HELP! Funky folder behavior in Windows Vista

[Old Man of UO]

My folders aren't behaving themselves. I can't drag and drop (or copy/paste) any files in my Programs (x86) folder and subfolders (such as the Mod files for the new client). And when I double click on a folder it opens a new window in Explorer, no matter how I try changing those settings. I can't even extract zipped files to these folders. Everything else seems to be working fine except this.

I am pretty sure I somehow messed up my Registry using a Registry defrag and compact program. I was doing some software testing for work, loaded and unloaded a lot of programs, and defraged the registry because not all the programs uninstalled properly... I have over 1,000 registry fragments.

Any suggestions? Will Windows Repair fix this? Make things worse?

 

[Shamus Turlough]

ugh... what program did you use to tinker with the registry?

 

[UOKaiser]

My folders aren't behaving themselves. I can't drag and drop (or copy/paste) any files in my Programs (x86) folder and subfolders (such as the Mod files for the new client). And when I double click on a folder it opens a new window in Explorer, no matter how I try changing those settings. I can't even extract zipped files to these folders. Everything else seems to be working fine except this.

I am pretty sure I somehow messed up my Registry using a Registry defrag and compact program. I was doing some software testing for work, loaded and unloaded a lot of programs, and defraged the registry because not all the programs uninstalled properly... I have over 1,000 registry fragments.

Any suggestions? Will Windows Repair fix this? Make things worse?

Well defragmation of reg is a little risky but most programs do very well. I defrag the registry when i do my maintenace procedure.
Now let's see the folders are tied in to IE all of the sudden and what do you mean you can't extract zip files to the folders is that after it opens with IE which is understandable or before? Lets see if we can get to the bottom of this.

Wait skip that I see you mean explorer as windows explorer if thats the case try this
1)open the registry regedit at the run line
2)go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FOLDER\SHELL
3)on the right side look at DEFAULT value and make sure it is set on Folder instead of Explore
4)If it's Explore then right click on default and then modify change it to Folder
see if that helps.
Oh forgot you said Vista I had a long day. Either way check to see if you see that value in in Vista registry and let me know. Save a backup of vista registry before making any changes

 

[Old Man of UO]

...
1)open the registry regedit at the run line
2)go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FOLDER\SHELL
3)on the right side look at DEFAULT value and make sure it is set on Folder instead of Explore
4)If it's Explore then right click on default and then modify change it to Folder
see if that helps.
...

I'd never had a problem with defragging the Registry before, usually backed up, but of course I got lazy.

In the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FOLDER\SHELL > DEFAULT all I see is REG_SZ (value not set). There are no other entries.

I use Eusing Registry Cleaner and Free Registry Defrag... a couple freewares.

 

[Harlequin]

I have good nws and bad news.

The good news is, something similar happened to my wife once, on her XP PC and I helped her fix it by editing a registry key.

The bad news is neither of us can remember which exact key. Kaiser should be on the right track, should be something related to how explorer behaves.

Could be somewhere under hklm software windows or current control set.

Let me search a bit.

 

[Harlequin]

Just remembered something, before it cleaned your registry, it should have made a backup (hopefully using the *.reg format so that you can easily re-import the entries).

Check the help file for instructions and search for any *.reg backups it made.

Worse case scenario, check system restore and revert back to the last working checkpoint.

 

[Old Man of UO]

Just remembered something, before it cleaned your registry, it should have made a backup (hopefully using the *.reg format so that you can easily re-import the entries).

Check the help file for instructions and search for any *.reg backups it made.

Worse case scenario, check system restore and revert back to the last working checkpoint.

I already thought about that, but that would affect the several programs I've installed since then. I think this is a last resort option.

Another odd folder behavior that I've just kinda ignored... picture files don't show as thumbnails, only a generic picture icon.

 

[UOKaiser]

I'd never had a problem with defragging the Registry before, usually backed up, but of course I got lazy.

In the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FOLDER\SHELL > DEFAULT all I see is REG_SZ (value not set). There are no other entries.

I use Eusing Registry Cleaner and Free Registry Defrag... a couple freewares.

If data has no entries then modify value and write COLOR="Navy"]Folder[/COLOR][/COLOR] in value data. See if any chages.

 

[Harlequin]

Erm...a spot of bad news I'm afraid...

http://www.vistax64.com/vista-general/124579-control-panel-stopped-working.html

The issue is a FATAL BUG in Eusing's Registry Cleaner 1.8, AND the Restore function does NOT undo it! Below is a copy of the email I sent them; I will be sure to post whatever they come up with. Since there are very few registry cleaners that claim Vista support, it's quite possible that many of the users reporting problems on vistax64.com got the problem using Eusing...
I was using Registry Cleaner 1.8 on Vista Home Premium 64-bit, but encountered a FATAL BUG that really must be addressed.

If I allow Registry Cleaner to clean all entries as shown in the attached file (its default) [NOTE: I exported the ~234 entries into a text file and attached to the email], the next time I start Windows, several Services are reported as "no longer available". This prevents several key Vista components from operating, such as Control Panel, Security Center, Windows Update, and System Restore! I had to boot from a DVD just to access System Restore (the restore points were there) and resume operation.

Even worse, selecting Restore previous registry (and rebooting) DID NOT fix the problem!!!

It could be a diffferent issue from yours though, that post was made a year ago and could have been fixed. Just for peace of mind, can you try if system restore and control panel is still accessible?

 

[Harlequin]

Tried searching for more generic drag/drop issues and found the following:

http://www.dashken.net/index.php?/archives/264-Cannot-drag-and-drop-in-Windows-XP!.html

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q274696


If those don't work, you probably need to do a google search for "cannot drag and drop" and see which issue looks more like what you are experiencing (coz I can only guess).

 

[Old Man of UO]

If data has no entries then modify value and write COLOR="Navy"]Folder[/COLOR][/COLOR] in value data. See if any chages.

Okay... I woke up too early this morning. The Default is set to "Folder". I was looking in the wrong spot.

I am made the change you suggested anyway... and can't see anything changed. I'll try rebooting....

 

[UOKaiser]

Okay... I woke up too early this morning. The Default is set to "Folder". I was looking in the wrong spot.

I am made the change you suggested anyway... and can't see anything changed. I'll try rebooting....

Your issue probably goes much deeper than that could solve. Usually when such things happen a reinstalation or restoring is in order. I'll try to look for anything that might help. But that registry might be more a hassle to fix than reinstall. If it is that could be worst as the previous post said. I hate vista heh

 

[Old Man of UO]

Okay, I think I've made some progress. My original account theoretically has administrator rights, but I opened the "hidden" main Admin account, and found that it has all the proper functioning, everything works correctly, and I can properly use folders and change all settings.

So, best I can figure is that my account rights got hosed and I can't change them. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

Is it easier to create a new Standard account and transfer all files and programs? And how would I do this?

By the way, thanks for all the suggestions... it helps even if they don't fix the problem right away.