Hello Robot Man,
Actually, that could be useful if you needed to quickly open multiple explorer windows.
I'm not sure how you can stop it from opening new windows each time you click on the icon other than not clicking on the icon again.
@Brink,
The note under step 3 states:
...while /n hides the left navigation pane
That switch seems to cause a new instance of explorer. If the nav pane was turned on when explorer was last closed, there does not seem to be a way to programmatically open explorer with the nav pane closed/off/hidden. Or am I missing something?
The problem is not that a new explorer.exe process opens up on clicking it, the problem is, the new explorer.exe process does not end automatically after closing the window. Each new explorer.exe uses around 5 MB of RAM, so if you click it 10 times, 50 MB of your RAM will remain captured and will not free up unless those processes are ended manually.
Anyway thanks for great tip!
My post was not directly tied to yours. I was looking for a way to open explorer without the nav pane showing.
However, all of those explorer instances should automatically end once the explorer windows are closed if you give it some time. Also, have you tried whatever it is you are doing without using the /n switch?
It would help me to help you if you posted the line that you are using for the shortcut target.
If I click on Start > Run and paste this in
%windir%\explorer.exeI do not see a new instance of explorer within task manager. I can repeat that several times and have several explorer windows open, but still only one instance of explorer showing within task manager.
If I use the /n switch, I see the a new explorer window open and a new instance of explorer within task manager.
%windir%\explorer.exe /n
If you happen to be working with an application that is causing explorer to crash (thus taking down your desktop and taskbar), it is nice to open a new instance of explorer and then open the problematic app via that new instance. That way, when the app crashes, it does not take out the desktop/taskbar.
@UsernameIssues,
The /n switch only has it open in a separate "new process" of explorer.exe instead. This isn't the same as opening a new window.
@Robot Man,
Normally when you close the explorer window, it's explorer.exe process will automatically close on it's own after a few moments. If you used the /n switch, then each one you open will have a separate explorer.exe process listed in Task Manager.
Hope this helps some guys. :)
We are saying the same thing:
That switch seems to cause a new instance of explorer.
I was using instance to mean process. I should have just said process.
But - is the info in the note under step 3 in the tut correct?
Should the /n switch hide the nav pane like the note says it will?
:::wishes that it had been correct:::
:::wishes for a way to control that nav pane/pain:::
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