Tips on preserving your Program Manager

JAKARTA (JP): Have you ever wondered why your Windows Program Manager looks different each time you start Windows? This is a classic problem, but I still see many Windows users tearing at their hair trying to figure out what is happening.

Windows' native Program Manager has an option called "Save Settings on Exit", which you can turn on or off. The default state after Windows is installed is on. As long as it is on, Program Manager will record the settings of Windows each time you exit.

If you have created a mess by dragging icons everywhere in the folders and moving the folders around on the desktop, the messy state will be recorded. The next time you start Windows, you'll be greeted by the mess.

To avoid the situation, disable the "Save Settings on Exit" feature. Click on the Option menu item, and click the option to get rid of the check mark. After that, arrange Program Manager the way you like it best and then save the settings by holding down the Shift key and clicking on File and then Exit. Don't forget to hold down the Shift key, since otherwise you'll be thrown out of Windows into the C:

If you share your Windows machine with co-workers, secretly create a backup directory and copy all the *.INI and *.GRP files from WINDOWS subdirectory into it. If somebody still ventures to change your Program Manager settings, just copy all these files back into WINDOWS subdirectory and restart Windows.

-- Zatni Arbi