Fix for Desktop Icons Layout Not Getting Saved Upon Restarting Windows Winhelponline. Windows saves the desktop icon layout when the user logs off, and the setting is read during logon. Recently I came across a case where the desktop icons rearrange to their default positions after a restart or logofflogon cycle. This turned out to be a Permissions issue with a registry key, which kept Windows from writing to it. Here are some fixes for this issue, applies to all versions of Windows including Windows 1. Using Windows 1. 0 Try these steps first. Recently more number of these cases have been reported that the desktop icon position and folder views are not retained, is caused by a malware which modifies the following registry key HKEYCLASSESROOTCLSID4. In. Proc. Server. Start Regedit. exe and go to the above location. Double click default and set its value data to System. Rootsystem. 32windows. Repeat the same in the following registry path HKEYCLASSESROOTWow. NodeCLSID4. 2aedc. In. Proc. Server. Then, delete the following branch at the HKEYCURRENTUSER hive, not the one in HKEYCLASSESROOT. The following branch is to be deleted irrespective of the Operating System you use. HKEYCURRENTUSERSoftwareClassesCLSID4. Exit the Registry Editor. REG File to automate the above three tasks Download w. Run the REG file to apply the contents to the registry. Desktop Not Refreshing Windows 10' title='Desktop Not Refreshing Windows 10' />This article discusses how to repair your Windows desktop icons by forcing Windows to rebuild its icon cache with AB Commander. Upgrading to Windows 10 from a previous Windows version comes with its fair share of hiccups. Midnight Blue Deep Throat Edition. It remains a wonder how Windows 10 was released amidst such glaring bugs. Since SCCM 1511, you can use the new upgrade task sequence to easily upgrade a Windows 7 computer to Windows 10. But what if you want to upgrade a computer from a 32. Desktop Not Refreshing Windows 10' title='Desktop Not Refreshing Windows 10' />Note If youre unable to change the value data and getting a permissions error, you need to take ownership of the above registry locations, and then update the value data. For information on how to change ownership, refer article Take ownership of a registry key. Fixing the desktop folder views registry key all versions of WindowsStep 1 Terminate Explorer Shell Cleanly. In Windows 8 and 1. Press and hold the CTRL SHIFT keys, and right click on an empty area in the Taskbar. Click the Exit Explorer option. In Windows Vista Windows 7. Click Start. Press and hold the CTRL SHIFT keys, and right click on an empty area in the Start menu. Click the Exit Explorer option. In Windows XP 1. Click Start, Turn Off computer. Press and hold the CTRL, ALT and the SHIFT keys, and click the Cancel button. For more information on restarting the Explorer shell, visit these pages Exit Explorer and Restart Explorer in Windows 1. Windows 8 Terminate and Restart Explorer. Process Cleanly in Windows 7 Vista. Terminate and Restart Explorer. Process Cleanly in Windows XPStep 2 Fix Registry Key Permissions. Switch to Registry Editor window, and navigate to the following key HKEYCURRENTUSERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsShellBags1Desktop. Right click on the Desktop key, and choose Permissions. Click Advanced, and delete any Deny entries if present. While youre in that screen, make sure that your user account has Full Control Allow Permissions for the registry branch. Click OK, OK. 5. See if you can create a sample registry value in the Desktop key to test if you can write to the branch. Step 3 Reset the Desktop Icon Layout Registry Key. This step is required only if the problem remains unresolved although youre able to write to the Desktop registry key. Delphi Borland'>Delphi Borland. Using the Registry Editor, rename the key Desktop to Desktop. Old. 2. Exit the Registry Editor. Press CTRL ALT DEL to open Task Manager. From the File menu, click Run. Type Explorer. exe and press ENTERCustomize the desktop icons layout as you require, restart Windows and check if the icon positions are retained. About the author. Ramesh Srinivasan founded Winhelponline. He is passionate about Microsoft technologies and has a vast experience in the ITe. S industry delivering support for Microsofts consumer products. He has been a Microsoft MVP 2. Windows support forums. Home Microsoft Windows Fix for Desktop Icons Layout Not Getting Saved Upon Restarting Windows.