Sorry Joe but I have no idea how to achieve that for Windows. And I'm not sure Windows records the icon positioning. It is possible on MacOs but that's a little tricky; an approach I've used for many years. I'm away at present so I am unable to test how your objective can be achieved for Windows. Besides, Windows approach for icons is notably different to MacOs. Microsoft copied the icon concept from Apple (like many other things), but did it in a clumsy way.

Edit: Check if either your Windows system or external drive manager or archive manager has the ability to clone your personal computer account onto your external drive. In theory this should maintain any possible Desktop folder settings.