Finder windows don't remember icon/list settings upon restart

My computer recently started having this strange problem: Whenever I start my computer and click on "Macintosh HD" the window that opens up shows a jumble of icons (even though I have always had the setting to "List"). Additionally when I click on a folder at this level, its contents are also a jumbled mess of icons (even though here the settings have always been "list"). I have to manually select the "list" setting in the window or in the menu to change the settings. Throughout the workday these settings are remembered but when I restart in the morning everything is back to the jumbled mess as described above. I have recently upgraded to 10.4.9 (from 10.4.7) and didn't notice if this problem started then but it definitely started soon after the upgrade. Is there anyway to make my computer remember my view settings? I apologize if my question is lengthy and thanks in advance for any advice. --Steve

Thanks for your response Niel. I'm not sure what you mean by "run" in reference to the Terminal application. Here's what I did do: I opened Terminal. I then typed in sudo chmod a+w /.DS_Store as per your suggestion. I then pressed Enter, typed in my password and hit enter. I was asked to type my password again, I did, and pressed Enter. I was asked to type in the password yet again. I didn't do it this time but instead logged out and then logged back in. However all of the icons in my finder window were still showing up as a jumbled mess of icons. I just want to get everything back to viewing as list in every window like it was before. Did I mess something up with your instructions? Although I have been using a Mac since 1989 I am a OSX weinie and need things spelled out for me. Thanks for your help!

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