Let me guess, you have the folder in question in Details mode right?
You cannot use Auto Arrange in Details mode. Why? Because the Auto Arrange
does not SORT the items like Arrange by Date, Name, etc. What Auto Arrange
does is to move the icons and snap them to a gird so that they are in nice
neat rows and columns. Since in Details mode the icons are forcibly set to
nice neat rows and columns (you can't move them about willy-nilly), there is
no need for Auto Arrange. You'll notice that there is a separator between
the Sort functions and the Arrange functions (Name, Date, Size, Type and
Groups, Auto, Grid), that is there to distinguish the two types of
arrangement. Technically one is sorting, the other is arranging, but
Microsoft probably didn't want to make a new menu entry.
HTH
--
Alec S.
alec @ synetech . cjb . net
e