Windows Explorer woes..

woolymammoth

so, i've recently reinstalled xp[pro Build 2600 sp1a] on meh pewter. lovely. except its not.

i'm having a reoccurring, and annoying, problem with windows explorer.
Basically, when i move/copy/delete files or folders, my window goes like this:



followed by..



and finally this..



every time i have to close the window and open a new one.

sufice to say its gettin on my tits..

i know its not a hardware prob cos i did have this prob before,
but i had a regular net connection then too so i could run the windows
update. now however, i don't, and sp1 or sp1a doesn't seem to wanna
fix this.. i've been trawling through the windows updates trying to
find the right patch with no luck, so if anyone could shed some light
on this or point me in the right direction it'd be a great help. You
can imagine this gets pretty annoying after a while..


thanks in advance

anto..

fatmander

Have you ruled out a virus, loss of Drag n Drop/delete can be a sign of one.

Presuming you have, there seems to be something very wrong with 'your FAT'-(File Tables on your hard disk)
Type cmd into the 'run box'(start button) and press enter
type "chkdsk c: /f" -no quotes
press enter,
you will be asked if you want to force a dismount on the Drive, select no!
you will be asked to schedule disk check for next boot, select yes
exit

reboot your computer and do not cancel the disk check

If that doesn't work ???
I don't think you problem is to do with SP1 or SP1a, more likely a dodgy hard disk.

Main problem with SP1 is comes with the Microsoft Java flaw,
The infamous"cool web search malware" can do a lot of damage to your PC.
SP1a doesn't have microsoft java, so you have to install Sun java, which works perfectly and doesn't have any flaws
you can try running adaware from www.lavasoft.de but don't think that will fix your problem
hth

woolymammoth

interesting theory fatmander.. but somehow i don't think you'er right about it being
a dodgy disk. The disk was just freshly formatted in NTFS, and it runs perfectly. i will
however run a scandisk tonight to check the file system for any errors.

its not a virus either, unless M$ are shipping them these days

Java is installed with no effect.. the problem ain't SP1/SP1a, they ain't even the fix..

i'm pretty sure it's a bug in windoze explorer. i remember applying a ton of updates
before that got rid of it.. just now i've reinstalled i dunno which one fixes
this :dunno:

anywho, thanks for the reply fatmander..

fatherdougalmag

Looks like there's some sort of error in one of your filenames. Well, that's in reference to the specific example you provided. There's a funny character in one of the files that Explorer complained about (C:\Documents and Settings\Anto\Desktop\desktop\ there's a box at this point). I'd just try deleting that directory.

But, as I say, that's only if the problem is related to that specific directory. If it's happening all over the shop then it's something else. Could be a sign of a badly coded virus trying to attach itself to everything in sight and screwing up your filenames in the process.

koloth

I used to have the same problem myself and have been unable to identify the cause or any known fix.

The problem usually occurred when I was using explorer with the "Folder Bar" open (default view were folder tree is on the left side of the window).

I was able to workaround the problem by using explorer without the Folder Bar. Best way to do this is launch explorer using Start | Run (then type explorer). Not the best solution but it seems to avoid that problem.

woolymammoth

Originally posted by fatherdougalmag
There's a funny character in one of the files

ya that would be one of the errors.. more recently i've seen a tree and a magnifying
glass. yes, you read this right. a tree, and a magnifying glass.

Koloth, thats the exact problem i have.. my only real problem is that i'm too
fond of the folders view.. the other way is just a pain in the arse..

conclusion still the same.. i know its a bug. virus check was the first thing i did.
question is, where's the fix..

thanks for the reply guys..

koloth

Does this happen all the time for you? If so can you post exact steps to reproduce?

The problem I had was difficult to reproduce which made tracking down a solution very hard. I'm convinced it's a bug in explorer not a virus or hard disk problem.

woolymammoth

it's odd.. doesn't happen all of the time.. sometimes it wouldn't for ages, other
times it'd happen a couple times in a row.. no real steps to recreate.. would just
happen when i copy/move/delete files or folders using windows explorer in the
folders view..

fatmander

I remember seeing a solution to a problem like this, might be a different problem, worth a try
r-click my computer, then properties
Click on Advanced Tab, go to performance Settings
Pick Custom
untick "use a background Image for each folder type"
Untick "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the decktop"

If they are unticked, then tick them