OverviewFor some inexplicable reason in Windows XP when you click on a folder in Windows Explorer, a search window pops up rather than simply opening the folder. |
The ProblemI suspect this is a very rare problem, but I spent 2 hours yesterday trying to figure it out so thought I'd share my experience.
First I'll explain the problem. In Windows Explorer if you click on an ordinary folder you'll get a search window instead of a folder view listing the folder's contents.
First, here's an ordinary view in Windows Explorer |
Click on an ordinary folder in Windows Explorer |
| If you right-click a folder, you see that Search is the default action. |
The context menu shows that Search is the bolded default |
| Now click or double-click the folder to open its contents as you normally would. You get a search window instead. |
Search windows is opened with no file listing. Arggh. |
How did this happen?You have probably been playing with 'Folder Options'. I'm not exactly sure what caused the problem in my case, but I was trying to change icons for file types when this problem arose. |
The Solution
You would think there would be some easy way to change the default action in the context menu. If there is I didn't find it.
A simply registry edit will fix this issue.
The key to change is:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell\Default
If you have this problem, then it's likely your Default key has a value of nothing. Change the value of the key to the string: "none".
That should do it. If you actually had this problem and this article helped leave me a message. I'm wondering if anyone will every read this?
(if you haven't edited the registry before just type 'regedit' at a command line. Be careful, you can corrupt your system if you change something without knowing what you're doing.)
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Fix the problem with a registry edit |
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