Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with explorer

I need an awesome junkyard in the DFW area (Dallas).

Jim On Light — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 19:22:57 -0800

I live in Plano, TX, and I am looking for a place where I can basically harvest my own parts from a large scap yard. I am looking for one of those junkyard places (auto salvage yards?) where you can go in, pay a nominal fee, and take parts off of junked cars in order to fix your own car. Basically, I have the skill, I don't have a lot of money, and I enjoy the game of repairing my own car.

(If you're interested, my multi-function switch in my new to me 2002 Ford Explorer is kaput. But it also took the right rear turn signal with it when it died.)

I don't mind 30 or so miles of one way travel to get to a cool yard. I would certainly revisit a place that was awesome and had nice people running it. If you're in the DFW Metroplex and know of a place like this, could you let me know?

Explorer of nothing!

fantasticninety — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:05:04 -0800

Does anyone know what the most all–inclusive WordPress theme for browsers would be? I'd like to use a theme for Wordpress (blogging) that is the most supported by all the different browsers (especially Internet Explorer).

With pictures and video on the site, sometimes the pictures show (depending on the theme I choose), but the videos don't even though they do with Firefox and other browsers.

Are there one or two Wordpress themes (preferably with a wide column for writing the blog in) that are super supportive of Internet Explorer (6 and up).

Thanks so much!

Chrome clone that isn't made of Chrome?

doublehappy — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:35:55 -0800

Are there any browsers that are essentially Chrome clones in function and appearance, but aren't Chrome and don't share any common code? I really like it and find it easy to use, but it kills my computer when I use it (we're talking forcing hard reboots, etc.). So does firefox, incidentally (but less often for some reason).

I tried Iron, but it is the same code, just with the 'send data to google' removed.

How do I hook Windows desktop folder clicks?

long — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:38:45 -0800

I'd like to write a program for Windows XP that detects when a folder on the desktop is clicked and switches the desktop location to that folder, instead of the default Explorer behavior of opening the folder in a window. Roughly, the program will behave like this:
1. User left-clicks folder A on the desktop.
2. Program captures the click, changes the appropriate registry keys, and refreshes the desktop view so that folder A's contents are now displayed on the desktop. (Folder A does not open in an explorer window).

I'm competent at programming, but don't have much experience with the Windows API or hooking. From some googling, I gather that a decent approach is to hook WH_MOUSE_LL, but it seems that detecting whether the clicked object is a folder is non-trivial and potentially kludgey.

Can you advise a general approach that (1) accomplishes the described behavior and (2) isn't too hacky?

Thanks so much,
Long

When i kill and restart explorer.exe, what processes and files does it execute?

lockle — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:33:26 -0800

When i kill and restart explorer.exe, what processes and files does it execute? It doesn't seem to re-execute the files in my startup folder, so when i restart it, what things DOES it restart? Where does it get reference these services, processes, programs? How can i add to the list of what it starts when i kill the process?

IE scrollbars shifting placement of centered background image!

2oh1 — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:11:05 -0800

CSSfilter: Explorer's scroll bars shift my design's centered background image up or down by about ten pixels when the browser width is less than 880 pixels wide (in other words, on a laptop). Arrgh! It should look like this. Is there a better way to force a centered background image to really be CENTERED?!? I'm redesigning my portfolio. The new design is based on an 880px by 420px block (a div). Inside that div are other divs being slid into place when a link is clicked. I'm using a background image to add a 5px black outline and shadow effect around the 880x420 block...

...but IE is screwing up the placement of the background outline/shadow when a bottom scrollbar first appears.

The issue might be that, for whatever reason, IE is adjusting the placement of the background image but not the placement of the div when the scrollbars appear? Or vice versa. Either way, it makes the design look like crap when it happens, so I need to find a fix!

I'm centering the background image in the body section of my css. It works perfectly everywhere except in IE when the viewable browser space is right around 880 px, which seems to happen a lot in laptops.

Any tips or tricks here? Got a fix? I'm at a loss!

Just for the record, I'm a Mac guy and am borrowing a friend's laptop for testing purposes. Coding by hand.

Firefox taking over Explorer?

mrmarley — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:45:31 -0800

When I type in a url into the address bar in Internet Explorer (v 6.0.29) it automatically opens up the page in Mozilla Firefox (v.5.0) - how can I force the page to just open up in Explorer? (I've scoured preferences to no avail) (Windows XP- home)

Gold Keyboard?

clcapps — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:12:48 -0800

SynthFilter: Help me find more information about this keyboard I saw in a pawn shop! I was in a pawn shop a few days ago, and saw and played with a keyboard that I really liked. But now it's gone, and I'd like to at least identify it so I can maybe buy it. The model name was Explorer, but I don't remember who made it. It's not an ARP Explorer, though. It was gold in color, and had built in speakers. It was one of those consumer-grade keyboards from the 80s - maybe 12 sounds on it - BRASS, SYNTH 1, STRINGS, etc... and a few built-in drum beats, and the option of playing the drum sounds on the keyboards. It's hard to search for because of the name - both because of the ARP and because of Vintage Synth Explorer. Anyone have any ideas?

