XP has Alzheimer's disease

  • Thread starter Thread starter ross
  • Start date Start date
R

ross

Hi all

I have a problem with Win XP failing to remember settings that it is supposed
to remember (according to MS's own documentation), and wonder if you know any
fixes.

For example:

1. Assume I have an instance of Windows Explorer open, with the Folder panel
enabled, and I shut down and restart. XP reopens Windows Explorer because I
have ticked the setting to reopen any windows which were active at shut down.
However, it forgets to open the Folder panel. This is annoying, since Win 98
DID remember. Is there a command line option that will tell Explorer to open
with the Folder panel enabled?

2. In Outlook Express (OE6), if I edit the toolbar to add or remove some
buttons, it is remembered only while that instance of OE is still open. When I
open OE again, even in the same Windows session, the toolbars have not
remembered their settings. I did make sure I pressed 'Apply'.

3. If I open the perfomance monitor in XP (perfmon.exe), it used to shut down
as soon as I told it to Close. Now, it pops up a dialog box each time for
confirmation. There is no option setting in the GUI to control this. I have
no idea what made it switch behaviour. Presumably it is a registry key
setting. Does anyone know what the key and required value is, so I can return
to the 'Close immediately' behaviour?

4. Repeated small incidents suggest to me that XP often returns to older
settings for various programs, for no reason that I can see. I never had this
problem with Win98. I do not have System Restore enabled, and have disabled
the supporting service to be sure. Does XP have some other way of tracking
previous settings - and if so, why does it revert without being asked to?

5. Speaking of the Services utility (services.msc), it demonstrates another
*extremely* irritating feature of many Windows utilities - not only is their
default column setting one that makes the information unreadable, but you have
to adjust the columns *every single time*, because XP doesn't remember the
column settings. After all the useability studies that MS has done and keeps
crowing about, this is programming incompetence. In general, can I code the
column widths into the registry settings for a given program? Would you like
to give an example?

Thanks

Ross
 
ross said:
I have a problem with Win XP failing to remember settings that it is supposed
to remember (according to MS's own documentation), and wonder if you know any
fixes.

For example:

1. Assume I have an instance of Windows Explorer open, with the Folder panel
enabled, and I shut down and restart. XP reopens Windows Explorer because I
have ticked the setting to reopen any windows which were active at shut down.
However, it forgets to open the Folder panel. This is annoying, since Win 98
DID remember. Is there a command line option that will tell Explorer to open
with the Folder panel enabled?

control panel \ folder options \ restore previous folder windows at
logon. apply and okay your way out.

(PS: Alzheimer's disease is too serious to mention in this context.)
 
Hi Ross,

I don't have any answers for you, but I do agree with you wholeheartedly.

I agree with all your points.

I have a folder on the desktop containing 4 shortcuts. I set these to be
viewed as icons. They'll stay that way for weeks (or even months) then , one
day, xp will suddenly decide to show them in "List" view and also change the
size of the window. I cannot believe that Microsoft, who have been doing
operating systems for decades now, cannot seem to implement a feature as
simple as remembering a user's settings.

Regards,

Vince
 
Hi Vince

Presumably you have 'genned' yourself up on why Desktop Icons may change - if not, may I suggest that you do. Think 'User' instead of MS for once!!!!

Will
 
I'm not sure but almost sure...
Windows keeps folder settings for 400 folders. I think this can be
changed but don't remember where.
when you exceed the 400 (as far as I recall this number can be changed
in the registry) the first one will loose its "settings".
I think this explain the behavior you are experiencing.

-tzurs.
 
I've copied the following info from an earlier thread which addresses the
problem. It worked for me; try it and see:

To prevent Windows from reverting individual windows to different settings,
applied the following fix from the Windows newsgroup:



Now the question: What's the deal and how do I lock the folder to the
settings I want?

Part I: there are only so many "slots" available.
Run--> regedt32
Find these 2 keys and delete them (they will be rebuilt):
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\Bags

Cheers.....Lee



tzurs said:
I'm not sure but almost sure...
Windows keeps folder settings for 400 folders. I think this can be
changed but don't remember where.
when you exceed the 400 (as far as I recall this number can be changed
in the registry) the first one will loose its "settings".
I think this explain the behavior you are experiencing.

-tzurs.
change - if not, may I suggest that you do. Think 'User' instead of MS for
once!!!!
 
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