Desktop chaos please help

[nite_monkey]

[attachthumb=#]
As you can see with the attached picture, I have a lot of desktop icons. I was hoping that someone had a program that would let me organize my icons between my two monitors. (better than the windows arrange icons by menu you get when you right click on the desktop, when align to grid is on I can't put icons on my second monitor) If someone could help me out here, I would really like that.

p.s. Yeah, its a bad quality image, I shrunk it in paint, to lazy to wait for photoshop to load, the small little program that you see in the bottom middle is at the bottom left of my second monitor.

[tinyvillager]

I would suggest getting into a quick launch alternative like mouser's LaunchBar Commander or True Launch Bar
and then maybe a file manager like XYplorer...

List of file managers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_managers

[Carol Haynes]

I dump everything in a single folder on the desktop - then right click on the toolbar and add a new toolbar by pointing it at that folder. You then get a cascading menu (a bit like the start menu which you can drag stuff about in) and because the source folder is on the desktop it is easy to drag stuff in there, open the folder and reorganise stuff as you want.

It also has the advantage that you can keep your destop clean so you can use it as a genuinely useful temporary dumping ground!

[iphigenie]

Yes, i have 0 icons on my desktop apart from the recycle bin, and really when i think of it i'd rather hide that too. After all it's covered in windows most of the time and it's a pain to have to minimize apps to find things.

But there are really 2 types of users - the ones who keep the desktop pristine and use menu tools, keyboard macros etc. to access things, and the people who like to have everything spread out on their desktop - after all it's quick to trigger "show desktop" and there are also tools that give you pop up lists of all that's on the desktop so it also works pretty well as an organisation scheme too.

I have never seen a tool that allows to split icons on 2 monitors, but obviously i have never looked for one. I know tools that can save a layout though, and restore it, that might work? Also I wonder if somehow you could use a "virtual desktop" tool to get the effect. There are virtual desktop tools that allow you to set different icons per virtual desktop, so if any of those allows a different VD per screen you're set.

Another option would be somethink like desktopX but that'd be way overkill I think.

[nite_monkey]

I like Carol's idea. I can also put all the icons into different folders like a folder for games, a folder for installation files, etc.

[nite_monkey]

[attachthumb=#]
Ok, my desktop looks way better. You can see from the image in my first post that my desktop was a massive mess, well now with the new picture you can see that the mess is still there, but now its more organized, like Carol Haynes had suggested. Thank you Carol.

[Carol Haynes]

You're welcome - glad to be of use

[app103]

You can put the shortcuts that you want on one monitor into a folder somewhere on your hard drive...then drag the folder from explorer and smack it against the side of the screen on the monitor you want it on.

That will make a taskbar-like menu. You can adjust the size and keep it always on top and on autohide. When you move your mouse to the edge of your screen, it will pop out so you can access what is on it.

I don't use it with 2 monitors, but I do it on a single monitor. I do not keep my taskbar at the bottom of my screen...I keep it on the right side...and a large toolbar on the left with more shortcuts. I also keep my desktop shortcuts turned off so I do not see them (I rarely ever see the desktop any way, so keeping them turned on is pointless)

Both the taskbar and the left side toolbar are organized quite well with each category of shortcut having its own section.

Some people seem to think my desktop is pretty scary...you judge for yourself:

This is with the right side showing in top image, and everything minimized in bottom half.



This is a newer image with both bars showing in full:

[danielle2459]

This is the neatest web site ever!!!

[Carol Haynes]

Hey - you learn something new everyday

[tomos]

app,
is that your mouse - the magicians hand - 

I'm wondering, if thats your taskbar on the right, are all those icons in the top half quicklaunch shortcuts?
if so (or also if no  ) how do you get the spacers between them?

I do not keep my taskbar at the bottom of my screen...I keep it on the right side...and a large toolbar on the left with more shortcuts. I also keep my desktop shortcuts turned off so I do not see them (I rarely ever see the desktop any way, so keeping them turned on is pointless)

Both the taskbar and the left side toolbar are organized quite well with each category of shortcut having its own section.

is the "large toolbar on the left" created by dragging folder to edge of screen ? or did I misunderstand, it seems too complicated for that..

the project for your husband & other bits & pieces on top - they were the ones created by dragging folder to edge of screen ??

