file and folder names are gone

This is a new one. Really thought I'd seen every curveball this abysmal new
OS had to throw at me. GOT A NEW ONE! Maybe it isn't new to y'all, but I
couldn't find an existing thread about it.

Somehow, Vista has decided to stop showing me the names of files and
folders. Instead, it prefers to show me the Date Modified. It would seem
easy enough to fix this--just right-click and tell it to show me File Name.
You would think that I would be able to do that, because you would think that
Windows Vista isn't stupid. That would make you wrong, because it IS stupid,
and it does not even offer me the option of showing File Name. The only way
I can find file and folder names is by opening up the Properties box. That's
annoying.

What, exactly, was the problem with XP? Oh right, it wasn't enough like
Mac's OS, because it actually let you control an iota of your own computer,
and didn't try to second-guess you all the time, wrecking your computer in
the process. Thank you, Microsoft, for assuming that I'm a child, and acting
like a crackhead parent.

Jono11

If you are actually looking for a solution, please post some details about
the problem.

However, if this is simply a rant, I understand your frustration. It can be
difficult to actually learn something new when you have done things the same
way for soooo long.

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User


"Jono11" <Jono11@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:5F72F4D8-B9F9-45C1-B10A-3984F688E238@microsoft.com...
> This is a new one. Really thought I'd seen every curveball this abysmal
> new
> OS had to throw at me. GOT A NEW ONE! Maybe it isn't new to y'all, but I
> couldn't find an existing thread about it.
>
> Somehow, Vista has decided to stop showing me the names of files and
> folders. Instead, it prefers to show me the Date Modified. It would seem
> easy enough to fix this--just right-click and tell it to show me File
> Name.
> You would think that I would be able to do that, because you would think
> that
> Windows Vista isn't stupid. That would make you wrong, because it IS
> stupid,
> and it does not even offer me the option of showing File Name. The only
> way
> I can find file and folder names is by opening up the Properties box.
> That's
> annoying.
>
> What, exactly, was the problem with XP? Oh right, it wasn't enough like
> Mac's OS, because it actually let you control an iota of your own
> computer,
> and didn't try to second-guess you all the time, wrecking your computer in
> the process. Thank you, Microsoft, for assuming that I'm a child, and
> acting
> like a crackhead parent.

I'm looking for a solution. What else do you want to know about the problem?

This isn't about me doing things the same or different. This is about my
computer is about to die on me, it takes about 20 minutes to boot, Internet
Explorer acts like I'm on a dialup connection, and nothing works the way it's
supposed to--I bought the computer less than seven months ago!

Hi, Jono11.

> I'm looking for a solution. What else do you want to know about the
> problem?

We want to know something that would help us help you fix the problem.

As Ronnie said, it would help if you actually tell us about the problem,
rather than continuing to just rant. :>( As you ought to know, WE are not
Microsoft, either. We are just users, like you. Some of us volunteer a lot
of time to help out where we can. Others come here looking for answers to
their own problems and chime in when they see something they can help with.
Others just come here to rant. :>(

You haven't even told us the make and model of your computer. Or which
Vista version you are running. Or anything else of substance.

From your original post:
> Somehow, Vista has decided to stop showing me the names of files and
folders. Instead, it prefers to show me the Date Modified.

Vista is highly customizable. In Windows Explorer, right-click on the
header of any column, then, in the context menu, check each item that you
would like displayed. But you obviously know that already.

If you don't see the columns that you want, you may need to click View (not
Views) | Customize this folder... At the top of the Customize tab, it asks
"What kid of folder do you want?" and gives you a drop-down menu with
several choices. You may have somehow set this to Pictures and Videos, for
example, rather than Documents. Try each of these until you find the one
you like for this folder; you may want to check the box to apply this to all
subfolders here.

On the Toolbar, there is a Views button with a small triangle indicating a
drop-down menu. This lets you choose to show the files as icons, tiles or
the familiar Details. See which one shows the information you want to see.

But none of this may be your particular problem. In all the Views, Name is
shown by default and can't be deselected. If you see Date Modified, but not
Name, you may have the Name column narrowed down so far that you can't read
the names. No, there is a minimum width; the Name column is always at least
80 pixels wide. But you may have moved the Name column far to the right, so
that it no longer appears onscreen, especially if you have narrowed the
Explorer window, or have added a lot of other columns, or have made another
column very wide.

I could go on guessing for a long time, Jono11. But it would help if you
would just tell us more about how your Windows Explorer window has been
customized. You can see it. We can't.

Or, you can just rant some more. But remember: We're NOT Microsoft. We
can't fix it. All we can do is help you to fix it. We hope.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@grandecom.net
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail beta 2 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 beta v.275)

"Jono11" <Jono11@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:201AA17E-5DF5-4333-9D4D-1747143AF315@microsoft.com...
> I'm looking for a solution. What else do you want to know about the
> problem?
>
> This isn't about me doing things the same or different. This is about my
> computer is about to die on me, it takes about 20 minutes to boot,
> Internet
> Explorer acts like I'm on a dialup connection, and nothing works the way
> it's
> supposed to--I bought the computer less than seven months ago!