Note that this is an old post. Windows isn’t so bad with this these days (2022).
All versions of Windows have had an annoying feature whereby changing the screen resolution – and that includes when you’re updating your graphics drivers – the layout of your icons gets messed up. It’s already happened a couple of times with Windows 10, so I did a bit of scouting to see if there was anything out there which can save the layout and then restore it if needs be.
With Windows 10 being so new, I didn’t expect to find anything specifically written for it. But I got lucky, and found a small utility called ReIcon.
It runs without having to be installed so it doesn’t make any changes to your system. It downloads as a .zip file containing both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, and all you need to do is copy the ReIcon_x64.exe file to a folder on your hard drive. When you run it, it creates two additional .ini files in the folder you saved it to (for that reason it’s better not to copy it straight to your desktop).
When you run it you get the window shown above. All you have to do to save your layout is click the Save Icon Layout button (the one which looks like a disk), and it creates a file. If your icons get messed up, click the Restore Icon Layout button (it looks like a clock face) and they all go back to their original positions.
It works with all Windows versions from XP through to Windows 10. It’s free, too.