Windows Explorer oddness

[Rick]

When I first got my Vista computer I noticed in Windows Explorer that the
plus signs ("+") in the left pane that in XP indicate the presence of
subfolders were now replaced with little triangle symbols. But now I notice
I have plus signs again. Any idea what's going on? Is there a setting to
set this? Thanks.

 

[Rick]

No, I never had XP on this machine -- it's entirely new.

Do other people have "+" as the indicator of subfolders in Explorer (same as
XP)? Maybe I'm going crazy thinking that I once saw little triangle symbols
in Vista's Explorer.

 

[Steve]

Do other people have "+" as the indicator of subfolders in Explorer (same as
XP)? Maybe I'm going crazy thinking that I once saw little triangle symbols
in Vista's Explorer.

I have the triangles in Windows Explorer. I mostly use PowerDesk as a
file manager, it still has the + signs.

 

[Andrew McLaren]

When I first got my Vista computer I noticed in Windows Explorer that the
plus signs ("+") in the left pane that in XP indicate the presence of
subfolders were now replaced with little triangle symbols. But now I
notice I have plus signs again. Any idea what's going on? Is there a
setting to

It sounds like you have toggled the Folder View setting, "Display simple
folder view in Navigator pane".

By default this is turned ON. There are no vertical lives showing the folder
tree, and no "node markers" at expandable subdirectories.

If you turn the setting OFF, you will see the vertical lines representing
the folder tree, and markers at each node. In XP. these node markers where
plus signs in a box; in Vista, they are triangles which point sideways or
down, depending on whether the folder is expanded or not.

To change the setting, go to Folder Options, View, Advanced Settings. It's
the 5th checkbox down from the top.

Apparently the "simple view" was chosen to present a less cluttered, more
easy to understand view of the folder tree.

Hope it helps,

 

[Spirit]

I too have triangles in Explorer and use PowerDesk Pro which has
the + symbols.

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM]

Do other people have "+" as the indicator of subfolders in Explorer (same
as XP)? Maybe I'm going crazy thinking that I once saw little triangle
symbols in Vista's Explorer.

I have triangles on both Vista machines.

 

[Rick]

Thanks -- after turning this setting OFF, and closing and re-loading
Explorer, I still have the "+" sign as the subdirectory indicator. I have a
sneaking suspicion that a serious Windows error I had a couple of weeks ago
may have corrupted some subtle graphic capabilities of Vista and caused it
to be unable to display the triangles, and so it falls back on the
(non-graphic) plus sign. Is this possible? I have a couple of other subtle
signs of this. Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[Lang Murphy]

When I first got my Vista computer I noticed in Windows Explorer that the
plus signs ("+") in the left pane that in XP indicate the presence of
subfolders were now replaced with little triangle symbols. But now I
notice I have plus signs again. Any idea what's going on? Is there a
setting to set this? Thanks.

Are you using Windows "Classic view?"

Lang

 

[Rick]

Yikes, I haven't done any registry tweaking yet in Vista. OK, might as well
start now. But I notice this is for 64-bit Vista? I have 32-bit.

 

[Rick]

Naw, I have 'Show Preview and Filters' selected. Thanks.

 

[Rick]

OK, thanks for everyone's help but it turns out that it was my bad. I
remembered that I'd changed my overall Windows 'color scheme' (Appearance
Settings) to Windows Classic right around the time I got that serious error.
I just went back in and changed it back to Windows Aero and now my Windows
Explorer plus signs are restored to the little triangles. Thanks for all
your help, folks.

btw, I got to this 'Appearance Settings' screen through Help. How do you
get there manually through Control Panel? I don't see it anywhere.

 

[Rick]

Thanks much for your help.

I got dragged somewhat kicking and screaming into Windows Vista but I have
to say I'm having fun now.

Do you have a web site for 32-bit Vista like you have vistax64.com?