[Carol Haynes]

Basically dragging a folder to the screen edge is equivalent to adding a new toolbar to the taskbar.

If you drag one folder to the left and another to the right you can then drag the toolbars wherever you want them onscreen (even the middle). If the both end up on the same edge they can share the same column (or row) and be separated by a spacer (it gets there automatically).

If you want them to look like apps just right click on the toolbar and set it to View>small icons and turn off Show Text and Show Title.

Personally I prefer to retain the toolbar at the bottom on the task bar. It takes up no space on the desktop at all and has the advantage that any folders in the list produce a cascading menu system rather than opening folders in Explorer.

[tomos]

If the both end up on the same edge they can share the same column (or row) and be separated by a spacer (it gets there automatically).

If you want them to look like apps just right click on the toolbar and set it to View>small icons and turn off Show Text and Show Title.

ahhhh .... someone in MS had some good ideas!

Personally I prefer to retain the toolbar at the bottom on the task bar. It takes up no space on the desktop at all and has the advantage that any folders in the list produce a cascading menu system rather than opening folders in Explorer.

that sounds easier,
didn't like the full "Desktop" title but realised can simply use a different folder
(with shorter name so it doesnt use up so much taskbar)

thanks for the explanation Carol!

[app103]

app,
is that your mouse - the magicians hand - 

Yes, it is...and the tip blinks. 

This is a really old page (lots of dead links) but you can see what it really looks like if you visit with Internet Explorer (old chat group profile of mine):
http://www.htmlgamez.com/lvhc_maybe/userpages/userinfo.php?userid=8

I'm wondering, if thats your taskbar on the right, are all those icons in the top half quicklaunch shortcuts?
if so (or also if no  ) how do you get the spacers between them?

Only the first row on the right side is the Quicklaunch.

Everyone in my house has their own set of toolbars.

We keep all the different folders in one collection on the G drive:



All you have to do is right click your taskbar and go to Toolbars -> New Toolbar and select the folder you want to display. It will open at the bottom of the taskbar but you can grab the bar and move the whole thing by dragging it higher than the other ones you already have.



Like Carol said, I turned off the text and made the icons smaller.

I do not keep my taskbar at the bottom of my screen...I keep it on the right side...and a large toolbar on the left with more shortcuts. I also keep my desktop shortcuts turned off so I do not see them (I rarely ever see the desktop any way, so keeping them turned on is pointless)

Both the taskbar and the left side toolbar are organized quite well with each category of shortcut having its own section.

is the "large toolbar on the left" created by dragging folder to edge of screen ? or did I misunderstand, it seems too complicated for that..

Yes, I did drag one of them from my collection to the left side of my screen rather than opening it as a new toolbar on the one I have on the right. New toolbars can be added to the one on the left in the same manner as you would to your taskbar, after that first one.

the project for your husband & other bits & pieces on top - they were the ones created by dragging folder to edge of screen ??

No, those are open windows that I dragged the buttons off my taskbar and put them on my desktop. You have to install a little utility called TaskbarEx to do that. 

I don't know of any sites in English (developer is Japanese) where you can get it any more. 

[iphigenie]

No, those are open windows that I dragged the buttons off my taskbar and put them on my desktop.

I think dm2 has a feature that allows to minimize windows to desktop icons. I think they are icons not text buttons, but I haven't tried that one so it's all based on hearsay.

http://dm2.sourceforge.net/

[nite_monkey]

Darn!  I have messed up again... I have a boat load of shortcuts in the desktop icons folder I made, and I got lazy and never remembered to move my new icons into that folder, so now my desktop has about the same amount of icons on it, and my dumb icons folder is loaded, I really need an organize program... oh well, time to start moving and deleteing a bunch of icons

edit: well I finaly got my desktop cleaned up again after having to restart my computer because stupid avast found a virus, and when it finds a virus, it locks up my computer, and then I have to consult with my best friend in the world, mr restart button on the front of my computer, man I love that button.