XP (or earlier) style folder view in explorer - can you?

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Is there any way of getting the folder tree a la XP or 9x on the left of
a Windows Explorer window (with the [+], [-] etc.)?

 

[SC Tom]

Is there any way of getting the folder tree a la XP or 9x on the left of a
Windows Explorer window (with the [+], [-] etc.)?
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

There's no moral superiority in cooking - Nigella Lawson, in Radio Times
1-7
September 2007

Do you mean like this:

%windir%\explorer.exe /n, /e, /select, C:\

 

[Dave \Crash\ Dummy]

Is there any way of getting the folder tree a la XP or 9x on the left
of a Windows Explorer window (with the [+], [-] etc.)?

I don't know if SC Tom's tip gives you what you want, but I use
Classic Shell to reproduce the classic Start menu and Explorer look.
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Is there any way of getting the folder tree a la XP or 9x on the left of
a Windows Explorer window (with the [+], [-] etc.)?

They have been replaced by little triangles that serve the same
function, but in my Windows Explorer, the triangles are invisible when
the cursor is outside the left (navigation) pane.

When they are visible, a hollow triangle pointing right replaces the +
and a solid triangle pointing 45 degrees down corresponds to the -.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Is there any way of getting the folder tree a la XP or 9x on the left of
a Windows Explorer window (with the [+], [-] etc.)?

They have been replaced by little triangles that serve the same
function, but in my Windows Explorer, the triangles are invisible when
the cursor is outside the left (navigation) pane.

When they are visible, a hollow triangle pointing right replaces the +
and a solid triangle pointing 45 degrees down corresponds to the -.

Thanks! I _think_ that's what I was looking for - so it's there all the
time, though as you say they're not always visible. Although it's not
_quite_ the same: in XP, the left pane opens and tracks what you're
doing in the right pane, which it doesn't in 7. But this still is
useful, so thanks again.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Is there any way of getting the folder tree a la XP or 9x on the left
of a Windows Explorer window (with the [+], [-] etc.)?
-- J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985
MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

There's no moral superiority in cooking - Nigella Lawson, in Radio
Times 1-7
September 2007

Do you mean like this:

%windir%\explorer.exe /n, /e, /select, C:\

That seems to do exactly the same as just Win+E (whether it has C:\ or
D:\ seems to have no effect). But as Gene has pointed out to me, tiny
triangles have taken the place of [+] and [-].

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Is there any way of getting the folder tree a la XP or 9x on the left
of a Windows Explorer window (with the [+], [-] etc.)?

I don't know if SC Tom's tip gives you what you want, but I use
Classic Shell to reproduce the classic Start menu and Explorer look.
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

Thanks; I already had Classic Shell, I just didn't realise it had the
option to show [+], [-], and the like.

(Now, you don't know a way to make the left pane follow what the right
pane's doing, do you?)

 

[SC Tom]

Is there any way of getting the folder tree a la XP or 9x on the left of
a Windows Explorer window (with the [+], [-] etc.)?
-- J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985
MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

There's no moral superiority in cooking - Nigella Lawson, in Radio Times
1-7
September 2007

Do you mean like this:

%windir%\explorer.exe /n, /e, /select, C:\

That seems to do exactly the same as just Win+E (whether it has C:\ or D:\
seems to have no effect). But as Gene has pointed out to me, tiny
triangles have taken the place of [+] and [-].

Well, you know, I forgot I had Classic Shell installed (I like the toolbar
option). That must be why I have + and - instead of the triangles. Under
Navigation Pane Style, I have Windows XP Classic selected. That must be why
my Win7 Explorer looks and acts the same as my WinXP Explorer.

 

[Dave \Crash\ Dummy]

Is there any way of getting the folder tree a la XP or 9x on the left
of a Windows Explorer window (with the [+], [-] etc.)?

I don't know if SC Tom's tip gives you what you want, but I use
Classic Shell to reproduce the classic Start menu and Explorer look.
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

Thanks; I already had Classic Shell, I just didn't realise it had the
option to show [+], [-], and the like.

(Now, you don't know a way to make the left pane follow what the right
pane's doing, do you?)

