Launch folder windows in a separate process ... or not

[null]

x-no-archive: yes

I went into Control Panel | Folder Options | View, and enabled the
"Launch folder windows in a separate process" option. I rebooted. I
verified that the DWORD value "SeparateProcess" under
"HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" was
set to 1.

But still, when I open folder windows, I have only one Explorer.exe
process. And if that process crashes, hangs, or is manually killed, the
whole shell (not surprisingly) goes down.

I even went to
"HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" and
added a new "SeparateProcess" value there, just to see if it would make
a difference. It didn't.

What's the deal here?

 

[Richard Urban]

Nothing is said about being launched in it's own process. It says, "Open
each folder in it's own Window."

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[David Candy]

Look on the view tab.


HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\BrowseNewProcess
BrowseNewProcess="yes"

This is the old setting that Group Policy set. It's still read.

This one doesn't appear to be read
DesktopProcess
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Data type Range Default value
REG_DWORD 0 | 1 0

Description
Determines whether the components of Windows 2000 Explorer run in a single process or in two separate processes.

Value Meaning
0 All of the components of Windows Explorer (Explorer, Desktop, and Taskbar) run as separate threads in a single, multithreaded process called Explorer.exe.
1 All instances of Windows Explorer run in one process and the Desktop and Taskbar run in a separate process. Both processes are called Explorer.exe.

Note

Windows 2000 does not add this entry to the registry. You can add it by editing the registry or by using a program that edits the registry.

 

[David Candy]

SeperateProcess is also read. But not for all ways of starting a folder window. EG A shell object shortcut to My Comp it is not read (possibly caused by the way it starts a window) while a normal start does read this value.

 

[Richard Urban]

Thank you David. I forgot that one was there. I have been reusing the same
window for so long that I stopped using that option years ago.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

"David Candy" <.> wrote in message
Look on the view tab.


HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\BrowseNewProcess
BrowseNewProcess="yes"

This is the old setting that Group Policy set. It's still read.

This one doesn't appear to be read
DesktopProcess
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Data type Range Default value
REG_DWORD 0 | 1 0

Description
Determines whether the components of Windows 2000 Explorer run in a single
process or in two separate processes.

Value Meaning
0 All of the components of Windows Explorer (Explorer, Desktop, and
Taskbar) run as separate threads in a single, multithreaded process called
Explorer.exe.
1 All instances of Windows Explorer run in one process and the Desktop
and Taskbar run in a separate process. Both processes are called
Explorer.exe.

Note

Windows 2000 does not add this entry to the registry. You can add it by
editing the registry or by using a program that edits the registry.

 

[null]

I quoted the setting name exactly: "Launch folder windows in a separate
process"

 

[null]

I also know for certain that in the past, I've seen multiple
explorer.exe processes running. I have NO idea what has changed.