Display full file name for icons on desktop

Solution 1:

For Windows XP (later versions covered in this post)

The file names are truncated because the icons only have a certain amount of vertical and horizontal area assigned to them.

You may want to check out a little utility named DeskView:

Deskview.exe changes your desktop icons from “large icons” to “small icons.

For later version of Windows

In later versions of Windows, follow the same guide for Windows XP but the Advanced Appearance exists in either:

Control Panel -> Display -> Change color scheme link -> Advanced

Control Panel -> Personalization -> Window Color and Appearance -> Advanced appearance settings...

When you change the size, you must click on apply, clicking OK will not have any affect (until after PC restarts). Also, you need to change the icon spacing.

It should also be noted that, if your screen is totally full of icons then changing the size may not help!