No. That is one of my annoyances, too. If you discover a way, please
post it.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

No. That is one of my annoyances, too. If you discover a way, please
post it.

Me too.

And can you stop the list in the file pane from jumping to a new
position when you click on a file or folder name?

Makes it hard to double click :-(

The first click might be on a folder called Momentum and the second
click on one called Velocity, since the text moves very quickly.

Hmm. Maybe I'll change my mouse's double click speed. It's worth a try.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Is there any way of getting the folder tree a la XP or 9x on the left of
a Windows Explorer window (with the [+], [-] etc.)?

They have been replaced by little triangles that serve the same
function, but in my Windows Explorer, the triangles are invisible when
the cursor is outside the left (navigation) pane.

When they are visible, a hollow triangle pointing right replaces the +
and a solid triangle pointing 45 degrees down corresponds to the -.

Thanks! I _think_ that's what I was looking for - so it's there all the
time, though as you say they're not always visible. Although it's not
_quite_ the same: in XP, the left pane opens and tracks what you're
doing in the right pane, which it doesn't in 7. But this still is
useful, so thanks again.

Like you, I think they should be visible all the time, and I think the
navigation pane should track the folder pane.

I also hate that when the navigation pane does track the folder pane,
the thing you're looking at jumps to the bottom of the left pane, so you
can't see the tree.

Who designs these things?

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

And can you stop the list in the file pane from jumping to a new
position when you click on a file or folder name?

Makes it hard to double click :-(

The first click might be on a folder called Momentum and the second
click on one called Velocity, since the text moves very quickly.

Hmm. Maybe I'll change my mouse's double click speed. It's worth a try.

I slowed the double click down all the way, and I clicked much faster
than I usually do, & it still didn't work :-(

That sucks, IMO.

 

[Char Jackson]

I slowed the double click down all the way, and I clicked much faster
than I usually do, & it still didn't work :-(

That sucks, IMO.

This video seems to sum up the situation:
<http://cnanney.com/video/win7-1/>

And this long Answers thread seems to be a place where many people are
trying to get Microsoft's attention on this bug:
<http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...y/50a81b05-da98-4d55-821d-55ffbbd0e998?page=4>

Unfortunately, toward the beginning there's a response from MS saying
it's a feature that "works as intended", so a fix may not be coming
anytime soon.

 

[Dave \Crash\ Dummy]

On Wed, 20 Jul 2011 08:47:53 +0100, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

Is there any way of getting the folder tree a la XP or 9x on
the left of a Windows Explorer window (with the [+], [-] etc.)?

They have been replaced by little triangles that serve the same
function, but in my Windows Explorer, the triangles are invisible
when the cursor is outside the left (navigation) pane.

When they are visible, a hollow triangle pointing right replaces
the + and a solid triangle pointing 45 degrees down corresponds
to the -.

Thanks! I _think_ that's what I was looking for - so it's there all
the time, though as you say they're not always visible. Although
it's not _quite_ the same: in XP, the left pane opens and tracks
what you're doing in the right pane, which it doesn't in 7. But
this still is useful, so thanks again.

Like you, I think they should be visible all the time, and I think
the navigation pane should track the folder pane.

I also hate that when the navigation pane does track the folder pane,
the thing you're looking at jumps to the bottom of the left pane, so
you can't see the tree.

Who designs these things?

I think they put these annoyances in on purpose so dweebs like us can
bitch about them and feel important.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Me too.

[]
Will do, though I haven't much hope of an answer (other than, possibly,
using one of the alternative shells, though only if it can be persuaded
to come up when I do WinE).

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <[email protected]>, Char Jackson

This video seems to sum up the situation:
<http://cnanney.com/video/win7-1/>

Beautifully-produced video. I don't think anyone could think the
behaviour is intentional after seeing that - certainly I loved it when
you got to the "why?" point.

And this long Answers thread seems to be a place where many people are
trying to get Microsoft's attention on this bug:
<http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-files/window
s-explorer-expands-folders-inappropriately/50a81b05-da98-4d55-821d-55ffb
bd0e998?page=4>

Unfortunately, toward the beginning there's a response from MS saying
it's a feature that "works as intended", so a fix may not be coming
anytime soon.

