showing (or not) of folders in left pane

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

When I started using XP on here:

In Windows Explorer, I have the left pane showing the tree of folders
(much as it was, by default I think, in Windows 9x).

If I opened a sub-folder by clicking on it in the _right_ pane, rather
than expanding in the left pane, the left pane showed _just_ the
sub-folder I'd opened - as if it was the only sub-folder which the
parent folder contained. If I entered other folders in that parent
folder, they also appeared in the left pane, but all the folders within
the parent folder were never shown in the left pane unless I explicitly
clicked on the [+] to expand it.

Now, if I enter any sub-folder in the right pane, that folder _and all
the others at the same level_ show in the left pane.

What have I (or a Microsoft update or ...?) changed?
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

.... more doomed than a busload of ... enthusiasts on their way to a Private
Frazer convention on a bus whose brakes have just failed as it heads towards a
cliff. - Eddie Mair, Radio Times 20-26 November 2010

 

[Tim Meddick]

I am a little 'hazy' regarding the exact nature of your problem...

I am thinking of two possibilities for what it is you are attempting to
describe ;

1). Explorer shows folders in it's left-pane on starting, but does not
automatically expand sub-folders and needs to have the [+] sign clicked on
in order to show them.

The solution to this is to go to ;

"Control Panel" > "Folder Options" > "View" (tab)

....and scroll down until you find the option : "Display simple folder view
in Explorer's folder-list." ...and make sure that it has a "checkmark" in
the appropriate box.

2). Explorer either starts *without* showing the folder-pane OR, when
right-click > "Explore from here" is selected, on any folder, it opens in a
new window - absent of it's folder-pane.

This latter problem is caused by an incorrect "open" entry for Explorer's
"folder" association.

It should read :

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\Shell\open\command]
@=explorer.exe /e,/idlist,%I,%L


....the important bit being the [/e,] flag, which, when entered on the
command-line as a parameter to [Explorer.exe] makes it open with the
folder-pane visible.

You can also make "Explore from here" the default for opening "folders"

Both checking the command to open "folders" is correct and that "Explore
from here" is made the default command to open "folders", can be done from
;

"Control Panel" > "Folder Options" > "File Types" (tab)

....then scroll down to "Folder" then press on the "Advanced" button then
edit the relevant commands.

Or, again, you can check the associated commands for opening "folders" by
opening [regedit.exe] then navigating to :

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\Shell\open\command]

....and ;

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\Shell\explore\command]

....to check both have the crucial [/e,] flag (as in above example).

And to set the default command to open "folders", set the "default" value,
directly under the "Shell" sub-key, to "explore".

OR, alternatively, click on the link below to start the download of
[folder_reg.zip]
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/fileassoc/folder_reg.zip

Open the zip-file and copy it's contents of a single file [folder_reg.reg]
to your hard-drive and double-click on it and answer [ok] to import the
registry settings.

This will repair the file-association of "Folders" in Win XP.

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

When I started using XP on here:

In Windows Explorer, I have the left pane showing the tree of folders
(much as it was, by default I think, in Windows 9x).

If I opened a sub-folder by clicking on it in the _right_ pane, rather
than expanding in the left pane, the left pane showed _just_ the
sub-folder I'd opened - as if it was the only sub-folder which the parent
folder contained. If I entered other folders in that parent folder, they
also appeared in the left pane, but all the folders within the parent
folder were never shown in the left pane unless I explicitly clicked on
the [+] to expand it.

Now, if I enter any sub-folder in the right pane, that folder _and all
the others at the same level_ show in the left pane.

What have I (or a Microsoft update or ...?) changed?
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985
MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

... more doomed than a busload of ... enthusiasts on their way to a
Private
Frazer convention on a bus whose brakes have just failed as it heads
towards a
cliff. - Eddie Mair, Radio Times 20-26 November 2010

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

I am a little 'hazy' regarding the exact nature of your problem...

I am thinking of two possibilities for what it is you are attempting to
describe ;

1). Explorer shows folders in it's left-pane on starting, but does not
automatically expand sub-folders and needs to have the [+] sign clicked
on in order to show them.

No, that's how I want and have it.
[]

2). Explorer either starts *without* showing the folder-pane OR, when
right-click > "Explore from here" is selected, on any folder, it opens
in a new window - absent of it's folder-pane. []
...the important bit being the [/e,] flag, which, when entered on the
command-line as a parameter to [Explorer.exe] makes it open with the
folder-pane visible.

[]
No, this is not the problem - I know /e, and always use it in shortcuts
too. But I've market your post as "keep" because of the lots of useful
regedit locations, thanks.

I'll try to explain with an example. Let's say I have a folder x; I have
the focus on it in the left pane, but it is closed ([+]). Since I have
the focus on it, I can see in the right pane that it contains
sub-folders a, b, and c. I now activate b in the right pane - either by
clicking on it or tabbing to it, moving down one, and pressing enter.

