XP Toolbar menu sort order

[AndyM]

Does anyone know how XP remembers (when it does) the sort order of
taskbar toolbars when the toolbar is made narrow so the whole thing is
a flyout menu (has the bar with the tiny >> next to the folder name)?

I have three folders set up like that (C:, A, and X).  Once upon a
time I could drag icons in the flyout menu and the order would be
retained through reboots and explorer restarts.  Then one day, after a
Windows Update last year, the sort order would revert to alphabetical
after a restart.  Then sometime after that, the manual sort order for
A and X at the time was retained, but never the root directory C:.
Now A and X revert to that retained sort order (better than nothing),
but any changes are not retained.

I've looked through the registry but can't find anything that looks
like a sort order.  The sort order of the opened folders themselves
has no affect on the sort order of the flyout menu.

I'd like to understand how this works, and I'd especially like to
figure out a way to either retain or restore a manually sorted menu.

Any thoughts?

Andy

[Armando]

I see what you're saying, but I have no idea, really... sorry... I hope that somebody will be able to help you...
You could also use more sophisticated launch bars, I guess.

[wreckedcarzz]

Windows XP is supposed to now be able to organize everything by alphabetical order, so it is really a "feature". If I were you I would just grab mouser's LaunchBar Commander and set that up as a toolbar at the top/bottom/as a window/whatever with your folders and whatnot.

[AndyM]

just grab mouser's LaunchBar Commander

Thanks, but as cool as LaunchBar Commander looks, it's not at the moment what I'm looking for.

[J-Mac]

Andy,

Which menu are you asking about?

Jim

On second reading, it appears that you are talking about menus such as the Quick Launch menu.  I have always just used "drag and drop" to place each icon or item where I want it.  They usually stay like that.  Yours are auto-sorting to alphabetical?

Jim

[AndyM]

it appears that you are talking about menus such as the Quick Launch menu.

Yes

Yours are auto-sorting to alphabetical?

Yes and no.  The part of my QuickLaunch bar that doesn't show as icons on the Taskbar (most of it), stays sorted how I left it, dragging the icons.  Most of the time nowadays two folders ("A" and "X") keep their sort including recent changes, sometimes they don't remember recent changes but don't revert all the way to alphabetical.  My fourth toolbar, C:\ (root directory), never remembers it's manually changed order - it always reverts to alphabetical after a reboot or explorer restart.  That's the one that irritates me since it used to remember it's customized sort order.

None of this is really a big deal, but I would like to understand it and would like to fix it.

Thanks Jim,

Andy

[lanux128]

maybe the order has something to do with the number of folder settings that XP remembers? refer here and here.

on another note, you can also use Free LaunchBar to fix the problem.

[AndyM]

I increased both BagMru Size settings to 5000 a couple of years ago, so that's probably not it.

Free Launchbar looks interesting, but I like having those three folders separate from the items in my Quicklaunch bar.

[techidave]

Just gave the Free Launch app a go here at home and it looks very promising.  So far I like it alot.  Time will tell.
Dave

[Hirudin]

If you're using CCleaner (or something similar) clearing the sort of the start menu is one of it's features. I think it's the check box I pointed out in my attached picture.

[J-Mac]

Andy,

Do you normally keep your taskbar unlocked?  Try always unlocking the taskbar prior to making any changes, and then lock it immediately after making the changes.  Then keep it locked normally and only unlock it to make specific changes.

Worth a try.

Jim

[AndyM]

Do you normally keep your taskbar unlocked?  Try always unlocking the taskbar prior to making any changes, and then lock it immediately after making the changes.  Then keep it locked normally and only unlock it to make specific changes.

Definitely worth a try Jim.

I'll report back.

[AndyM]

Try always unlocking the taskbar prior to making any changes, and then lock it immediately after making the changes.

Didn't work Jim, but thanks for the suggestion.

Andy

[lanux128]

i may be wrong but i think this is another broken feature in WinXP just like the ToolTip bug.

[AndyM]

i may be wrong but i think this is another broken feature in WinXP just like the ToolTip bug.

You're probably right, and I've gotten fast at rearranging the icons in my C:\ toolbar.
Oh well....

[J-Mac]

Andy, I did search the heck out of this and it does appear that there have been problems at various times with Quick Launch sorting since they added it. Last time it was widespread seems to have been in 2004 - 2005.  I found tons of posts about it then, but not a whole lot since.  Weird!

Sorry I wasn't able to help. 

Jim

[AndyM]

I haven't had any problem keeping the manual sort order in my Quick Launch flyout menu, which really would be a hassle since it is long and has sub-menus (which cannot be manually sorted).

So I am going to avoid trouble and quietly leave well enough alone 

[AndyM]

I've stumbled across a way to keep my toolbars from re-sorting alphabetically, leaving the icons in the order I manually set up by dragging the icons around.

It involves opening the folder, moving file and folder icons out of the folder, and then moving them back in the order in which you want them to appear in the toolbar.  As you add them back to the original folder, they appear at the bottom of the toolbar menu, and so far they stay in that order through reboots.