Restore Desktop Icons after Resolution Change

I often give talks using a projector. The projector has a lower resolution than my display. This causes my desktop icons to pile up in a jumble. Worse, when I return to the standard resolution after the talk, my desktop is still in a mess!
I seem to recall earlier versions of Tiger/Leopard could remember the locations of the icons and restore them after switching back to the native resolution.
Is there a solution for this? Possibly I have a preference set wrong so that the restore does not take place?
Sorry if this is already answered but I didn't see it come up searching the forums.
Owen

backspaces wrote:
nerowolfe wrote:
I never tried it, but if you have one Space for your presentations and another for your usual work, will the unseen desktop still get the icons "mangled?" I would think the resolution change would only apply to the Space that you are using. Maybe not.
Consider this, then - create another user just for the presentations. My rhetoric question would be, would the icons of the original user still get "mangled" if you used the new account for the presentations?
If neither of these solutions work, then the alternative terminal solution would work. You would simple restore the original .DS_Store file. You could write a simple script to do that.
I'll follow your ideas shortly, thanks .. and they make a lot of sense.
BTW: are you a Nero Wolfe fan?
Yes
I've got them all, I think, been reading them for over 20 years, and re-read them every couple of years or so.
I have the entire corpus, the A&E shows, including widescreen double-length European versions and all the OTR shows. Guess that makes me a fanatic
I also look for the "Pastiches" .. I've got 6 of Goldsborough's but haven't found others.
Nero Pastiches have not interested me, but I have many of those of Holmes' plus the Sacred Canon, the Brett TV series, almost every movie, the Russian series, OTR, etc.
Believe it or not, I learned a great deal of computer diagnosis from these stories. Their value greatly transcends their genre. You get to look past the obvious.
-- Owen

Similar Messages

Desktop icons after screen change

Hi,
I use my macbook pro every day at work with a 24" apple display (the one w/the bundle of plugs that includes usb/mini display/power). I take my macbook out of my bag, then plug in the screen, click my mouse, and the computer wakes up. When I go home I just unplug everything and put the computer back in my bag.
When I get my computer home and turn it on, my desktop is normally very screwed up. The icons are not on the screen, or the resolution is normally off. To put it back I just have to change the screen resolution to a lower one, then put it back on 1440x1200 (or whatever the macbook pro 15" display is at maximum). Then my icons go back to normal etc.
Sometimes this happens in reverse - when I plug in my display to the macbook pro I have to change the resolution twice (lower then back to normal) to get the icons right.
This whole thing seems quite wrong - does anyone know of a setting I can change to fix this or if I can do something else?

I have the exact same problem, MacBook Pro 15" 2.33 GHz and the same type of Apple display. I use the display at the office, disconnect, bring my PB home, and when I wake it up the PB acts like the display is till connected - no desktop icons visible (although strangely, it shows the Dock and the Finder Menu) until after I restart.
Clicking "detect displays" doesn't work, neither does clicking the highlighted configuration.
My daughter also has a problem with her MacBook and her Apple Cinema display, which has to be set as mirrored or it won't display anything, it somehow isn't detected the way it used to be. Why I mentioned this is because I never had this problem before, and neither did my daughter. It started quite recently, so I guess it is related to a system software update.
Message was edited by: John Simon Beverly

How do I re-install desktop icons after yosemite upgrade?

How do I re-install desktop icons after yosemite upgrade?

Hi ..
Which desktop icons are you referring to?
If you mean the MacintoshHD icon, open the Finder.
From the Finder menu bar click Finder > Preferences then select the General tab then select: Hard disks

"Mini Barcode" follows pointer and overlays desktop icons after 10.4.10 upg

I have a G5 (about 4 years old). I recently upgraded to 10.4.10. After the upgrade I noticed a Mini BarCode like feature following the pointer around. In addition all desktop icons and the menu area were overlayed with this Mini BarCode type feature.It does not seem to affect the operation of the computer, but is extreemely annoying.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
JTPass
G5 Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Hey Jim,
Yes a new card fixed my problem but....
After reading your post I searched around on the various forums and noticed that someone else had a similar problem when they upgraded to Tiger from Panther. (not an update they upgraded to Tiger from Panther) Here's the link to the message. You should read this....
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4555151&#4555151
After I read it dawned on me that when I upgraded to Tiger this past November I started having this problem with the video card. Could be I may have jumped the gun on replacing it. The guy that posted the above thread also posted a link to the driver that he installed that got his monitor working properly again.
http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/mac/atidisplays4-5-7.html
If you only updated to version 10.4.10 from an earlier version of Tiger then I would go with replacing the card. I replaced mine with a 9800XT w/ 256MB I picked up from OWC for around $230.
http://otherworldcomputing.com/
I really wanted to upgrade to the X800 XT mac addition but it looks like ATI is no longer manufacturing this particular card. Don't believe the wait times you see on some websites regarding shipping dates for that card. I spent many hours searching for this card and finally when I talked to ATI I found out they are no longer manufacturing the X 800XT mac addition. too bad.
If you need to replace your card here's something else you may want to check into.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2894453&#2894453
good luck,
dave
G5 dual 2.0, 3.0 GB ram, 2x250 internal Mac OS X (10.4.8) ATI 9800 Pro. FCP 5.0.4 DVDSP 4.0.3 Motion 2.0.1 Soundtrack pro 1.0.3 QT 7.0.4

