You can use ratings. You could use folders. You could even do what a reasonable person would do and use a program (or even just the photo browser in Windows) and do it that way. What type of person works with thousands of pictures and doesn't use a dedicated application to do their sorting with anyway? It seems you're complaining because, like some other people here, you work in an extremely bizarre way that's no longer supported. Sorry, the rest of the world has moved on to more sensible approaches.


you really think adding a bunch of steps is a "more sensible approach". yeah, you're a bright one. you should work for MS customer service.
You don't have to feel safe to feel unafraid.
 
crazybus
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2261
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2003 9:25 pm

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:53 pm

danny e. wrote:
crazybus wrote:
danny e. wrote:
where is the option to sort photos by best looking MS? of all your hundreds of idiotic sorting methods you didnt think of that one? yeah you dumbtard manager.

Isn't that what the star ratings are for?

So, you're suggesting to add another step in which I have to rate thousands of photos?

Personally, I'd just use a photo manager application. If not, I can't see how clicking the rating at the bottom of the window is any more awkward than trying to create bunches of items within a folder window.
[email protected] | GA-P35-DS3L | 8GB DDR2-800 | MSI GTX 560 Ti | Lian Li PC-7B | Corsair 450VX | Dell 2005FPW
 
Meadows
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3416
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:10 pm
Location: Location: Location

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 3:15 pm

This is based on user metrics gathered - the majority might* need this on the desktop, but they simply never bother while browsing inside folders.

*I don't, give me global auto-arrange any day

PS. They made a lot of changes based on information gathered from "the majority" that I don't like either, but thankfully they reverted one of their bouts of retardation before launch which is why I gave it a chance nonetheless.
 
danny e.
Maximum Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 4444
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2002 3:09 pm
Location: Indonesia/Nebraska/Wisconsin

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 3:21 pm

Meadows wrote:
This is based on user metrics gathered - the majority might* need this on the desktop, but they simply never bother while browsing inside folders.

*I don't, give me global auto-arrange any day

PS. They made a lot of changes based on information gathered from "the majority" that I don't like either, but thankfully they reverted one of their bouts of retardation before launch which is why I gave it a chance nonetheless.

yeah, overall I'm liking it. Its just a few annoyances like this ...
You don't have to feel safe to feel unafraid.
 
Logdan
Gerbil
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 7:33 pm

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 3:24 pm

Have you considered using tags? You can add/remove them to many files at once using Windows Explorer, and this would allow you to sort your photos in other ways (size, date created, etc) and still with a few clicks get them back to your desired (focus, out of focus) sorting.
 
Meadows
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3416
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:10 pm
Location: Location: Location

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 3:55 pm

Logdan wrote:
Have you considered using tags? You can add/remove them to many files at once using Windows Explorer, and this would allow you to sort your photos in other ways (size, date created, etc) and still with a few clicks get them back to your desired (focus, out of focus) sorting.

This isn't about sorting. Windows Explorer comes with constant auto-arrange in W7 (which I like, so I never noticed, but this could be in Vista too) - that means the icons are always lined up according to an invisible grid, and you can't drag them per pixel to compose modern art consisting of randomly placed icons.
 
Logdan
Gerbil
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 7:33 pm

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 4:08 pm

@Meadows, Ah, I see. I understand the OP's issue much clearer now.
 
mattsteg
Gerbil God
Posts: 15782
Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2001 7:00 pm
Location: Applauding the new/old variable width forums
Contact:

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 6:11 pm

This thread is bizarre. People really have thousands of photos in a folder and don't want to sort them? That's just weird.
...
 
Skrying
Gerbil Jedi
Posts: 1792
Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:37 am
Location: Missouri

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 6:20 pm

danny e. wrote:
you really think adding a bunch of steps is a "more sensible approach". yeah, you're a bright one. you should work for MS customer service.


What bunch of steps are you talking about? Instead of making piles you put the photos into folders. One named "Focused" and the other named "Blur" and put the pictures into those. That's exactly what you're doing now except you have a pile effectively named blur and another named focused.

Or... you could do what most people who work with many images do. Use an application designed for this purpose. One that lets you quickly go through your pictures and mark ones in the appropriate fashion.

