[drdarknyc]

If anyone has ran into the problem before, I'd appreciate some help.
I've tried just about everything to resolve this issue.

The problem is when a program (any program) that uses the "Browse For Folder" Dialog, only the Desktop and the User folders show up in the list. What is missing and is very important is to be able to browse the computer.

This is what appears now:



Now if I login to a different windows 7 user profile that I just created for testing purposes, it shows up everything correctly.

This is how it is supposed to appear:



Does anyone know how to fix this issue, apparently it's a profile issue, and was caused by an installation of a program. I can't figure out which program caused this, as I have recently installed many programs. I also scanned the computer for spyware / malware / viruses with several typical programs, and all came back clean (super anti-spyware, malware bytes, drweb, and avast) ..

I played with the registry somewhat, since it appears to be a profile issue, but could not fix it. I can not restore to a previous state has the history snapshots dont' go back far enough, and creating and using a new profile would be a pain in the neck, and may occur again.

Regardless, I'd like to know how to fix this so that if it happens again I know how to resolve it.

I'd be very happy if someone out there has a solution..

Thanks..

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If the profile's corrupt, all you can do is make a new one and copy the data over, then delete the corrupt one.
This happens from time to time. Not really "fixable" in itself as it's far easier and quicker simply to make a new profile.

[Neil Jones]

If the profile's corrupt, all you can do is make a new one and copy the data over, then delete the corrupt one.
This happens from time to time. Not really "fixable" in itself as it's far easier and quicker simply to make a new profile.

[drdarknyc]

I don't think the actual profile is corrupted, I just copied the profile to another profile successfully but it caused the same issue.

It's probably one setting in a file and or registry that limits the browse for folder dialog to your personal files and not the entire computer.

I just wish I knew what that one setting is and where..

[drdarknyc]

I resolved the issue.

As I suspected it was NOT a corrupted registry or anything else corrupted.


When you have too many icons on your desktop (yes, desktop), it will break browse for folder...

The way I figured this out was..

I created a new profile, everything worked fine, until I started moving all my data to the new profile (desktop icons, documents, etc.)... After spending an extended period of time doing this, I found that the issue came back.

So I decided to slowly wipeout the data I was putting back.

I removed all of "my documents", and the issue still existed. I then attempted to remove all of my desktop icons, and it appeared to have resolved the issue.

I started placing them back, and the issue re-appeared. I was convinced it was a particular folder or file on the desktop that was causing the problem, so I started removing them in groups, until it resolved my problem. I placed random groups back, and the problem came back.

My solution, I created folders for a few groups of my icons.

My desktop icons are very organized, across multiple monitors, and keep them at a small size, hence it doesn't look overwhelming or cluttered (not a messy desktop).. I was surprised that having too many desktop icons breaks "browse for folder”..

I had 252 icons; I reduced it to 197 icons to resolve the issue. I am not sure what the limit is, I am guessing 200??

I'd consider this to be a BUG in windows 7, and not a feature. Hopefully microsoft will resolve this issue in with an update..


I hope this helps anyone else who may run into this problem..