Various interface issues


chmillman

Member
Local time
8:28 AM
Posts
21
OS
Windows 11 Pro
Still trying to come to grips with the mess of interface changes that happened from Windows 10 to 11...

First, if I install a new program that adds a desktop shortcut, it always puts the new icon in the upper left corner of the primary screen - even if there already is one there - and then moves all the icons under it down one position. This is completely nuts. All previous versions of Windows put the new icon in the next available space after all the existing desktop icons. Any fix for this?

Separation of separate files/running program instances as separate tabs in the taskbar - I read that this is no longer a setting available in the normal Windows interface - is there a registry hack or a third-party add on somewhere to do this? It's really stupid, I have 2 27" 4K screens, and Windows 11 is acting like I'm working on a smartphone in that respect. I generally have a half dozen programs and several files open spread across both monitors, and now I have to go hover over the taskbar, wait for the preview and pick out the one I want. I am currently using Start11 to bring back a Windows 8.1/10 like start screen with tiles (works great!), but it can't enforce separate tabs on the taskbar. StartAllBack appears to be able to do that from what I've seen, but you can't do tiles with it...
 
Windows Build/Version
11-21H2 22000.376

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    i7 12700KF
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime Z690-P
    Memory
    32 Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus Geforce RTX 3060 12Gb
    Sound Card
    -
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x 4K monitors
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160 (x2)
    Hard Drives
    1 Tb WD NVMe primary (Windows)
    2 Tb Crucial SSD secondary (data)
    PSU
    750W Enermac Marblebron
    Case
    Coolermaster MB600L
    Cooling
    be quiet! Dark Rock 4
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    Fast
    Browser
    Various
Any fix for this?
Yes. Disable desktop shortcut creation when installing programs. If needed, add it manually. I personally keep a very minimal and clean Desktop.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy dv7
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000 & Nvidia GeForce GT 635M
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Crucial MX500 on bay 1.
    1 TB Seagate HDD on bay 2.
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Yes. Disable desktop shortcut creation when installing programs. If needed, add it manually. I personally keep a very minimal and clean Desktop.
That's not a fix, just a personal preference. Mine is otherwise. Previous versions of Windows did not do this.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    i7 12700KF
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime Z690-P
    Memory
    32 Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus Geforce RTX 3060 12Gb
    Sound Card
    -
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x 4K monitors
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160 (x2)
    Hard Drives
    1 Tb WD NVMe primary (Windows)
    2 Tb Crucial SSD secondary (data)
    PSU
    750W Enermac Marblebron
    Case
    Coolermaster MB600L
    Cooling
    be quiet! Dark Rock 4
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    Fast
    Browser
    Various
That's not a fix, just a personal preference. Mine is otherwise. Previous versions of Windows did not do this.
True. I don't see that behaviour on my system. Have you enabled sort by date by default on the Desktop?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy dv7
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000 & Nvidia GeForce GT 635M
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Crucial MX500 on bay 1.
    1 TB Seagate HDD on bay 2.
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Have you enabled sort by date by default on the Desktop?
Nope, haven't enabled any sorting actually. I want them to stay where I put them, not have some automatic system re-arranging everything...
I have the default View options Medium icons and Align icons to grid is all.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    i7 12700KF
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime Z690-P
    Memory
    32 Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus Geforce RTX 3060 12Gb
    Sound Card
    -
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x 4K monitors
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160 (x2)
    Hard Drives
    1 Tb WD NVMe primary (Windows)
    2 Tb Crucial SSD secondary (data)
    PSU
    750W Enermac Marblebron
    Case
    Coolermaster MB600L
    Cooling
    be quiet! Dark Rock 4
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    Fast
    Browser
    Various
Nope, haven't enabled any sorting actually. I want them to stay where I put them, not have some automatic system re-arranging everything...
I have the default View options Medium icons and Align icons to grid is all.
Try resetting File Explorer options.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy dv7
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000 & Nvidia GeForce GT 635M
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Crucial MX500 on bay 1.
    1 TB Seagate HDD on bay 2.
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
OK did that, that seems to work for creating desktop shortcuts from for example web pages, I have to wait until the next time I install a program to see if it did anything for that - will report back soon.

EDIT - So, nope, it's not working - and I just found out something much worse... If I save a new document to the desktop - which I do fairly often while working on something before moving it somewhere else to file it permanently - the new document also gets saved in the upper left corner, moving all the existing icons down. What a piece of junk...

EDIT #2 - Hmm somehow what I wrote previously did not get posted. I seem to have figured out what the problem is - it's a glitch in auto-arrange. It's not enabled by default, but somehow it's confused. If I check it to turn it on , then uncheck it again, this seems to have fixed the behavior. Now new files saved to the desktop go obediently to the end of the line like they should. Will see if it survives a restart. NO, IT DOESN'T... Simply confirms my opinion that Win 11 is not ready for prime time. Seems a lot more like amateur hour.


