
DeskSave 7.0 
(c) 1998-2007 Thorsten Blauhut

DeskSave is a user-friendly tool to save and restore the icon layout of the desktop.

Features:
- Saves the icon layout according to current user and screen resolution
- Restoring works properly, even if 'Auto Arrange' or 'Align to Grid' (Windows XP) is activated
- Accepts command line parameters
- Auto restore at resolution change or program start  
- Starts with Windows, if desired 
- Import and export of layout and settings
- Undo after restoration
- Provides backups of current and saved layouts
- Supports English and German language
- Optional shell extension for the desktop, thereby easy access to functions without background process  
- Very small size (DeskSave.exe: 68 KB, Shell extension: 72 KB)
- No setup routine, just unpack the archive and DeskSave is ready
- Easy deletion of all saved layouts and all settings, DeskSave is completely removable  
- Supports Windows 9x/NT/2000 and XP


DeskSave can be run in two different modes:
1. When starting WITHOUT command line parameters, it creates a system tray icon by which its menu can be accessed.
2. When starting WITH command line parameters, there will be no system tray icon and DeskSave terminates immediately
   after execution. (With the exception that command line parameters include /i, which creates a system tray icon.)

In addition, DeskSave optionally installs a shell extension so that its functions can be reached through the context
menu of the desktop.


1. Starting without command line parameters

By clicking the system tray icon the following menu is opened:

'Save layout'
'Restore layout'
'Restore backup'
'Import...'
'Export...'
'Options...'
'Info...'
'Exit DeskSave'

'Save layout':
The icon layout of the current screen resolution is saved in the current user's part of the registry.
This item is enabled only, if the current desktop icon layout differs from the currently saved layout.
Before saving the layout to the registry, DeskSave creates a timestamped backup of the currently saved layout for later
restoration in case of mistake.

'Restore layout':
If a layout was saved for the current screen resolution (otherwise this menu item is disabled), each icon on the desktop
for which an entry can be found is moved to the saved position. 'Auto Arrange' and 'Align to Grid' (Windows XP) are turned
off before restoration takes place. If desired 'Align to Grid' is turned on again after restoration, whereby the icon
layout may change again!
It is understood that 'Auto Arrange' is not turned on again!
Before restoring the layout, DeskSave creates a timestamped backup of the current desktop layout for later
restoration in case of mistake.
In addition, if 'Undo after restore' is activated, DeskSave allows direct undoing the restoration.

'Restore backup'
Allows the return to a previous icon layout in case the layout was mixed up by e.g. importing the wrong DeskSave file.
A submenu opens, where the ten most recently created layout backups can be found, ordered by time of creation.
There are three different types of backup:
S: The backup was created before saving the layout to the registry and represents a previously saved layout.
R: The backup was created before restoring the layout and represents a previously visible desktop layout.
I: The backup was created before importing data from a file and represents a previously saved layout.
The menu items are enabled only, if the current desktop icon layout differs from the particular backup.

'Import...'
Imports a DeskSave file containing settings and layout information.
Before importing the file, DeskSave creates a timestamped backup of the currently saved layout for each resolution.
If there is an icon layout for the current screen resolution in the DeskSave file which differs from the currently visible
layout, DeskSave asks for permission to restore this layout, which makes sense in most cases.

'Export...'
Exports settings and layout information to a DeskSave file, possibly available backups are NOT exported!

'Options...':
	'Auto restore at':
        DeskSave can automatically restore the icon layout when started and when screen resolution changes. There will 
        NO backup be created in these cases! 		

        'Confirmation before':
        It is recommended to at least activate 'confirmation before saving', in order not to overwrite a layout by mistake.

        'Additional':
        'Start with Windows':
        DeskSave starts after Windows has booted up.

        'Undo after restore':
        DeskSave allows direct undoing the restoration.

        'Notification after saving':
        Self-explanatory, to be unchecked, if no user interaction is desired.

        'Turn on/off shell extension':
        If the shell extension is turned on, DeskSave is accessible through the	context menu of the desktop.

        'Clean registry':
        Deletes all saved layouts and all settings. DeskSave terminates afterwards.

        'Language':
        Choose between English or German.


2. Starting with command line parameters

DeskSave can be started with the following command line parameters:

/s: Saves the icon layout of the current screen resolution in the current user's part of the registry
/r: Restores the icon layout. Each icon for which an entry can be found is moved to the saved position.	
/i: A system tray icon is created.

A file can be passed as well, which is imported right after DeskSave has started. The import runs without user interaction,
the imported layout is automatically restored. If the file does not exist, the parameter is ignored. Environment variables
such as %USERPROFILE% may be used within the filename. 

All actions invoked by command line parameters are executed WITHOUT prior confirmation, no matter which settings have been
made. If the settings are to be considered anyway, the parameter '/d' has to be passed as well.
After a successful execution 0 is returned as exit code.


Shell extension:

There are NO administrator privileges needed to use DeskSave, except for TURNING ON or OFF the shell extension. Once
the shell extension is turned on, it works WITHOUT administrator privileges!

The shell extension integrates the DeskSave menu into the desktop's context menu, which is accessed by right click on the
desktop's background.

The options dialog reached from the shell extension is reduced to the appropriate options.

If only DeskSave's shell extension is used (i.e. no system tray icon is visible), auto restore at resolution change of
course does not work!

In order to make the shell extension work, 'DeskSaveShellEx.dll' has to be in the same folder as 'DeskSave.exe', which is
the case after the archive is unpacked.


Miscellaneous:

DeskSave saves the icon layouts according to the current screen resolution in the current user's part of the registry:
'HKCU/Software/TBlauhut/DeskSave/x*y'

The registry has to be saved before being manipulated!

There is a known issue, for which at the moment there is no solution:
If prior to restoration the icons were auto arranged or arranged by name, type etc., they will at first be positioned
correctly, but after a desktop refresh or booting up, windows will move them back to the old, automatically assigned places.
There is a workaround for this problem:
After restoration, use the mouse to move at least one icon, then all icon positions are fixed again.

DeskSave 7.0 is freeware and may be used and copied free of charge.
For detailed licensing information see 'License.txt'!


Thorsten Blauhut
info@desksave.de
http://www.desksave.de