White thick frame around desktop icons (after latest updates)

hi all,
i'm using xfce4 as DE, but, instead of xfdesktop as desktop icon manager, i keep using nautilus ('nautilus -n': run automatically at session login) 'cos i like some features xfdesktop doesn't have, such as: more flexible icons repositioning, icons resizing, etc..
my main problem is: after having installed last updates this morning (pacman -Syyu), and after re-executing nautilus, now all icons on desktop have a ugly and annoying thick (3-4 pxs) white frame around ...
googling about, i found out it could be a issue related to how nautilus manages thumbnails ....but unfortunately all threads are concerning gnome 2.x...NOT gnome 3.x
some of you encountered such a problem?
seems that nautilus treats and displays all desktop icons as images thumbnails
thanks
Last edited by jib (2012-11-19 13:08:14)

guys
i've solved this way:
from: http://ftp.nluug.nl/ftp/os/Linux/distr/ … g/os/i686/
i downloaded: nautilus-3.6.1-1-i686.pkg.tar.xz
so i downgraded nautilus (pacman -U nautilus-3.6.1-1-i686.pkg.tar.xz) from 3.6.3 prior to 3.6.1-1 (unfortunately i couldn't find 3.6.1-2 or 3.6.2 vers around)
restarted nautilus and everything is back to normal
ps: remember to add nautilus in IgnorePkg section (/etc/pacman.conf), otherwise it will be upgraded back again as soon as a pacman -Su is issued
i share with you this piece of information if it can be useful
Last edited by jib (2012-11-21 14:24:58)

Unable to select desktop icons after sleep.

Looks like another possible bug. When I wake my G5 from sleep, sometimes I cannot select any of the desktop icons. If I go into the View settings and change the icons layout - like text below or to the right, I can access them all again.

Adam van Gaalen wrote:
The top of this page says there are 2 helpfull answers, but where do I find those???
Good question! That line actually means that the original poster of this thread can award "helpful" status to up to two messages that people submit as answers to the topic question.
I can definitely see how you misread it that there are two helpful answers available on the board somewhere, though....

How can I restore desktop icon for hp 1000 printer to check ink cartridge levels, etc.

How can I restore the icon on my desktop for my hp 1000 printer. want to check ink levels, print test page, etc.

What operating system? I recommend not using the software CD as it may be out of date. Get the latest software for your printer from the "Support & Drivers" link at the top of this page.
Say thanks by clicking "Kudos" "thumbs up" in the post that helped you.
I am employed by HP

Restoring old Bookmarks - after structural changes

Hi all,
Is there any way of reflecting/restoring the 'old' bookmarks with the new elements? We have thousends of defined bookmarks and scared that they may all have to be recreated to see the new fields after few additions and deletions to the web reports?
Thanks for your time.
Regards,
Hari

Hi:
As far as the changes do not remove any of the previously existing fields, I don't think you'll have any problem. Either transporting or reloading your data.
If you wana be safe, just create a copy of the ODS, transport it to QA. Then make the changes in Dev, tansport and check results.
But, again, I think you'll be just fine.
Regards,
Luis

Drives and desktop icons: possible to change sides?

Hey, I was wondering if there's any way to set new icons from drives and new content to show up on the left side of the desktop as opposed to the right side. I prefer to have my adium on the right, but whenever a drive or something loads, it ends up under my buddy list. Not a huge problem, just slightly inconvenient.
Thanks,
Will

I called apple on the topic... they said the desktop items automatically load on the right hand side, but can be moved and will open in the alternate location from there on. Thanks for your answers!

On wake up the wrong desktop appears with no desktop icons.

Upon waking up computer, a different desktop appears with no icons. I have to shut it down hard and reboot. Doestn't happen all the time but most times it does. Any suggestions on to resolve.

Hi, I had a similar "intermittent" problem. Desktop picture was correct, but no desktop icons after waking up. I found by powering off/on the monitor, seemed to refresh the display and show the icons. However the problem no longer exists, but I haven't changed any settings. I know this probably doesn't help that much, but it may prevent you having to shut down and reboot. Alan.

Alternative ways to bookmark/create desktop icons?

I am trying to add a webpage as an icon on my desktop on my iPad using the feature provided in Safari but the webpage redirects when I try to access it and I can only bookmark the URL after it is redirected. Does anyone know of a way to make the icon for the original URL and not the URL that it redirects to?

