Icon names not displaying in Documents folder

[Larry]

(I sent this yesterday but it didn't show up in the group.)

A weird problem.

In a friend's computer with Windows Vista, the names for the icons in the
Documents folder have disappeared. The icon of each file or folder
displays, but not the name of the file or folder which normally appears
below the icon.

This is only true in the view setting for medium icon size, Large icon size,
etc. In the List view, the names still display normally.

Also, this is only true in the Documents folder. In all other folders, the
icons display normally.

Here's another oddity: when the Sort view is by file type, instead of the
icons being continuous, where each file type comes to an end, that row of
icons comes to an end and the next file type begins in the next row.

Any ideas as to what could cause this?

It's a HP laptop with Vista Home Basic.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Hi Larry,

Open the folder in question, right-click on an empty area in the folder window, click View, and uncheck "Hide File Names" option. If the option does not exist, see here for an alternate method:

File names may be hidden when the view option of a folder is set to Icons in Windows Vista:
http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/138/1/

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


(I sent this yesterday but it didn't show up in the group.)

A weird problem.

In a friend's computer with Windows Vista, the names for the icons in the
Documents folder have disappeared. The icon of each file or folder
displays, but not the name of the file or folder which normally appears
below the icon.

This is only true in the view setting for medium icon size, Large icon size,
etc. In the List view, the names still display normally.

Also, this is only true in the Documents folder. In all other folders, the
icons display normally.

Here's another oddity: when the Sort view is by file type, instead of the
icons being continuous, where each file type comes to an end, that row of
icons comes to an end and the next file type begins in the next row.

Any ideas as to what could cause this?

It's a HP laptop with Vista Home Basic.

 

[Larry]

Thank you, these steps worked:

From the Views dropdown list, select Details
Press and hold the SHIFT key, and select Medium Icons (or Large Icons) from
the Views dropdown list
Close and re-open the folder.

But can you tell me what is the purpose of hiding the icon names? Why would
anyone want that?

And second, this seems to be an undocumented fix. Is the fact that this
happened at all due to some glitch in Vista?

Larry



Hi Larry,

Open the folder in question, right-click on an empty area in the folder
window, click View, and uncheck "Hide File Names" option. If the option does
not exist, see here for an alternate method:

File names may be hidden when the view option of a folder is set to Icons in
Windows Vista:
http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/138/1/

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


(I sent this yesterday but it didn't show up in the group.)

A weird problem.

In a friend's computer with Windows Vista, the names for the icons in the
Documents folder have disappeared. The icon of each file or folder
displays, but not the name of the file or folder which normally appears
below the icon.

This is only true in the view setting for medium icon size, Large icon size,
etc. In the List view, the names still display normally.

Also, this is only true in the Documents folder. In all other folders, the
icons display normally.

Here's another oddity: when the Sort view is by file type, instead of the
icons being continuous, where each file type comes to an end, that row of
icons comes to an end and the next file type begins in the next row.

Any ideas as to what could cause this?

It's a HP laptop with Vista Home Basic.

 

[Larry]

I guess the purpose of the Hide Name feature is only for the Pictures
folder, because picture icons often show enough graphic informaiton about
themselves that the name is not necessary.

But I still would like to understand why this happened in the Documents
folder.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

No idea how this happened, Larry.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I guess the purpose of the Hide Name feature is only for the Pictures
folder, because picture icons often show enough graphic informaiton about
themselves that the name is not necessary.

But I still would like to understand why this happened in the Documents
folder.