Research has shown that consistent placement of the buttons is more important than labels, icons, or colour of the button.
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From these results, we inferred the location of the icon is more important than the visual imagery. People remember where things are, not what they look like.
This was also the reasoning behind Windows 7's new taskbar with pinned applications, and Office's Ribbon.
I think that your example should follow the same reasoning. Personally, I would be frustrated if the buttons' positions changed every time I clicked something or between sessions.
Also, the lack of a button I'm used to could make me wonder whether that feature was removed from the product altogether, and not just disabled at that precise moment.
The disabled buttons should be greyed out, even if barely visible, and the active buttons should stay where they've been.