Windows Explorer Navigational drop "feature"

James Colbert · 01 May 2010

Something that has bothered me since I installed Win7 is the way WE handles folder navigation. When one clicks on the arrow next to a folder (left pane), often, the folder drops to the bottom of the left pane. And often, there is a short delay before it does so.

This irritates me to no end. I'll click on a an arrow, the sub folders drop out, I go to click on the desired folder, but suddenly the entire tree drops to bring the parent folder (whose arrow I clicked) to the bottom of the pane, leaving me to click on the wrong folder.

Does anyone find this useful in anyway? My first thought is "what were they thinking???"

At any rate, is there a hack available for this? I can live with it if I have to (as I have learned to live with Full Row Selection), but I'd really rather not.

Thanks for any ideas.

James

karlsnooks · 01 May 2010

James,
Don't quite understand the problem because I've been unable to duplicate the problem.

Suggest you set the Folder options shown in the attached snapshot.

I more suspect your problem is caused by other software running in the background. If you are running more than one anti-virus software then 100% remove all except for one of them.

My personal advice on av software is to 100% delete all of them and install Microsoft Security Essentials.

karlsnooks · 01 May 2010

OK I goofed.

Here's the snapshot:

James Colbert · 01 May 2010

karlsnooks said:

James,
Don't quite understand the problem because I've been unable to duplicate the problem.

Suggest you set the Folder options shown in the attached snapshot.

I more suspect your problem is caused by other software running in the background. If you are running more than one anti-virus software then 100% remove all except for one of them.

My personal advice on av software is to 100% delete all of them and install Microsoft Security Essentials.

Hi, Karlsnooks. Thanks for your comments. This issue is actually what MS believes is a 'feature', and has been in existence since the beta. Also, my folder options are set as your screenshot shows (with the exception of "Show all folders"), and this event occurs regardless of what the Navigation Pane settings are.

Here are 2 screenshots to demonstrate the issue:

The event can be duplicated in the following manner (I'll use my folder names to illustrate):

1) In WE, with a drive expanded, click on the folder Utilities (note that Utilities has sub-folders. Also note that Utilities is not near the bottom of the WE window)

2) Now, click on the arrow next to Utilities to reveal the sub-folders.

See the folder drop all the way to the bottom of the WE window. Very irritating. Strangely, this will only happen per folder the 1st time you do it in any given WE session. Repeating it (in the same session) will not result in the drop down (for the same folder, but will happen for other folders). Open a new WE, however, and it will happen again (for that same folder and others, first time only).

If this does not occur on your machine, I'd be very surprised. As I said, this was discussed at length in the beta groups, as many were quite irritated by it. It seemed to affect both 64 & 32 bit versions. I think it would take some sort of reg hack to correct it.

This explanation may seem convoluted, but if you follow the steps above, you should be able to dupe it. I don't know what they were thinking, but I can see no purpose for it.

Thanks,
James

karlsnooks · 01 May 2010

James,
Click on your "Utilities" folder in the left-hand tree pane rather than on the folder listing in the right-hand pane.

James Colbert · 01 May 2010

karlsnooks said:

James,
Click on your "Utilities" folder in the left-hand tree pane rather than on the folder listing in the right-hand pane.

I did. I always use the folder (left) pane to navigate.

Edit: I would welcome being proved wrong here, but I don't believe this issue will be resolved by changing settings or taking a different tack. I think this one will be sovled only by some kind of registry hack. MS stated this was by design.

Edit2:
My OP and 2nd post may seem contradictory. The fact is that the drop down occurs via the steps mentioned in both posts. I hope I'm not muddying the waters here... :)

Thanks.

karlsnooks · 02 May 2010

James,
I'll have to give up because I cannot duplicate your problem using the settings I posted and using the left-hand pane. Only by using the right-hand pane can I duplicate your problem.

Perhaps someone else has a better understanding.

James Colbert · 03 May 2010

karlsnooks said:

James,
I'll have to give up because I cannot duplicate your problem using the settings I posted and using the left-hand pane. Only by using the right-hand pane can I duplicate your problem.

Perhaps someone else has a better understanding.

Thanks, Karl, for your efforts.

James

Wreck · 03 May 2010

I think I see what the OP is saying. If you first navigate to a folder, then click ON the folder, then click the arrow next to the folder you have highlighted Windows seems to move the folder down a couple of rows for some reason. Odd behavior, but hardly a show stopper, or you are getting a much bigger change than I am.

It looks to me like a cosmetic bug, as I cannot think of any way it would be by design. Even the MS UI designers aren't that obtuse. However, it isn't really an issue for me, as I don't navigate that way at all.

arkhi · 04 May 2010

Wreck said:

I think I see what the OP is saying. If you first navigate to a folder, then click ON the folder, then click the arrow next to the folder you have highlighted Windows seems to move the folder down a couple of rows for some reason. Odd behavior, but hardly a show stopper, or you are getting a much bigger change than I am.

It looks to me like a cosmetic bug, as I cannot think of any way it would be by design. Even the MS UI designers aren't that obtuse. However, it isn't really an issue for me, as I don't navigate that way at all.

Tried it, and that's exactly what happens. Guess the only solution for now is to click the arrow directly instead.