Restore previous folder windows at logon

[Guest]

In Folder Options -> View there is a very interesting feature called *Restore
previous folder windows at logon* which I checked. However, there is
something odd with the thing. If I open the window C:\MyFolder\testfolder by
first opening C:\MyFolder and then by clicking \testfolder then I can use
the BACK button to go back from C:\MyFolder\testfolder to C:\MyFolder .
So, that system window carries a history with it that enables the use of the
BACK button.
If I logoff and than logon again the folder C:\MyFolder\testfolder appears
but the BACK button has become inactive. Hence, I cannot go back to
C:\MyFolder\ !!!
It looks like the window history is gone. That is not obvious at all and
even very illogical - remembering/storing the window's sequence history in a
window just prior to logoff is what would make the feature *Restore previous
folder windows at logon* so interesting.

Can you tell me how to fix it so that the window's sequence history is
stored and re-established after logon?

thanks

 

[Nightowl]

So, that system window carries a history with it that enables the use
of the BACK button.

If I logoff and than logon again the folder C:\MyFolder\testfolder appears
but the BACK button has become inactive. Hence, I cannot go back to
C:\MyFolder\ !!!

Well, no, because the "history" persists only while that particular
window instance is open. By logging off or shutting down, you have
closed it and so lost the history. All the "Restore previous folder
windows" option is offering is to helpfully remember what folders you
were using when you left off. It will open the same folder(s) for you,
but in *new* windows. . . which (logically!) will not have the "history"
of the old ones.

It looks like the window history is gone. That is not obvious at all and
even very illogical - remembering/storing the window's sequence history in a
window just prior to logoff is what would make the feature *Restore previous
folder windows at logon* so interesting.

It seems *very* logical to me and the same logic is used all over
Windows. Say you open a Word document, make some changes, then use the
Undo and/or Redo feature -- possible because Word is keeping a "history"
of your changes Then you close Word. Now if you re-start the program
you can quickly open the same document again from the list of recent
files, but there won't be anything in the Undo/Redo lists. That makes
sense because no changes have yet been made *in this session*, do you
see?

In your folder example above, the folder window is a separate entity
from any other window, even if the second window were showing the same
folder Open a window and go to Somefolder. Click about, go into
sub-folders, go back, forward, up one level, etc. Clicking on Back will
retrace your steps, as you expect. Close the window. Now open the same
starting folder in a second window. Your "history" will not be there.
I'm a bit puzzled that you seem to think it ought to be. . .

Can you tell me how to fix it so that the window's sequence history is
stored and re-established after logon?

I'm afraid it just doesn't work that way.

 

[Guest]

From the technical point of view there should not be a problem to make a
distinction between a user (application) closing a system window and the
system logoff closing a system window. If the system, just prior to logoff,
can store the position and size of the system window, then why not the
*latest* history string (starting from C:\ .... or from MyDocuments).
The reason why I don't use the /Restore previous folder windows at logon/
feature is because of the missing history.
Thanks for the info.

 

[Guest]

I just discovered a *work around* for the issue of the folder's history. One
can go up the path back to the root directory via the UP button, but, ...
this has the very unexpected effect the the function of the BACK and FORWARD
buttons are reversed - not really so nice.

 

[Nightowl]

I just discovered a *work around* for the issue of the folder's history. One
can go up the path back to the root directory via the UP button, but, ...
this has the very unexpected effect the the function of the BACK and FORWARD
buttons are reversed - not really so nice.

They're not reversed, Johan. . . if you've gone "Up" the folder tree
then pressing "back" is going to take you back where you were, i.e. to a
sub-folder, and "Forward" up to the higher level again. Forward isn't
always "Down" and Back doesn't necessarily mean "Up" -- it all depends
on where you start from.

 

[Guest]

Yes, I see the reasoning, but nonetheless, the "other-way-around" functioning
of the Back/Forward button is unusual if in other windows the function is
working as usual. Some newly opened windows have a "normal" Back/Forward
functioning while other windows that opened automatically after startup give
the *impression* to have a *reverse* Back/Forward functioning buttons.
Anyhow, as it is implemented in WinXP the *Restore previous folder windows
at logon* is definitely not my favorite feature.

I'm off now, it's after midnight.
thanks for the info

 

[Nightowl]

Yes, I see the reasoning, but nonetheless, the "other-way-around" functioning
of the Back/Forward button is unusual if in other windows the function is
working as usual. Some newly opened windows have a "normal" Back/Forward
functioning while other windows that opened automatically after startup give
the *impression* to have a *reverse* Back/Forward functioning buttons.
Anyhow, as it is implemented in WinXP the *Restore previous folder windows
at logon* is definitely not my favorite feature.

Hi Johan

I don't seem to be explaining very clearly. . . let me have another try.

When you use phrases like "other-way-around" and "in other windows the
function is working as usual", it sounds as if you think that "back" and
"forward" have a fixed meaning corresponding to up or down the folder
tree. They don't. And a newly-opened window won't have *any*
Back/Forward function until you have moved on to another folder! That
was your original complaint, that a new window didn't have the "history"
of the old one.

Think of the buttons instead as *retracing your steps*. Back will take
you one step backwards to the previous folder you were looking at;
Forward will return you one step in the other direction, i.e. back where
you were. So:

If you start at C:\ and move to a subfolder, clicking Back will take you
back to C:\ (or up the folder tree), clicking Forward will return you to
the subfolder (or down).

If you start in a subfolder then move to C:\, clicking Back will take
you back to the subfolder (or down the tree), clicking Forward will
return you to C:\ (or up). It's not reversed or the other way around,
it's just retracing your movements in the order you made them, do you
see?

It's late here also (2:35am)

 

[Guest]

You just implicitly mentioned the problem. One can have 2 windows explorer
windows where the back button of the first window pushes you up the folder
tree, and a second window where the back button pushes you down along exactly
the same folder tree. Sorry to say but that is in my modest view as an
average user not very logical or consistent.
regards

 

[Nightowl]

You just implicitly mentioned the problem. One can have 2 windows explorer
windows where the back button of the first window pushes you up the folder
tree, and a second window where the back button pushes you down along exactly
the same folder tree. Sorry to say but that is in my modest view as an
average user not very logical or consistent.

Well, I've explained why and how. . . all I can say, also as a user, is
that it seems to me eminently logical. If the buttons were to function
as you seem to want, they'd be labelled Up and Down.