Well I guess I better to to the Vista/PSE site. I installed PSE 7 on my other Vista Home Premium 64-bit system and so far have not had a problem with desktop icon creation! So it would appear there is something else going on in the Vista Ultimate 32-bit system that is causing the problem. <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected].. > I'm not totally sure if it is Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 that is causing > the problem but it has reappeared three times right AFTER installing the > package. For some reason Vista Ultimate 32-bit will not let me add a new > desktop Icon after Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 is installed. As soon as I > drop back via a "restore" the problem goes away and stays away until I > reinstall Photoshop Elements then it comes right back! Any ideas on what > is going on and what I can do to resolve the issue. In the meantime it > looks like I wasted another $74 messing around with Photoshop Elements!

Cannot create Desktop Icons

I'm not totally sure if it is Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 that is causing the problem but it has reappeared three times right AFTER installing the package. For some reason Vista Ultimate 32-bit will not let me add a new desktop Icon after Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 is installed. As soon as I drop back via a "restore" the problem goes away and stays away until I reinstall Photoshop Elements then it comes right back! Any ideas on what is going on and what I can do to resolve the issue. In the meantime it looks like I wasted another $74 messing around with Photoshop Elements!

Well I guess I better to to the Vista/PSE site. I installed PSE 7 on my other Vista Home Premium 64-bit system and so far have not had a problem with desktop icon creation! So it would appear there is something else going on in the Vista Ultimate 32-bit system that is causing the problem. <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected].. > I'm not totally sure if it is Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 that is causing > the problem but it has reappeared three times right AFTER installing the > package. For some reason Vista Ultimate 32-bit will not let me add a new > desktop Icon after Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 is installed. As soon as I > drop back via a "restore" the problem goes away and stays away until I > reinstall Photoshop Elements then it comes right back! Any ideas on what > is going on and what I can do to resolve the issue. In the meantime it > looks like I wasted another $74 messing around with Photoshop Elements!

Can't access desktop icons

Hello,
I'm having an intermittent problem with the desktop icons on my MacBook Pro. Occasionally, the desktop icons become inaccessible. I'll hover over them with the mouse and can't click on them. I'll also sometimes add a document to the desktop and it doesn't show up. Both of these problems can be solved by clicking on the "desktop icon view" and changing the size of the icons briefly. I hate having to do this so often. Can anyone help with this?
Thank you!
Erin

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
One thing to try would be to repair your disk. You will have to boot from your install disc and navigate to Disk Utility on the install disc. The select your hard drive by brand name and go to the First Aid Tab and click on the "Repair Disk" button. Repeat until there is nothing left to repair.
If you get errors you cannot repair, then you will need a more powerful utility such as Disk Warrior to repair your drive.
You could also try creating a new user account and see if the problem is there in it.
You could also try reinstalling the OS, but don't do this until any errors reported by Disk Utility are repaired.
Good luck!

Desktop Icons Change Positions After Restart

Hi,
After I inadvertently synced my computer with another Mac computer my icons change position after restart. I was trying to sync another computer to mine.
I have tried the usual suggestions of taking out com.apple.finder.plist and com.apple.desktop.plist and letting the system create these new files but the problem still persists. I also checked the Finder > View > Show View Options and arrange by none is still selected.
Does anyone have a suggestion how I can fix this problem? Will I have to go back in time with Time Machine and restore my entire system to solve this?
I can't operate with the desktop icons changing positions like this.
Thanks,
Pacecom

Delete the hidden .DS_Store file associated with your Desktop folder. Launch the Terminal.app (in /Applications/Utilities/), copy & paste the following command into the window that pops up, hit the return key, quit the Terminal.app, OPTION-click and hold the Dock's Finder icon, and select Relaunch:
*rm ~/Desktop/".DS_Store"*
Now, set the Desktop as desired, log out and back in, and the Desktop should be as it was as you last set it.

Illustrator desktop icons change after trying Inkscape?

A couple of days ago, just out of curiosity, I tried out Inkscape. Of course, I was unimpressed, trashed it, and removed XQuartz.
Afterwards, I found that all of my Illustrator desktop icons had changed to odd square generic document icons with the "To place or open this file in other applications..." text in the preview. Doing a "save as copy" from the file didn't change this. Creating a new Illustrator file and saving created a normal preview, but it was still displayed in that same kind of square icon.
Otherwise, Illustrator works fine, no problems I can see -- it's just that the desktop icons for Illustrator files aren't standard Illustrator file icons anymore. A minor nitpicky annoyance, granted, but I'd be interested in knowing how I can fix this.
I'm running Illustrator CS6 on a late 2013 MacBook Pro with OSX 10.8.5.
Thanks in advance,

Just tried it a moment ago after seeing your reply. Didn't seem to work. In fact, as I recall, that was the first thing I did the other night.
The files were still opening into Illustrator OK, but not displaying standard .ai document icons, so associations weren't really the problem, from the looks of it. Seems as if something else somewhere has jerked around the icons for .ai documents.

Restore Desktop Icons after Resolution Change

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for