Windows Explorer forgets layout

HI all.  I have a problem with Windows Explorer in that it never remembers the screen layout, so when I open it up it defaults to a large preview pane and the file names and other info in the details pane are covered and I have to resize it to see the files.  This is in Win7.  Also it suffers from the green ribbon of death when I open up large image folders.

Googling around gives a variety ideas, many of them contradictory none of which seem to work, though I have not tried the registry changes that some suggest.  Some suggest it is due to the registry running out of room, due to a large number of folders though it is still doing it after a fresh Win7 install.

Has anybody who experienced this actually fixed it?  If not does anyone have good experiences to report from explorer substitutes. I've come across a few alternatives, but not sure if I want to take that step or not.

Chris,

Try FireFox. By the way, which version of IE are you using?

Gary

No not IE, ;  Windows Explorer, the file finding thing

(I actually already use Firefox)

I had it W98 and still have it in XP. There was an article on it in PC Magazine a long time ago. It was referred to as Windows amnesia.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1420796,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1951109,00.asp

Gary Briney wrote:Chris,

Try FireFox. By the way, which version of IE are you using?

Gary

He is talking about the file viewer - aka Windows Explorer, not Internet Explorer.

Chris,

It is weird, sometimes it will remember everything for some time and then all of the sudden, the layout is very different.  Also sometimes it remembers a custom layout for a specific folder and then all of the sudden not.  I haven't found an answer and will say that OS-X isn't much better in this regard.

I use Directory Opus by GP Software - an Aussie company. I've used it for about 5 years now and it is much better and more powerful than Explorer. I think they have a 60 day trial period.

E.J. Peiker wrote: He is talking about the file viewer - aka Windows Explorer, not Internet Explorer.

Yep, he pointed that out already.

ChrisRoss wrote:No not IE, ;  Windows Explorer, the file finding thing

(I actually already use Firefox)

The site went down right as I wrote that and there wasn't a reply, it then later posted after the site was back up and others had already commented.

E.J. Peiker wrote:The site went down right as I wrote that and there wasn't a reply, it then later posted after the site was back up and others had already commented.

Ah -- another mystery solved. These days when I hear the word explorer, my first reflex is to say get FF.

Regarding the articles from PCMag un checking my XP SP3 I found ALL of those definitions. I deleted the sub-variables and raised the prime definition BAGMRU Size to 6000 in both shell folders. I went back to check and found both subfolders BAGMRU and Bags recreated in both SHELL folders so I suppose the deletion of the sub-folders was just to get rid of them to be reinitialized with the new BAGMRU Size value.