Vista 64 bit Regedit question explorer opens NEW window

[StephenNapper]

Hi all,

I have been managing with a bug in Vista 64bit for a month or three and it's starting to drive me scatty.

Every time I re set Folder and Search options in (Windows) Explorer it simply ignores me and opens a new window every time I double click on a folder. I know I should be able to edit in Regedit and even found this code

%SystemRoot%\Explorer.exe /separate,/e,/idlist,%I,%L

in Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\explorer\command

NOT sure if this is the right 'section' of the registry or forum but after googling all morning your kind of my last hope! I believe I need to change the "separate" to something else, but what???

Thanks in advance

Steve Napper

 

[linney]

What do you want Explorer to do when you double click on a Folder?

In Folder Options/ General/ Browse folders, what have you got set in the "Open each folder in the same window"

Have you tried the "Restore Defaults" button on the same page?

Have you checked from Safe Mode for this problem? After a visit to Safe Mode, even if you do nothing in there, a quirky behavior from just going there is that when you return to Normal Mode you may find your folders all open in the same window.

Have you tested with another user to see if they have a similar problem?

Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right-click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking. Try it first by not checking either box (this will run it in a Read-only mode) to see if it flags any hard drive or file problems. If it does, restart it by ticking both boxes, and rerun it to allow it to attempt to fix any found problems.

I am sorry if I have misunderstood your question.

 

[StephenNapper]

Linney,

Thanks for the tips.

Yes had / have checked the options "open folder in same window " and restored defaults.

Have run checkdisk and no errors, thankfully, and also entered Safe Mode and come out and it's not improved things - thanks for tip though!

Have found numerous posts on 32 bit systems regarding this widely acknowledged bug, but all refer me to sections of the registry I don't have!

I don't have another user to check with. I could set one up, copy settings and delete new user if you think this would help. If so what settings do I copy?

As regards what I'm trying to do. I'm wanting to 'explore' the folder I double click on in the right windows explorer pane, as opposed to open in a new window as happens now.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply

Yours

Steve Napper

 

[linney]

I wouldn't worry just yet about copy user profiles over, just create a new user and test with that user first.

If it turned out that your user profile was corrupted (it may not be) then these articles cover the fixing of that problem.

Fix a corrupted user profile

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Fix-a-corrupted-user-profile

Fix a corrupted user profile

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/769495bf-035c-4764-a538-c9b05c22001e1033.mspx

811151 - How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811151

Description of Windows Easy Transfer for Windows Vista

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928635

Another problem might be that your user has faulty access permissions throughout the Registry and perhaps in other parts of Windows which is nullifying your attempts to make changes. Similarly settings made in Group Policy (concerning Explorer) may be having the same effect? Are you on a Domain, or is this a standalone machine?

How do I restore security settings to the default settings?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313222/#appliesto

Whereas I can't tell you the exact area of the Registry to check, and even if it is a setting in the Registry in the first place, I can recommend a little program that I have used in the past to take a snapshot of the Registry before changes are made in the GUI, and to compare a second snapshot after changes are made, and thereby highlighting what changed in the Registry.

RegShot 1.8.2 Build 20071103

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Registry-Tweak/Reg-Shot.shtml