Jump to content

History Not Showing In Explorer


Dave-H

Recommended Posts

Hi, this is my first post in this forum, having recently upgraded my old faithful Windows 2000 installation to XP SP3.

:hello:

I have upgraded everything I can to the latest versions, including IE, and am now using IE8.

Everything seems to be fine apart from one strange problem.

The History information is not showing, all it shows is a "Search History" dropdown, and nothing else.

This is the case both in Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer.

I did some research on this, and while it doesn't seem to be a unique problem, there seems to be only a few suggestions for fixes, none of which worked in my case when I tried them.

I then by pure chance, found something very strange.

I use a program called "Run" on my desktop, which allows me to run applications from one click on a button in a window. It's an ancient 16 bit program, that doesn't even recognise non 8.3 DOS file names, but it has always worked fine.

It will only run executable files, not shortcuts.

I use it to run IE and Windows Explorer among many other programs.

I found by pure chance that if I run IE or Explorer using a "proper" shortcut, the History works, but not if I run it using the "Run" program!

What the difference is I completely fail to see.

The "target" command line and the "start in" path is exactly the same in the "Run" program as it is on the shortcut, so why would they produce different results?

I am baffled!

This did not happen with IE6 SP1, which is what I had to use with Windows 2000 of course.

I did briefly have IE6 SP2 before I upgraded to IE8, but I'm afraid that I didn't notice whether this happened with that version or not.

I've tried experimenting with running the IE shortcut from the "Run" program instead of running the exe directly, but haven't had much success.

This isn't a big problem, more just an annoying niggle, but I really would like to know why it's happening if anyone has any ideas.

Thanks, Dave.

:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites


History panel can be opened up with keyboard shortcut CTRL+SHIFT+H. Also it is under View -> Explorer Bars -> History

Indeed it can be and is, but that's not the problem!

It opens up fine, but there's nothing there except the "search" dropdown if I run IE using my desktop "Run" program.

If I run IE using a shortcut, the weeks and days of the history are displayed.

I was just asking why one method of running IE works, and the other doesn't when they at at least superficially identical.

:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm I'm not certain then. I can see history from these methods:

- Icon in taskbar

- run iexplore

- type in internet in Search and select IE that way

- select from Start Menu

- run IE safe mode (no add-ons)

So it might be something on your machine, but it is indeed weird. What about if you try to run as Administrator?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am an Administrator, so it's not that.

:no:

Just tried another test.

If I go the the IE folder and double click the iexplore.exe file, IE opens with no History displayed.

If I create a shortcut to the exe in the same folder, double clicking that produces the same result.

However, if I cut and paste the same shortcut to the desktop, and double click it, it still runs IE, but this time with the History displayed!

Curiouser and curiouser........

I'm wondering if maybe it's a path problem.

:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you mean the History Bar is shown when you open it? Or that you want it to appear when you open the browser?

No, it's not that.

When I open the IE browser using my "Run" program, everything works fine for browsing.

However, if I go to View>Explorer Bars>History the bar opens with the History tab shown, but there is nothing there except a dropdown called "Search History".

If I run the browser using the normal shortcuts there is a list of weeks and days there which allows me to see the history contents.

That's what I don't understand. Why should running the browser two different ways produce different results?!

:huh:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I open the IE browser using my "Run" program, everything works fine for browsing.

However, if I go to View>Explorer Bars>History the bar opens with the History tab shown, but there is nothing there except a dropdown called "Search History".

If I run the browser using the normal shortcuts there is a list of weeks and days there which allows me to see the history contents.

That's what I don't understand. Why should running the browser two different ways produce different results?!

It seems to make a diiference if you start "explorer.exe" from "system32" of using your program.

Maybe your program "Run" adds some parameters, I don`t know.

Search for "explorer.exe" on your system (there are different "shortcuts") and execute them by using your "Run".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I open the IE browser using my "Run" program, everything works fine for browsing.

However, if I go to View>Explorer Bars>History the bar opens with the History tab shown, but there is nothing there except a dropdown called "Search History".

If I run the browser using the normal shortcuts there is a list of weeks and days there which allows me to see the history contents.

That's what I don't understand. Why should running the browser two different ways produce different results?!

It seems to make a diiference if you start "explorer.exe" from "system32" of using your program.

Maybe your program "Run" adds some parameters, I don`t know.

Search for "explorer.exe" on your system (there are different "shortcuts") and execute them by using your "Run".

I am certain g-force means 'iexplore.exe' instead of 'explorer.exe'

;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am certain g-force means 'iexplore.exe' instead of 'explorer.exe'

;)

Yes, you're probably right, although explorer.exe, the Windows Explorer, does have the same problem.

I've just tried another experiment.

If I run the IE .lnk shortcut from a command line using the "start" command, both using the "run" option on the start menu, or a command prompt, IE opens up fine with the History display correct.

However, if I run exactly the same command line using my desktop "Run" program, IE still opens, but without the History displayed correctly!

This is what's baffling me, why the same command line should produce different results when run in different ways.

:)

Edited by Dave-H
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...