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Tools--Folder Options ONLY opens Registered File Types

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8 replies

by rocketmouse

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After "help" from Microsoft installing SP3, the Tools--Folder Options ONLY opens Registered File Types. The part where you can change from opening folders in separate windows, or the same window (and also single-click/double-click, folder views, etc.) is missing. I tried some tips on adding the DWord "NoFolderOptions" to the registry (with a value of 0) but that didn't help. Does anybody know how to get back full function for the Folder Options? It's also not showing up in the Control Panel.

8 replies

by nepenthe0

1) System Restore - locate a restore point at which time you had normal access to Folder options.

2) Repair Windows - back up your personal data files, and run the Files & Settings Transfer Wizard (old computer). Save the wizard folder to a USB flash drive or an external HD. That way, should a [i]repair[/i] procedure wipe out your settings, you will have these securely archived for painless restoration.

by boxfiddler Hot topic

screw around with installing SP3 again.

by older mycroft

How is the OP going to use scripting if the File Option doesn't exist ??

by older mycroft

It appears to me that there are many different causes / fewer solutions.

It would seem that it all hinges on EXACTLY what kind of XP you have been running. By that I mean was it originally:

Upgrade XP, Full XP, OEM XP, Pre-SP1, Pre-SP2, Post-SP2, + Home, Professional, Home upgraded, the scenario seems endless.

Depending on what your XP started out it's life as, will also depend how it reacts to Service Pack 3.

I advise you take the safer option and roll backwards via the Add/Remove Programs utility. I fear that using the System Restore option will only complicate which historical time line your XP will then have. ;)

by rocketmouse

Thank you all for the effort! Unfortunately, no solution yet. All Restore Points before SP3 have been removed, but I do have a full backup from before the SP3 installation-problems started. There would still be a fair amount of work involved to remove the things that were preventing the SP3 install to begin with, but I suppose restoring the backup would be a last resorts option. In the meantime, and if I'm lucky (...,) this seems to be the only abnormality I can't fix. I did find a script that purported to do what I was after when I discovered the problem, viz. change the behavior of folder openings (samefolderwindow.reg) but it didn't change anything and I'm still stuck with 'no tabs' in Folder Options of course. Also, I'm not sure what I was supposed to find at SEGG. If what I need to do in order to get the tabs back in Folder Options is change (or add) an extension, I think I need some more detailed pointers, like which extension? (How would that work anyway, extensions controlling tabs? I'm a bit confused.)
As for its history, this Dell Precision 340 has gone from personal computer to workhorse to engine-controller to (now) personal computer again so I'd be hard put to know how it started its life. I can tell you that the registration (XP Pro) has an OEM in it, but I'm not sure that means anything at this point.
Another thought. If I were to remove SP3 via Add/Remove I'm not sure that would guarantee recovered functionality to the Folder Options. I actually, and unfortunately, only have a vague sense of what the first MS tech did when he took over the computer via EasyAssist. In the end, it was by my own devices that SP3 was installed, and subsequently I had some help mopping up from another MS tech who used Dial-a-fix, again via EasyAssist. It is very difficult to follow what they do under those circumstances because the cursor (several instances of it...) is wandering all over the screen.
I apologize for the sheer volume (ramble?) of this, but I'm hoping it will all help somebody help me !

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