Windows 7 - stop auto arrange in folders

Does anyone have a solution to the windows auto arrange problem in the folders themselves? Why did they remove the ability to turn it off?

I tend to keep my files in clusters. Across the top - word, notepad, and a few notes, down the left submissions, old files, etc.. bottom right book ideas with current books clustered around it, a cluster for poetry, greeting cards and the like, another cluster for short stories and kids stories. I really want to be able to order my files in clusters, not in neat lines that blur together. The only thing I have found is to number them, even then, they blur together.

Any ideas?

RJK said:

RU referring to the desktop icons? I can't help you - don't use 7 yet, but the others will need to know.

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You can turn off auto arrange on the desktop. Thank goodness, or I'd never find my browser icons in the random order Windows puts them in.

brokenfingers said:

Hmmm, I'm not sure if I understand your problem correctly, but if you right click in your folder Win7 presents you with a wide variety of options to organize its contents.

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That's the thing - I want them in my choice of clusters - not in alphabetic, date, or size order, which are the only options actually given.

I work on more than one project at a time, so date order would be hard to find any one thing, alphabetic would require thought to find it - by then, I wouldn't remember what I was working on, and size - doesn't work well either.

I tried changeing the icons, hopefully that will help some, as long as I don't add any new ideas to the Writing folder.

I perfer to keep things neat and where I put them, not have their placement dictated by a program that does not function in a creative way like my brain does. Part of the creative process is seeing that cluster, and decided which story speaks to you most at the time. Hard to do that, when they may be at opposite corners of the folder.

Writing is very much a process of building pictures with words, not just blindly following another's lead.

Matera the Mad said:

I've vever used artificial arrangements; I prefer a details view and no fat, oversized eye-cons. But I use a large enough font to see names clearly. Having things overly personalized makes life harder when you have to use a different computer for whatever reason. I have two at work and mess with innumerable others off and on.

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That would be nice if I could do that, I guess. I actually numbered mine because between my two computers it would throw the order off. However, no matter how large I set the font - I cannot see the words in details view. I perfer icons with words so I can actually see them.