Cannot rename, delete or move folders with Explorer

[Karl Scheibelhofer]

since recently, my Windows XP installation (German with all service packs
and updates) on my IBM THinkPad T42 shows a strange effect. i cannot rename,
move or delete folders using the Explorer. from the command line, everything
works as usual. it does not matter where in the file system i try this or
under which user account. it does not even work if a log on as
administrator. the really bad thing is, there is no error message or entry
in the event log. for example, if i create a new folder, it just gets the
name "Neuer Ordner" (which is german for "New Folder"), because i cannot
rename it after the Explorer created it. there is really no sign of an error
anywhere. i click on the folder which i want to rename, press F2, type in
the new name, press ENTER and it still has its old name.

i checked the access rights for the file, but they are all right. i have
full control. i even checked this using the evective access rights tab.
since all commands work from the command line, it cannot be a problem with
the access rights i guess.

i even tried to install service pack 2 again, but it did not help either. i
have really no idea what else i could try.
i also compared the files explorer.exe and shell32.dll with files of another
system which works, but these files are identical.

i haven't installed any new software right before this happened. i also
checked the system for viruses, but there are none.

any idea?

arethere some entries in the registry which may be wrong?

Karl

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

since recently, my Windows XP installation (German with all service packs
and updates) on my IBM THinkPad T42 shows a strange effect. i cannot rename,
move or delete folders using the Explorer. from the command line, everything
works as usual. it does not matter where in the file system i try this or
under which user account. it does not even work if a log on as
administrator. the really bad thing is, there is no error message or entry
in the event log. for example, if i create a new folder, it just gets the
name "Neuer Ordner" (which is german for "New Folder"), because i cannot
rename it after the Explorer created it. there is really no sign of an error
anywhere. i click on the folder which i want to rename, press F2, type in
the new name, press ENTER and it still has its old name.

i checked the access rights for the file, but they are all right. i have
full control. i even checked this using the evective access rights tab.
since all commands work from the command line, it cannot be a problem with
the access rights i guess.

i even tried to install service pack 2 again, but it did not help either. i
have really no idea what else i could try.
i also compared the files explorer.exe and shell32.dll with files of another
system which works, but these files are identical.

i haven't installed any new software right before this happened. i also
checked the system for viruses, but there are none.

any idea?

arethere some entries in the registry which may be wrong?

Karl

Start a Command Prompt, then try your commands from
there and see what message you get:

To rename a folder: ren "Old Folder Name" "New Folder Name"
To delete a folder: rd /s /q "Folder Name"
To move a folder to the root directory: move "Folder Name" \

 

[Karl Scheibelhofer]

Start a Command Prompt, then try your commands from

there and see what message you get:

To rename a folder: ren "Old Folder Name" "New Folder Name"
To delete a folder: rd /s /q "Folder Name"
To move a folder to the root directory: move "Folder Name" \

thanks for the reply, but from the comman line, everything works (rename,
move, delete). just from the explorer nothing happens.
i cannot even do the same operations (rename,move, delete folder) on a
connected network drive (i have the required permissions).

Karl

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

thanks for the reply, but from the comman line, everything works (rename,
move, delete). just from the explorer nothing happens.
i cannot even do the same operations (rename,move, delete folder) on a
connected network drive (i have the required permissions).

Karl

This means that you have a problem with explorer. I suggst
you run sfc.exe (System File Check). I would also scan the
PC with an external virus scanner, e.g. on www.antivirus.com
("free online scan").

 

[Karl Scheibelhofer]

This means that you have a problem with explorer. I suggst
you run sfc.exe (System File Check). I would also scan the
PC with an external virus scanner, e.g. on www.antivirus.com
("free online scan").

meanwhile a could find the reason for the problem. there was a shell
extension handler of some program which seemed to cause the problem. after a
hint from a colleague, i tried to look for such extension handlers in the
registry. i found them under
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers. i have to find out
which software installed these handlers with the names AES.... after i
removed these handlers, the explorer could rename,delete and move folders
again.

it was quite tough to find and solve this problem. even applying service
packs again and restoring the system to a previous system restore point did
not help.

Karl

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

meanwhile a could find the reason for the problem. there was a shell
extension handler of some program which seemed to cause the problem. after a
hint from a colleague, i tried to look for such extension handlers in the
registry. i found them under
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers. i have to find out
which software installed these handlers with the names AES.... after i
removed these handlers, the explorer could rename,delete and move folders
again.

it was quite tough to find and solve this problem. even applying service
packs again and restoring the system to a previous system restore point did
not help.

Karl

Perhaps this one?
http://www.hsz-t.ch/hsz-t/hszt-site/publikationen/hauszeitung/hszinfo01_3.pdf

 

[Karl Scheibelhofer]

what has this news-paper to do with this problem?

Karl

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

It speaks about AES and Shell Extension Handlers.

 

[Karl Scheibelhofer]

did you ever have a look at this document? it seems to have nothing to do
with this topic.

Karl

 

[Guest]

I've been having the exact same problem in Windows XP Media Center Edition
2005. I found that when I renamed a folder or file or created a new folder
with a name, I could back out of the folder then return to it and the new
name would update.

I also found an article on the Microsoft Knowledge Base (do a Knowledge Base
keyword search for "kbprb KB266990" without the quotation marks) concerning
this problem. The solution offered was to hit F2 after renaming the folder
in order to refresh the window. This works, however, no other permanent
solution if offered to actually fix the problem and it also didn't mention it
was a problem with Windows XP.

Please let me know if you've found an actual solution. Thanks.