What keeps messing up the order of my icons on my desktop?

If you right-click on your desktop, you should get a list of options. I use “Align to grid” and that keeps them in place.

they get scrambled because when they play a game the screen resolution is changed and Windows doesn’t like that, the above mention should work though…(icons are so 1990 :P)

If @Tobotron is right (and he probably is), then the icons within a large square or rectangular area, probably in the upper left part of the screen, should always remain the way they’re supposed to be arranged. Only the lower and the rightmost icons should get moved upwards and to the left. Because the resolution change reduces the desktop size and everything in the space that’s cut off is crammed in the space that’s still there.
Does that happen?

If you’d rather have them arranged the way you want, try placing the icons and then logout. Login again and see if the icons stay in place after the kids play their games.

I don’t think the desktop is saved until you logout. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so because I had one icon that kept moving around after playing a game but it’s stopped doing that since I finally rebooted (I usually hibernate).

I admit it, I’m doing it. BUAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!
Seriously, though, it happens to me too. I just chalk it up to a windows quirk.

@Tobotron icons are so 1990’s? You don’t use them? I want to be up to date…So?

@valdasta icons did come out a long time ago about time we found a replacement, like voice recog maybe? But yeh my desktop is as icon free as possible although I do use a dock…(fingers crossed doesn’t count lol)

http://imgur.com/kAV6P.png

You can download and install the tool fences to bring permanent order to your desktop. It creates lockable containers on your desktop in which your Icons can be put.

Fences isn’t always all that permanent. Although I did lock ‘em once and could never unlock them. But that one icon that I was talking about that kept moving around was inside a Fence.

I’m picky about my icon placement and haven’t yet tried any tools like fences mentioned by @ragingloli. I align to grid as part of my arrangement but then take a screenshot for if I have to rebuild as I have over 100 icons on my desktop

@anartist You, uh… might want to have a look at Fences.

You might also want to put some of those icons together in folders. (100 is a tad much, don’t you think?)

@Fyrius With Fences you don’t need folders, really. Fences put “windows” on your desktop (that can be transparent or translucent, with or without a title bar) so if you drop a bunch of icons in it you get a scroll bar when you mouse over it, if it fills the Fence (which can also be re-sized).

You can also make multiple Fences for different things (games, utilities, whatever). It’s really quite handy.

Sounds neat.

And it’s free.

Sounds doubly neat.

If I were a Windows user I’d want it.

I am going with the fences…thanks a latte, all.

Downloaded “fences”...very cool. Thanks again.

You should create a separate account in Windows for your kids. Then your icons would be safe. In fact, your account should be Administrator and the kids account should be just user. It would be better for security too:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/279783