IE JavaScript woes

jpburns — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 12:28:29 -0800

I'm trying to come up with a generalized comic viewer using just JavaScript. I have a solution that works in nearly all browsers, but fails miserably in Internet Explorer (several versions). I don't have easy access to a Windows machine, and wonder if anyone could help me figure out what I'm doing wrong (specifically for IE). The main site is at: http://jamesburnsdesign.com/comics/gwg.html

The JS file is at: http://jamesburnsdesign.com/comics/comicScript.js

I'm sure I'm just doing something stupid, and would appreciate any insights the hive mind could share with me...

Thanks in advance.

Does IE7-like RSS Reader exist for FireFox?

karizma — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:35:49 -0800

I love IE7's built-in RSS/feed reader. I hate, hate, hate IE7's slowness and general, overal crapiness. I would love to use FireFox, but I want the same kind of RSS reader functionality. Is there is a plugin or extension for Firefox that exists and works just like IE7's RSS reader? I am looking for the exact same or as close as possible functionality for an RSS reader in FireFox as found build-in in IE7. I'd like it to integrate into the browser. I can't stand FireFox's live bookmarks.

Things I'm not looking for: Web-based RSS readers, desktop RSS clients, or FireFox extensions/plugins that don't work like how IE7's functionality does.

Does this kind of tool/functionality/plugin/extension exist for Firefox?

(btw, I'm running the current version of Firefox).

Thanks.

Name that alternative file viewer

Lokheed — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 16:01:54 -0800

A few years ago I came across an alternative to Windows Explorer that let you browse the contents of your drives by disk space used. The display was a kind of Mondrian grid, with the files and folders taking up the most disk space having the largest area on the display. Can anyone point me to this utility (or something similar)?

Favicons not showing up

blue shadows — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:20:34 -0800

How can I get Internet Explorer to show favicons? I have over 1000 favorites and use FavIconizer to download and save favicons. Besides looking pretty they help to distinguish bookmarks. I recently upgraded to IE 8 beta, and although I don't know if that is the cause, I now don't have any favicons. I have tried FavIconizer, FavOrg, AM-Deadlink and Icon Restorer and none of them work. The icons download but Explorer is either not looking in the right place or there's a bug or maybe it's a registry/folder setting somewhere because no icons show up. It's driving me nuts! If the sites are resaved then the favicons are added but obviously that would take way too long. Any help? (I don't use Firefox).

Recommend easy-to-use software for elderly people

biwa-shu — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:13:04 -0800

Help me with some free, easy to use software for elderly people to use on a computer. Specifically: hands-off, self-maintaining security, and a good replacement for Windows Explorer. I have to set up a computer for my wife's mother to use to Skype us while we're abroad for a year. I imagine that we will also send her pictures or video via Skype chat that she will want to save and view later. My first challenge is choosing free security software that maintains itself and doesn't have too many dialog boxes popping up; then, if possible, I want to find an alternative to Windows Explorer that makes it easier to save and find files.

Make links in pdf files open in Firefox?

Wet Spot — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:28:23 -0800

Why do links in pdf documents open in Explorer instead of Firefox? I'm using Acrobat 6.0 to display documents containing links to web pages. Clicking on the links in the Acrobat window opens the corresponding web pages in Explorer instead of Firefox, my default browser. How can I make them open in Firefox, always?

(Dell Latitude D600, XP SP 2)

How can I create or add a group of Favorites in Internet Explorer?

Wagging Dog — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:15:36 -0800

How can I turn a long list of hyperlinks into either a list of filenames in Windows Explorer or a list of Favorites in Internet Explorer? Say I have 1,000 hyperlinks in a list so it is 1,000 entries long (could be in an Excel file, a Word file, or on a web page). I want to have these 1,000 hyperlinks as Favorites, which seems to be the same as converting them from the content of one file to the file names of 1,000 files. I can manually save each hyperlink as the name of a file, but if there are 1,000, and if they need to be updated every week, that would be a killer. I need an automated solution.

One Drive To Rule Them All

Optamystic — Sun, 18 May 2008 17:56:25 -0800

I have three 500 MB hard drives in my XP desktop machine, and another 500 MB external. Right now, I'm working with them as four different drive letters, which gets confusing. Is there a utility that will allow me to treat them as a single drive letter? In other words, rather than Explorer seeing drive C, D, E, and F, is there any program that will create a drive X that incorporates the contents of all of the drives?

I'm guessing it would have to be some sort of Windows Explorer replacement, since Explorer chokes on large numbers of files within a singe directory.

Windows Vista is laughing at me...

cgomez — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:37:02 -0800

Server/network/IT-Filter? Windows Vista keeps, or more specifically explorer.exe drops my network transfers, how can I fix this or what is the best Explorer replacement? Also, how can I make Windows Server 2008 more useful on the small scale (more inside of course) ... I previously asked about a storage array for my personal network and ended getting another computer and converting the old one into a RAID-5 Windows Server box.

