Windows Explorer not opening maximized and I can't run SFC to fix it.

[graywoulf]

A week or so back my Windows Explorer went crazy. When I click on the taskbar icon, WE will open up but in a much smaller screen. I can maximize it by normal means but it won't come back the next time maximized.

I have tried all of the tips I can find but nothing helps. I tried the right click to get to the properties window and setting it to open maximized but that did not help. I have tried maximizing it and holding down the shift key while closing it but that does not work either.

The other tip was to open up msconfig screen and type "sfc /scannow" but when I do that, I get an error message that says I have to be the administrator to run it. No help there.

And on top of it all, some of the filenames are in blue text now and under the desktop header, I have lost the "Recent Places" selection. I had recently installed some new drivers for another program and the problems started about then. I have tried running system restore to an earlier point but my laptop hangs up on a restart every time with an error message stating that there is no operating system. That problem has been around for a long while though. I just hold down the power button to shut the laptop down and restart it normally again which works fine. I can't even do a simple restart these days.

So I am here hoping someone has a solution. This is a Dell Inspiron 17 running Win 7 HP 64bit. The PC works fine otherwise.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[FreeBooter]

Open the Command Prompt by typing cmd.exe into Start Menu, right-click on Cmd.exe, and open it as an administrator.


Execute Sfc /scannow command.

 

[graywoulf]

Open the Command Prompt by typing cmd.exe into Start Menu, right-click on Cmd.exe, and open it as an administrator. Execute Sfc /scannow command.

Thank you very much for that information. That worked in getting the Sfc /scannow to work. After it ran, I got the message "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.". Now, does that mean that running that did not help my situation? I did not restart my laptop afterwards.

 

[FreeBooter]

Well you have to see if problem resolved you don't need to restart your computer.


Hold down Shift key and right click Windows Explorer icon on the Taskbar to open Properties and from Shortcut tab configure how Windows Explorer will open.

 

[graywoulf]

Well you have to see if problem resolved you don't need to restart your computer. Hold down Shift key and right click Windows Explorer icon on the Taskbar to open Properties and from Shortcut tab configure how Windows Explorer will open.

I wish I had good news but no matter how I open it, WE is still opening in a small window and I still see black and blue text on top of that. This is so frustrating. Thanks again for your time and help.

 

[FreeBooter]

See if issue resolves from Safe Mode.

 

[graywoulf]

See if issue resolves from Safe Mode.

Are you saying to run the scan again from within safe mode?

 

[FreeBooter]

No see if the Windows Explorer opens correctly from Safe Mode.

 

[TechnoMage2016]

I wish I had good news but no matter how I open it, WE is still opening in a small window and I still see black and blue text on top of that. This is so frustrating. Thanks again for your time and help.

Going all the way back to when Hector was a pup, every window remembers how you set it the last time it was open. So if you open any window, then Maximize it, and then close it, it will remember how you had it set the last time you had it open.



OK, this may be an over simplification, but try it anyway. Open the window, Maximize it, then close it.
Now see how it looks when you open it again.


I hope that works!

 

[graywoulf]

Going all the way back to when Hector was a pup, every window remembers how you set it the last time it was open. So if you open any window, then Maximize it, and then close it, it will remember how you had it set the last time you had it open.

OK, this may be an over simplification, but try it anyway. Open the window, Maximize it, then close it.
Now see how it looks when you open it again. I hope that works!

I have lost count for every time I have done that. I even manually set the margins and close it and it still comes up in a small window. It is very frustrating. And sorry for the delayed response. Your post was stuck into my junk folder for some reason as was a lot of other items that should not have been.

 

[TechnoMage2016]

I have lost count for every time I have done that. I even manually set the margins and close it and it still comes up in a small window. It is very frustrating. And sorry for the delayed response. Your post was stuck into my junk folder for some reason as was a lot of other items that should not have been.

ROFL!
Yours is not the first Junk folder that I've had the honor of gracing!


There is one advantage of using a Desktop Shortcut to open folders and programs, because in the Properties of the Shortcut, you can specify how you want the program to open.
I don't remember when I learned that little trick, but it was a very long time ago.
(my first MS OS was MSDOS 2.0)


I hope you get it all fingered out.

For the past two days, I've been solving numerous problems with my own computer. I had an old 512m Flash Drive that I've been using for years, to boot up my PC to Ghost, to do all of my backups. Just a few days ago, it stopped booting up my PC. What the heck?!!!


All the files were still on the FD, but it just would not boot my PC. So I copied all the files to a temp folder on my desktop.

I determined that the FD was formatted FAT-16. Arggg! So I used a little program from HP to reformat the FD and make it dos bootable. Then I copied all the files back to that FD and now it works again.
What an absolute pain in the arse!
It's fortunate that I'm retired and have time to fuss with things like that. Eh?


Y'all take care now.

 

[graywoulf]

Thanks for reminding me to make a Boot FD for my laptop. I found one of the File Explorer alternatives and installed it. It works fine, opens maximized but I could not figure out how to make it a default alternative to the messed up file explorer.

So, that got me thinking, what if I just replace the old file explorer with a new version of the original one. The problem with that is that I can't find is as a downloadable file. All that shows up in a search are alternative replacements. Oh well.