What happens is that, obviously, b becomes the active folder - with
_its_ contents shown in the right pane. However, in the left pane, b
used to appear below x, but not a and c; I can't remember if the [+]
next to x used to change to [-] or not. I was always able to make a and
c also appear in the left pane if I wanted them to, by for example going
to x in the left pane and pressing rightarrow. What happens now is that,
as soon as I activate b in the right pane, a and c also appear in the
left pane, as they always did anyway in Windows 9x. (Not a problem if x
really does only have three subfolders, but if it has lots, the left
pane can move a lot.)

I don't know what I (or something else) has done to change the
behaviour.

 

[Tim Meddick]

Still miserably unclear on exactly your issue...

Sounds like the opposite of the first possibility I mentioned, i.e.; that
you do not want sub-folders automatically expanded in the left-hand pane
(folder view) when clicked-on.

Have you tried making sure that the option in :

"Control Panel" > "Folder Options" > "View" (tab)

....and setting the option : "Display simple folder view in Explorer's
folder-list."

....and making sure that it has *not* got a "checkmark" in this box?

Clearing the quoted checkbox will ensure folders remain un-expanded in the
left-hand pane until it's [+] sign is clicked-on.

Can't think what else you might mean?
(perhaps a screen-shot may help me grasp the idea?)....

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

I am a little 'hazy' regarding the exact nature of your problem...

I am thinking of two possibilities for what it is you are attempting to
describe ;

1). Explorer shows folders in it's left-pane on starting, but does not
automatically expand sub-folders and needs to have the [+] sign clicked
on in order to show them.

No, that's how I want and have it.
[]

2). Explorer either starts *without* showing the folder-pane OR, when
right-click > "Explore from here" is selected, on any folder, it opens in
a new window - absent of it's folder-pane. []
...the important bit being the [/e,] flag, which, when entered on the
command-line as a parameter to [Explorer.exe] makes it open with the
folder-pane visible.

[]
No, this is not the problem - I know /e, and always use it in shortcuts
too. But I've market your post as "keep" because of the lots of useful
regedit locations, thanks.

I'll try to explain with an example. Let's say I have a folder x; I have
the focus on it in the left pane, but it is closed ([+]). Since I have
the focus on it, I can see in the right pane that it contains sub-folders
a, b, and c. I now activate b in the right pane - either by clicking on
it or tabbing to it, moving down one, and pressing enter.

What happens is that, obviously, b becomes the active folder - with _its_
contents shown in the right pane. However, in the left pane, b used to
appear below x, but not a and c; I can't remember if the [+] next to x
used to change to [-] or not. I was always able to make a and c also
appear in the left pane if I wanted them to, by for example going to x in
the left pane and pressing rightarrow. What happens now is that, as soon
as I activate b in the right pane, a and c also appear in the left pane,
as they always did anyway in Windows 9x. (Not a problem if x really does
only have three subfolders, but if it has lots, the left pane can move a
lot.)

I don't know what I (or something else) has done to change the behaviour.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985
MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

I multitask... I read in the bathroom.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Still miserably unclear on exactly your issue...

Sounds like the opposite of the first possibility I mentioned, i.e.;
that you do not want sub-folders automatically expanded in the
left-hand pane (folder view) when clicked-on.

Have you tried making sure that the option in :

"Control Panel" > "Folder Options" > "View" (tab)

...and setting the option : "Display simple folder view in Explorer's
folder-list."

...and making sure that it has *not* got a "checkmark" in this box?

Changing that hasn't changed the new behaviour.

Clearing the quoted checkbox will ensure folders remain un-expanded in
the left-hand pane until it's [+] sign is clicked-on.

Can't think what else you might mean?
(perhaps a screen-shot may help me grasp the idea?)....

[]
I have three folders (among others) in D:, called 2009, 2010, and 2011.
2010 has subfolders 01 to 12.

At the moment, in the left pane I have
[+] 2009
[+] 2010
[+] 2011

.. I have the focus on 2010, which means that in the _right_ pane I have
01
02
....
11
12

Now, when I first started using XP on here, if I double-clicked on 06 in
the _right_ pane, I got
[+] 2009
[?] 2010
[+] 06
[+] 2011

in the _left_ pane: in other words, 06 appeared, but 01 to 05 and 07 to
12 didn't. (I can't remember what ? showed as.)

Now, if I activate 06 in the right pane, I get
[+] 2009
[-] 2010
[+] 01
[+] 02
etc.
[+] 06
etc.
[+] 12
[+] 2011
in the left pane, i. e. _all_ 2010's subfolders appear.

Originally, I thought the first display was misleading, as it suggests
that 06 is the _only_ subfolder of 2010, which is not the case; However,
it _is_ convenient, and besides, I'd like to know what I (or something
else) did to change things.

Thanks for your persistence!