Sudden difficulty expanding folder in Explorer tree

G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

My OS is Windows XP Professional SP2. My hard drive (NTSF) is
partitioned so that system and program files are in the first partition
(C:) and documents are in second partition (D:). The latter has the
volume label "My_Docs".

I have set up Windows Explorer, by default, show a folder listing
(tree) in the left pane and the contents of the folder in the right
pane. On my desktop is a shortcut with the target "D:\" (without the
quotes). The desired (and usual) result of double clicking on the icon
is that Windows Explorer pops up with the tree entry My_Docs(D:)
selected in the left pane. Furthermore, the label of that entry is
preceded by a minus(-) sign and the folder is expanded beneath the
label. The right pane of Explorer, of course, lists the folders and
files in the root directory of D:.

Every once in a while, something changes in either Explorer or the
contents of D:\ such that, when I click on the shortcut described
above, Explorer pops up with My_Docs(D:) selected in the tree on the
left, BUT IT IS NOT EXPANDED. (Its contents are listed as usual in the
right pane.) Furthermore, there is neither a plus sign nor a minus
sign preceding the label My_Docs(D:). Finally, if I right-click on the
tree entry My_Docs(D:), the context menu shows the selection "Expand"
grayed out and inoperative.

In this situation, the only way I can expand D:\ is to open and then
close a folder in the right pane listring. At that point a plus sign
(+) appears next to My_Docs(D:) in the tree in the left pane, and I can
expand the folder in the tree.

On two occasions, after trying for hours, I was able to return the
shortcut to correct behavior by empirically finding a suspicious folder
in D:\ and either deleting it or moving it out of D:\. (Last time the
folder was named "msdownld.tmp".) I have no idea why this worked.

My problem returned this week, and I cannot fix the situation. I do
not see any suspicious folders to delete.

Google shows that similar questions from others have been posted in the
past, but AFAICT no solution has been suggested. Does anyone have an
idea what is happening and/or what the solution to the problem is? I
would sure appreciate some help.


Dwynn

================================================
L. Dwynn Lafleur
Professor of Physics
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
lafleur@louisiana.edu
http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~ldl6737/index.html
================================================
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Your system probably has an intruder, and a firewall should be put up to stop that.

If you go to start/run, and type fsmgmt.msc, you will see a 'sessions' folder that can be monitored for user logons to your local
system. The Performance app in admin tools will allow logging and notification of such events.

--
Mark L. Ferguson
FAQ for Windows Antispy http://www.geocities.com/marfer_mvp/FAQ_MSantispy.htm
<lafleur@louisiana.edu> wrote in message news:1124470083.917345.269800@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> My OS is Windows XP Professional SP2. My hard drive (NTSF) is
> partitioned so that system and program files are in the first partition
> (C:) and documents are in second partition (D:). The latter has the
> volume label "My_Docs".
>
> I have set up Windows Explorer, by default, show a folder listing
> (tree) in the left pane and the contents of the folder in the right
> pane. On my desktop is a shortcut with the target "D:\" (without the
> quotes). The desired (and usual) result of double clicking on the icon
> is that Windows Explorer pops up with the tree entry My_Docs(D:)
> selected in the left pane. Furthermore, the label of that entry is
> preceded by a minus(-) sign and the folder is expanded beneath the
> label. The right pane of Explorer, of course, lists the folders and
> files in the root directory of D:.
>
> Every once in a while, something changes in either Explorer or the
> contents of D:\ such that, when I click on the shortcut described
> above, Explorer pops up with My_Docs(D:) selected in the tree on the
> left, BUT IT IS NOT EXPANDED. (Its contents are listed as usual in the
> right pane.) Furthermore, there is neither a plus sign nor a minus
> sign preceding the label My_Docs(D:). Finally, if I right-click on the
> tree entry My_Docs(D:), the context menu shows the selection "Expand"
> grayed out and inoperative.
>
> In this situation, the only way I can expand D:\ is to open and then
> close a folder in the right pane listring. At that point a plus sign
> (+) appears next to My_Docs(D:) in the tree in the left pane, and I can
> expand the folder in the tree.
>
> On two occasions, after trying for hours, I was able to return the
> shortcut to correct behavior by empirically finding a suspicious folder
> in D:\ and either deleting it or moving it out of D:\. (Last time the
> folder was named "msdownld.tmp".) I have no idea why this worked.
>
> My problem returned this week, and I cannot fix the situation. I do
> not see any suspicious folders to delete.
>
> Google shows that similar questions from others have been posted in the
> past, but AFAICT no solution has been suggested. Does anyone have an
> idea what is happening and/or what the solution to the problem is? I
> would sure appreciate some help.
>
>
> Dwynn
>
> ================================================
> L. Dwynn Lafleur
> Professor of Physics
> University of Louisiana at Lafayette
> lafleur@louisiana.edu
> http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~ldl6737/index.html
> ================================================
>
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

OK, I think the cause of my expand problem is that (1) I have exceeded
100 folders in D:\, and (2) Windows Explorer has a bug (feature?) such
that it cannot autoexpand a folder in the left pane's tree if it
contains more than 100 items. I verified this empirically yesterday on
two PCs, one with XP Home Edition and the other with XP Professional
Edition (both SP2). Then I ran across Bill Drake's post "Expand
disabled in Explorer and XP" in microsoft.public.windowsxp.customize in
which he documents the same problem. (Too bad I didn't see this post a
few days ago!)

Has anyone seen any official word from Microsoft regarding this
characteristic of Windows Explorer?

Dwynn
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

If you figure this one out please post. I have this same problem with my
digital camera folder. I think you have the cause nailed we just need to
figure a solution. With my test the numer is not always exactly 100 but it
"hovers" around that figure.

"lafleur@louisiana.edu" wrote:

> OK, I think the cause of my expand problem is that (1) I have exceeded
> 100 folders in D:\, and (2) Windows Explorer has a bug (feature?) such
> that it cannot autoexpand a folder in the left pane's tree if it
> contains more than 100 items. I verified this empirically yesterday on
> two PCs, one with XP Home Edition and the other with XP Professional
> Edition (both SP2). Then I ran across Bill Drake's post "Expand
> disabled in Explorer and XP" in microsoft.public.windowsxp.customize in
> which he documents the same problem. (Too bad I didn't see this post a
> few days ago!)
>
> Has anyone seen any official word from Microsoft regarding this
> characteristic of Windows Explorer?
>
> Dwynn
>
>