Win2K keeps changing my folder view settings

In Windows Explorer, My Computer, and everything else that displays lists of files, I want all my folders to display in "detail" mode. I select this under the "View" tab, then use "Tools ", "Folder Options ", "View ", to set all folders "Like Current Folder ". Yet when I go back after some period of time, the folder views have re-set themselves back to the default Large Icons. It's even worse than Win95, which at least only did this some of the time. How do I get Win2K to keep my folder view settings the way I want them?

 

Oddly enough, IE problems can cause this since IE & WE are very tied together in this OS. So first thing I'd dump all temp internet files & cookies, run ad-aware & spybot and then run chkdsk /f on your system drive just to make sure everything is orderly.

Then try This.

 

I can't get rid of IE in Win2K, but I don't use it if I can possibly help it. I clear my temp files, cookies, and caches several times a day. I run AdAware and SpybotSD about once a week, and I ran them just before posting about this problem. I've run chkdsk, and everything checks out okay.

When I first installed Win2K, a couple of weeks ago, it appeared to hold my folder settings most of the time, but it seems to have gotten worse as time went on.

Following that link... I do not have more than one instance of Windows Explorer open. And I don't understand the registry stuff on that page - can you explain it in a way that someone who's still very new to Win2K can follow? Thanks.

 

The instructions on This page are such that you can just follow along step-by-step and do as written. But some folks aren't comfortable editing the registry and if that's the case, best not to mess with it.

As to exactly what the view.reg file from the above link is doing, I haven't a clue. I do know the tips from this site are good and don't hesitate to do what they suggest. But that's me and I've blown up systems in the past and am comfortable with that possibility. Many aren't. But in general, a REGEDIT4 file is a sort of exe you can run that will make changes to the registry automatically based on the contents of the file. From that page you can copy the info starting with REGEDIT4, save it as view.reg, and run it.

Do you by chance have go-back running or access to ghost or another similar app? If you can get a bullet-proof way to restore your system in case of disaster, then you can go ahead with these tweaks without worrying. Otherwise post back since there are a couple other things you can try to fix the problem.

 

Well, I just did what it said on that second webpage, but it didn't seem to have any effect. I don't mind editing the registry, but I prefer to know what I'm editing - and I've never heard of a REGEDIT4 file before.

I don't have Ghost or GoBack or any other type of restoration program (wish I did!).

This is just annoying...

 

Well - you can get Norton Systemworks 2002 right now for under $30 and it includes go-back and ghost. They work fine with 2K & XP. Low price because 2003 has been out a while.

Sending a file to your registry with REGEDIT4 at the top just tells the registry what form the contents will use and to apply the changes/additions/deletions to your registry.

The problem you have must be annoying but from lots of searching, I haven't found anyone whose mentioned a specific cause or a fix that works for everyone.

Are you running SP3? And have you tried the thing that worked for John (another current thread)? He reapplies SP3 and it seems to have fixed his original issue and a couple other things.

Otherwise I'm about out of ideas.

 

How do I tell whether I've got SP3 on here? After I installed Win2K, and gave it about a week to make sure it was stable, I used Windows Update and installed just about everything it recommended. Now, under "Add/Remove Programs" in my Control Panel, I see a long list of "Hotfix" files that say "Pre-SP4 ", and I see SP4 itself... but no references to SP3.

 

Bringing this back to the top of the list...

I still have no luck getting my folder settings to stay set. I think I've followed all the instructions so far... but everything (including the Control Panel) defaults back to "Large Icon" view, whenever I reboot (and I'm still rebooting fairly often, because I'm installing various kinds of software), and also sometimes for the sheer heck of it, it seems.