Downloading files on desktop.

Question

Hi, when I download a file on desktop it arranges it on top of another file. I have my documents and folders arranged by date created. Could this be a sign of a virus. It seems that if you download something on the desktop it should place itself in the arranged setting. I would appreciate your feedback. Thank you.

Answer 1

If you have the files Arranged by Size, the Macintosh HD would be on top and items
such as alias to folders in the hard drive or other location, lower on the pile; and the
other kinds of items may be more mixed up; & you can choose to hide the Mac HD.
My desktop has three folder aliases on it. Anything more than that, not in use or to be
trashed soon, is only there temporarily. A folder on the hard disk drive (since I am a
single user on my computer, ownership to me does not matter) I can put items there.
Or in the user-account named folder, and drag item folder to the Dock near the Trash.
In mine, I hide a Saved Alias Folder there to run stuff that is not in the Dock. Any alias
including ones to additional folders, or printer controls otherwise hidden further in a
different location can be aliased and put within 'single-click reach' of the Desktop. (The
real 'saved alias folder' is in the Misc Extras folder on the hard disk drive.)
The order of items on the desktop (Finder) can help to organize them; if you edit
files on the desktop, it is good to have next to nothing else there, so you can drag
the items in progress to other locations; not move them with others to wrong places.
My computer has Misc Extras (folder) on hard disk drive, & an alias to it on the
desktop; there are folders within it that I have created so I know where most of
the stuff I am using is. Often I put it there manually, then I know the path to get it.
If working with a digital camera and manually editing images outside of iPhoto,
my image editor software can be used to automatically find the folders I made
for each dated saved collection of images from the camera, so these are often
saved to a folder in my Misc Extras by camera name, day/month/year. These
get burned to DVD later, and eventually removed from the hard disk drive.
There are several ways to use folders and aliases in pre-Stacks Leopard.
{You can re-order items out of alphabetical order by adding a space in
front of the first letter of the name of the item or alias. I use that to make
accessing Disk Utility easier from GO in the Finder menu, it now is first.}
Good luck & happy computing!
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