I haven't looked at the thread, since you say it's long: does your video
appear in it before the MS statement? (I presume MS ignore the thread
after the statement.)

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

On Wed, 20 Jul 2011 08:47:53 +0100, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

Is there any way of getting the folder tree a la XP or 9x on the left of
a Windows Explorer window (with the [+], [-] etc.)?

They have been replaced by little triangles that serve the same
function, but in my Windows Explorer, the triangles are invisible when
the cursor is outside the left (navigation) pane.

When they are visible, a hollow triangle pointing right replaces the +
and a solid triangle pointing 45 degrees down corresponds to the -.

Thanks! I _think_ that's what I was looking for - so it's there all the
time, though as you say they're not always visible. Although it's not
_quite_ the same: in XP, the left pane opens and tracks what you're
doing in the right pane, which it doesn't in 7. But this still is
useful, so thanks again.

Like you, I think they should be visible all the time, and I think the
navigation pane should track the folder pane.

I think Classic Shell is better in that respect (not on the W7 machine
at the moment so can't be sure).

I also hate that when the navigation pane does track the folder pane,
the thing you're looking at jumps to the bottom of the left pane, so you
can't see the tree.

There's more to it than that - see Char's excellent video.

Who designs these things?

Hmm. At work I was saying to a colleague that a piece of equipment we
were working on was not "designed for manufacture" (i. e. it's a right
pain to disassemble and reassemble). Or I intended to say that, but he
stopped me after "designed" (-:.

 

[Jeff Layman]

Me too.

[]
Will do, though I haven't much hope of an answer (other than, possibly,
using one of the alternative shells, though only if it can be persuaded
to come up when I do WinE).

Maybe using AutoHotkey could do this. I haven't used it myself.

http://lifehacker.com/5300059/make-win%2Be-open-the-folder-of-your-choice

shows how to change the folder which opens; I wonder if changing the
example line given

#e::Run explorer.exe {FolderPath}

to running another *.exe of your choice would work. More on AutoHotkey
here:
http://www.autohotkey.com/

 

[SC Tom]

This video seems to sum up the situation:
<http://cnanney.com/video/win7-1/>

And this long Answers thread seems to be a place where many people are
trying to get Microsoft's attention on this bug:
<http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...y/50a81b05-da98-4d55-821d-55ffbbd0e998?page=4>

Unfortunately, toward the beginning there's a response from MS saying
it's a feature that "works as intended", so a fix may not be coming
anytime soon.

Using Win7 HP 32-bit with Classic Shell installed, I can't reproduce the
"jump to the bottom" bug as shown in the video. On a folder that has enough
subfolders to fill the window (such as Program Files), it does jump to the
top as expected, but I can't get anything to jump to the bottom. That's
acceptable to me, since if I expand a folder, I'm obviously looking for a
file or subfolder in it, and with the main folder at the top of the window,
I see more of it's contents. I've been very happy with the features of
Classic Shell that I've enabled, and would recommend it. I sort of like the
Windows 7 Start menu (for the most part), so I've left it alone, but I have
a number of the Explorer options enabled. Just my 2 cents (or less)

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

Is there any way of getting the folder tree a la XP or 9x on the
left
of a Windows Explorer window (with the [+], [-] etc.)?

I don't know if SC Tom's tip gives you what you want, but I use
Classic Shell to reproduce the classic Start menu and Explorer look.
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

Thanks; I already had Classic Shell, I just didn't realise it had
the option to show [+], [-], and the like.

(Now, you don't know a way to make the left pane follow what the
right pane's doing, do you?)

Try this registry setting on for size: In
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced,
set "NavPaneExpandToCurrentFolder" to DWord value of 1 (you may have
to create the key, I can't recall if it exists by default). It is a
per-user setting so you'll need to do it for each user - although, it
might work if you made the change in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, some of the
per-user settings can be done that way, I haven't tried with this one.

Or if you like, you can copy the following three lines into a file,
save it as somefilename.reg, then double click it to merge:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"NavPaneExpandToCurrentFolder"=dword:00000001

I use that registry tweak on systems I configure, I don't know if
there is a GUI method to do the same thing or not.

Hope this helps!