Here's what's on the network:

Computer 1: Windows Server 2008, RAID-5 Disk Array (2.3TB usable).
Computer 2: Windows Vista Ultimate (used as a media center/personal computer)
Computer 3: MacBook Pro

All of this is linked up through 802.11n/gigabit ethernet.

Question 1: Windows Vista randomly drops network transfers to the server (explorer.exe). This usually happens when I'm moving 5GB or more of data which is often. Essentially it stops transferring and when I press 'cancel', it locks up and I can't kill explorer.exe from the task manager. The only way to recover is restart.

This is, however, not a problem with Windows Networking. I've tried a different file manager called "Directory Opus" which is great and solves my issue. Network transfers never fail. The issue is the program costs $85 US and I'm not going to steal it :-\. So, does anyone have ideas on how to solve explorer.exe or is there a more affordable file manager/Explorer replacement? Also, I've tried this with and without SP1.

Question 2: I'm using Windows Server 2008 as a storage and print server. I've toyed a bit with the virtualization features but I'm looking to see if there are features that might be useful outside a true-server environment for my setup.

(all software licenses are legitimate, piracy is bad, m'kay)

Can firefox mimic the Windows integration of IE?

stupidsexyFlanders — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:26:16 -0800

If throw an address like c:\my documents into an IE address bar, it opens up the folder in windows explorer. If I put the same thing in a firefox address bar, I get an html page that displays the folder/files as a series of links down the page. Anyway to get firefox to replicate the IE behavior on this type of address?

I want Internet Explorer to remember how far down I scrolled

newatom — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:11:47 -0800

Webbrowsing/Internet Explorer 6 Filter: When reading a long webpage(usually several screen lengths), I often click on a link that's part way down. IE goes to that webpage in the same window(as it should). However, when I click back, I often find that I am at the top of the first page. I'm pretty sure it always used to scroll down to where I was before I clicked on the link. Now it only does that sometimes. I know this is minor, but it bugs me sometimes. Is there anything I can do to fix this?

Get this Microsoft out of my iTunes!

M.C. Lo-Carb! — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:22:36 -0800

I disabled Explorer with a fake proxy server address, and now I can't connect to the iTunes store. I don't want to go back to Explorer from Firefox, but I needs some new tunes! My laptop is a 2002 vintage bottom-shelf Toshiba running XP.

Much like this guy, who did not succeed in getting his question answered, I have an annoying popup adware problem that opens explorer, even though I haven't actually used it to search the Web for years.

So since you can't excise Explorer, I just disabled it. But apparently iTunes uses those settings to connect to the iTunes store. Is there a way I could make iTunes connect using Firefox's options, rather than Explorer's?

BTW, regarding the obvious solution, I have tried everything I could think of to get rid of the popup adware thing, and came to the conclusion long ago that it's just a permanent eccentricity of my computer.

Vista Windows Explorer default opening window?

rexruff — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:46:33 -0800

Can you change the default opening window on Vista Windows Explorer? Vista. Windows Explorer, that displays files and folders on the computer.

When I open a WinExplorer window, it _opens to the windows system folder on the c drive_. It takes me a scroll and three clicks to get to the top level or the documents folder that I want to start at. Apparently, the default opening place is the Windows folder? Is there a way to change that? I've run through the help screens, folder options, and google search and found nothing; then again, it's hard to describe so maybe i'm not asking the right question?

A silly thing, but I've got carpal, so three clicks add up.....

Custom Page Cannot Be Displayed Error

linklog — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 11:39:56 -0800

I know you can create custom error pages (via htaccess) for specific sites but is there a way to create a custom 'Page Cannot Be Displayed' page on the browser side with Explorer? I was thinking it might be nice to include a link to google cache of the page or perhaps automatically redirect Explorer to that page.

Why are some major websites suddenly not working on my computer?

jordanian2 — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 10:37:20 -0800

Why are some major websites suddenly not working on my computer? My Internet works perfectly except for a few major websites like bankofamerica.com and unlv.edu. Both Firefox and Internet Explorer can't connect to them. I've always been able to connect to them until about four days ago.

I have ZoneAlarm for my firewall, but I haven't made any changes to it, nor have I installed any new software or hardware or anything.

How can I make these websites work again? I really appreciate your help!

XPExplorer Views

Zimm — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 10:45:34 -0800

Exploer views in XP: Is there a way to effectively manage these? The only way I know to change views is to a)change each folder view manually, or b) go to Tools>Options>View>Apply (this view) to all folders. Any software or tips? Basically, I want all my photos viewed as thumbnails, but other folders in details view, etc. I DON'T want to go through every folder and manually set it...

Alternative to Windows Explorer

russmail — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 12:34:59 -0800

I'm looking for an alternative to Windows Explorer. Specifically, I would like there to be 2 trees, and 2 related panes, either in a horizontal or vertical arrangement. I've been using xplorer² lite recently which does have 2 panes, but only 1 tree. JExplorer is a good example of what I'm looking for - unfortunately though there's a splash screen every time you open it which rapidly drives you mental.
I'd also be happy to learn of any other Explorer alternatives which I haven't yet considered.