Use this as a chance to evaluate your old methods. Because they, honestly, sound broken.
 
danny e.
Maximum Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 4444
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2002 3:09 pm
Location: Indonesia/Nebraska/Wisconsin

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Sun Nov 01, 2009 8:30 pm

mattsteg wrote:
This thread is bizarre. People really have thousands of photos in a folder and don't want to sort them? That's just weird.

They are sorted. I'm not objecting to the sorting, I'm objecting to auto-arrange. I dont want everything locked into some dumb grid.
You don't have to feel safe to feel unafraid.
 
aidan46
Gerbil In Training
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2009 6:58 am

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Tue Dec 08, 2009 7:07 am

i don't think you realize, this is when people are actually trying to sort their folders. it's the quickest, easiest and most user friendlily way of doing it. When people want to sort their things they don't want to go through multiple steps, they just want to do it easily and quickly without stuffing it up along the way. They have not only taken away "Auto-arrange" but also "align into a grid". This is used when you take about say 5 photos and put them in a different position to the others where you can differentiate them before putting them into a folder to organize them or something else.
 
louman333
Gerbil In Training
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jun 28, 2012 12:47 pm

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Thu Jun 28, 2012 1:38 pm

Ok... I don't know how anyone can justify getting rid of the ability to disable auto arrange.... its common sense.... what? Did that one feature slow down windows 7 that much? And to those who are justifying it by talking about rating your photos and who has thousands of photos? I will tell you who.... anyone who has embraced digital photography period! Go argue with the guy at best buy over something stupid to try and show your intelligence. You don't have to defend a stupid decision just to have something to comment on! Anyone who thought that removing the disable feature is nuts... also... quit mentioning the desktop... anyone who is struggling with this issue knows we are not talking about the desk top!
 
kumori
Gerbil Team Leader
Posts: 298
Joined: Sun Dec 18, 2011 12:11 am

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Thu Jun 28, 2012 1:50 pm

This thread has been dead since 2009.
 
Yeats
Gerbil XP
Posts: 349
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2011 8:53 pm
Location: NJ, USA

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Thu Jun 28, 2012 1:51 pm

You're necroing a 3 year old thread, where are the free iPads?
 
mikehodges2
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 936
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2003 12:27 pm
Contact:

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Thu Jun 28, 2012 4:13 pm

May as well jump back on topic then!

This actually annoys me on my mac...I'd rather they snap to a grid, dragging stuff around ends up burying things. Doesn't do my OCD any good at all. :)
 
danny e.
Maximum Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 4444
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2002 3:09 pm
Location: Indonesia/Nebraska/Wisconsin

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Thu Jul 12, 2012 5:53 pm

thanks for the necro. now i'm pissed about this again. also the retarded win7 start menu that is annoying as sh*t.
it's 2012 and you're taking away the option for me to customize my own look/feel? I should be able to size my start menu how I want so it's very easy to use.
(ie, make it more usable than the old crap.. not less usable.)

It feels like microsoft didnt like the start menu, so with win7 they tried to make it a pain in the ass to use so people wouldnt complain so much when they take it away.
"hey, no one is using it anwyays". because you made it so sucky it annoys the sh*t out of everyone.
The idea of a "start page" like metro isnt a half bad idea. The implementation of the metro start on the desktop is atrocious and they should all be flogged.
You don't have to feel safe to feel unafraid.
 
TwistedKestrel
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 686
Joined: Mon Jan 06, 2003 4:29 pm

Re: disabling auto-arrange in win7

Thu Jul 12, 2012 6:02 pm

danny e. wrote:
thanks for the necro. now i'm pissed about this again. also the retarded win7 start menu that is annoying as sh*t.
it's 2012 and you're taking away the option for me to customize my own look/feel? I should be able to size my start menu how I want so it's very easy to use.
(ie, make it more usable than the old crap.. not less usable.)

It feels like microsoft didnt like the start menu, so with win7 they tried to make it a pain in the ass to use so people wouldnt complain so much when they take it away.
"hey, no one is using it anwyays". because you made it so sucky it annoys the sh*t out of everyone.
The idea of a "start page" like metro isnt a half bad idea. The implementation of the metro start on the desktop is atrocious and they should all be flogged.


You are using Windows in a way that is completely alien to me. In what version have you ever been able to use the Start Menu in the way that you describe?

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest
GZIP: On