Found another interesting Office-related glitch just now:
Background - I have some Word document templates that have a typeface in the header that is scaled 110%. I often need to create PDF's from these documents. Previous versions of Office and Windows 8.1/10 had no problem with this, but now that one line of text just goes nuts in the PDF. So I resigned myself to editing the templates and setting the scaling back to 100%, which solves the problem.

Problem:
Previously, to open a Word template to edit, one right-clicked the template file and chose "Open" from the context menu - which opened the actual template file instead of a new blank document based on that template. The new "compact" context menu in Win11 doesn't work like that anymore. Doing the above via the compact context menu "Open" item now does exactly the same as "New" - it opens a new blank document based on the template, not the template file itself. One now has to click on "Show more options" and find the "Open" item in the long original context menu to open a template directly... So something is not hooked up correctly here.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    i7 12700KF
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime Z690-P
    Memory
    32 Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus Geforce RTX 3060 12Gb
    Sound Card
    -
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x 4K monitors
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160 (x2)
    Hard Drives
    1 Tb WD NVMe primary (Windows)
    2 Tb Crucial SSD secondary (data)
    PSU
    750W Enermac Marblebron
    Case
    Coolermaster MB600L
    Cooling
    be quiet! Dark Rock 4
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    Fast
    Browser
    Various
Here are some Windows 11 tweaks that may help...

 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Home ♦♦♦22631.3374 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® [May 2020]
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    Asus Pro WS X570-ACE (BIOS 4702)
    Memory
    G.Skill (F4-3200C14D-16GTZKW)
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA RTX 2070 (08G-P4-2171-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC1220P / ALC S1220A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U3011 30"
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2x Samsung 860 EVO 500GB,
    WD 4TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    WD 8TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    DRW-24B1ST CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling 750W Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Cooler Master ATCS 840 Tower
    Cooling
    CM Hyper 212 EVO (push/pull)
    Keyboard
    Ducky DK9008 Shine II Blue LED
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-100
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox (latest)
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Internet Security
    Other Info
    Speakers: Klipsch Pro Media 2.1
  • Operating System
    Windows XP Pro 32bit w/SP3
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® (not in use)
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (OC'd @ 3.2Ghz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
    Memory
    TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX (2 x 1GB, DDR2 800)
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SSC
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic G90FB Black 19" Professional (CRT)
    Screen Resolution
    up to 2048 x 1536
    Hard Drives
    WD 36GB 10,000rpm Raptor SATA
    Seagate 80GB 7200rpm SATA
    Lite-On LTR-52246S CD/RW
    Lite-On LH-18A1P CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Generic Beige case, 80mm fans
    Cooling
    ZALMAN 9500A 92mm CPU Cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-BT96a
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keybooard 200
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox 3.x ??
    Antivirus
    Symantec (Norton)
    Other Info
    Still assembled, still runs. Haven't turned it on for 13 years?
@chmillman

I can confirm this is happening on my PC too.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy dv7
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000 & Nvidia GeForce GT 635M
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Crucial MX500 on bay 1.
    1 TB Seagate HDD on bay 2.
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    i7 12700KF
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime Z690-P
    Memory
    32 Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus Geforce RTX 3060 12Gb
    Sound Card
    -
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x 4K monitors
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160 (x2)
    Hard Drives
    1 Tb WD NVMe primary (Windows)
    2 Tb Crucial SSD secondary (data)
    PSU
    750W Enermac Marblebron
    Case
    Coolermaster MB600L
    Cooling
    be quiet! Dark Rock 4
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    Fast
    Browser
    Various
Separation of separate files/running program instances as separate tabs in the taskbar - I read that this is no longer a setting available in the normal Windows interface - is there a registry hack or a third-party add on somewhere to do this? It's really stupid, I have 2 27" 4K screens, and Windows 11 is acting like I'm working on a smartphone in that respect. I generally have a half dozen programs and several files open spread across both monitors, and now I have to go hover over the taskbar, wait for the preview and pick out the one I want. I am currently using Start11 to bring back a Windows 8.1/10 like start screen with tiles (works great!), but it can't enforce separate tabs on the taskbar. StartAllBack appears to be able to do that from what I've seen, but you can't do tiles with it...
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus TUF Gaming (2024)
    CPU
    i7 13650HX
    Memory
    16GB DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Cooling
    2× Arc Flow Fans, 4× exhaust vents, 5× heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
  • Operating System
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Medion S15450
    CPU
    i5 1135G7
    Memory
    16GB DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    2TB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
I'm on 21h2 2200.376. Adding icons to the desktop is the same as it always was. New program shortcuts go to the next available position on left hand side of screen. If I right click any empty spot on desktop and add new document, it positions the icon where ever I clicked. It's always worked that way for me. I have 'view' set as medium icons-align to grid-auto arrange is OFF.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3296
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7080
    CPU
    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
    Motherboard
    DELL 0J37VM
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1tb Solidigm m.2 +256gb ssd+512 gb usb m.2 sata
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell Premium
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 22H2 19045.3930
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 9020
    CPU
    i7-4770
    Memory
    24 gb
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    256 gb Toshiba BG4 M.2 NVE SSB and 1 tb hdd
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell factory
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Internet Speed
    still not telling
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium

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