Folders on desktop not showing what's inside

[bru]

This one has me vexed. I want the folders on the desktop to show the contents. At one time they did show the contents but now they don't. In fact yesterday I got the folders to show the contents. I think I did it by restoring defaults under "folder options" in Control Panel. But today they are again just the folder.

I think I know why the folders changed, due to CCleaner cleaning out the thumbnail cache. So how do I get the contents to show again?

Screenshots show how the folders look on desktop and the same two folders in Explorer with the contents showing. But now of course after messing around even the Explorer folders aren't showing contents.

Does it have to do with Aero or desktop theme? Confused.

 

[Brink]

Hello Bru,

It looks like you may have thumbnail previews turned off. You could double check through the options in the tutorial below to make sure that they are enabled to see if that may help afterwards.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/11738-thumbnail-previews-enable-disable.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[bru]

I definitely have that box unchecked. But still no joy. This is really frustrating.

 

[Brink]

Please double check through all of the options in the tutorial to make sure that each one is set to allow them. If one is off, it could override the others.

Is this just on the desktop, or also in Windows Explorer (medium icon view and above)?

 

[bru]

OK I think I did it. Within Explorer I went to the desktop. I right clicked on each individual folder--properties-->customize-->change icon-->restore defaults. A couple of them I had to change the folder icon to something else then restore the defaults but eventually I got it.

Here is my desktop right now. Will it stay that way is the question?

 

[Brink]

You would only want to use the enable REG file options (recommend the all users one), and not the disable ones. If you disable it, then it will not show the thumbnail previews. Be sure to restart the computer afterwards.

As a side note that you probably already know, if the folder is empty, then it will not have a thumbail preview for it.

Afterwards as a test, create a new administrator account to see if you have thumbnail previews while logged on to it.

 

[bru]

Now how about CCleaner? If I have "thumbnail caches" checked under Windows Explorer it currently finds 6 files, 14,000KB. I bet if I clean those my desktop and maybe Explorer folder previews (for desktop) will disappear. Thoughts?

 

[Brink]

No, that would only clear the thumbnail cache so that the thumbnails will reload the next time you view them. It will not turn off thumbnail previews.

How did it go with the new administrator account to see if it may just be some issue in your current user account?

 

[bru]

This problem is still present and very perplexing. At some times out of the five folders I have on my desktop there may be one or more that DON'T show the previews. Seems like it should be all or none.

I use the method I mention above to get the previews to appear (essentially restoring the folder icon to default) but even that has become hit or miss.

I definitely have the right things checked in folder view so I am at a loss. So was my PC manufacturers' support, but that wasn't a surprise.

 

[Brink]

Did you ever try to change the default folder icon used by all folders, or use some sort of custom theme that may be the cause of this?

 

[bru]

No to the themes. As for changing default folder icons I've switched so many settings in trying to figure this out I'm sure I've done something that caused it.

Is there a way to reset everything related to folder icons?

 

[Brink]

Depending on what type of changes you may have made, you might try running a sfc /scannow command first to undo and fix any changes made to system files.

If this doesn't help, and it hasn't been to long ago, you might consider doing a system restore using a restore point dated before you had this issue.

 

[bru]

Depending on what type of changes you may have made, you might try running a sfc /scannow command first to undo and fix any changes made to system files.

If this doesn't help, and it hasn't been to long ago, you might consider doing a system restore using a restore point dated before you had this issue.

I did sfc /verifyonly and everything was ok.

I have used system restore for some other reasons and it didn't resolve this and I really can't pinpoint when this started anyway. Kind of stuck I guess.

 

[Brink]

I must admit that I'm at a loss as well.

 

[MvdB]

I remember such a situation when, for some reason, windows explorer, had problems getting enough priority and/or memory for it to function correctly. If I remember correctly, all icons started out simple, default and after more than 30 minutes, the normal icons came on one by one, wih mem usage very high but not 100%. I'll look through my logs to see if i can find it...

 

[bru]

Thanks MvdB but that's not really what is happening in my situation.

The folders show the preview just fine and with no delays but then they might disappear. But not every one. I've kind of traced it to when there is some activity within the folder. For instance I might open the folder and click on something inside and then the preview will disappear. But only for that folder. All other folders will show the preview fine including folders elsewhere (not just the desktop).

If I had to sum it up I'd say the function to show previews in folders is working but for whatever reason it gets disabled in the desktop folders typically after some activity with the folder.

 

[MvdB]

Thanks MvdB but that's not really what is happening in my situation.

The folders show the preview just fine and with no delays but then they might disappear. But not every one. I've kind of traced it to when there is some activity within the folder. For instance I might open the folder and click on something inside and then the preview will disappear. But only for that folder. All other folders will show the preview fine including folders elsewhere (not just the desktop).

If I had to sum it up I'd say the function to show previews in folders is working but for whatever reason it gets disabled in the desktop folders typically after some activity with the folder.

Have you tried a forced resetting of the icon cache....

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/49819-icon-cache-rebuild.html

3. Reset Desktop icon cache
===================
a. Click Start, and open Computer.
b. On the Tool bar, click Organize and choose Folder and Search Options.
c. Click the View tab, and check to select the Show hidden files and folders option, and click OK.
d. Then, enter the following directory:
*
C:\Users\(User Name)\AppData\Local
*
e. Find the IconCache.db file, and rename it as IconCache.db.old.
f. Close the window, and restart the computer.
*

 

[bru]

Have you tried a forced resetting of the icon cache....

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/49819-icon-cache-rebuild.html

3. Reset Desktop icon cache
===================
a. Click Start, and open Computer.
b. On the Tool bar, click Organize and choose Folder and Search Options.
c. Click the View tab, and check to select the Show hidden files and folders option, and click OK.
d. Then, enter the following directory:
*
C:\Users\(User Name)\AppData\Local
*
e. Find the IconCache.db file, and rename it as IconCache.db.old.
f. Close the window, and restart the computer.
*

Would this just address the "built in" desktop icons such as computer, control panel, recycle bin etc.?

I created the folder icons I am having trouble with.

Looking for options I ran Disk Cleanup. I see 71MB in Thumbnails available to be deleted. What will this do? Will it potentially mess things up further?

edit: It just happened again and this time I had not touched the folder. I had enabled "show hidden, files, folders and drives" and did what I needed and then hid them again. But since I was in folder options it must have had some effect. I'd say it was a gremlin but with computers I'm pretty sure there is always a cause.

edit2: OK more info for anyone who can even follow this thread anymore . When I again went to "folder and search options" in Computer and enabled "show hidden..." the preview for my desktop folder called Computer Maintenance disappeared. But only that folder lost its previews. When I switched to "don't show hidden..." the preview DID NOT come back.

Decided to create a new folder on the desktop. Moved the contents from Computer Maintenance into it and it DID NOT show the preview. So is it related to the contents? No because if I create a new desktop folder and put anything in it it does not show the preview UNTIL I do what I have done with the other dekstop folders. Go to Explorer, select Desktop, right click the folder and then restore the default icon. I then have to go to the desktop, select the same folder and restore the default icon. And even stranger if I remove the contents it still shows a preview. Any clues in this rambling post?

 

[MvdB]

did you try the task in the quotes , the rebuild? If yes... then I'm going to have to do some more research. Don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this... some issues just take some time...

 

[bordercollie]

I have the same problem: desktop folders DO NOT display contents. My problem occurred after I re-installed Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit.
I'm going to bookmark this thread and hope that a solutions arises soon.
Thanks guys.