Windows 11 Explorer alternative

LesFerch said:

@Fabler2 and @hdmi Perhaps I gave the wrong impression. It's just a 67KB portable executable that launches Explorer via the Control Panel. I'm not asking for a long term commitment, but just a quick test to confirm it works on computers other than my own. It's literally a quick download and double-click. Should take less than a minute.

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Most probably the .exe is fine but Defender is complaining so it has been removed

Will leave it removed.

LesFerch said:

... just a quick test to confirm it works on computers other than my own.

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It opens the same shell SAB does.

Edwin said:

It opens the same shell SAB does.

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As it should. Thanks for testing!

Fabler2 said:

Most probably the .exe is fine but Defender is complaining so it has been removed

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Yes, that's a false positive, but I'm not seeing any issues with Defender on any of my test machines. Are your definitions up to date?

LesFerch said:

Are your definitions up to date?

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Yes.

What's the difference between Win10 Explorer and Win11 Explorer? At least in Win11 22H2 there is no difference.

Anixx said:

What's the difference between Win10 Explorer and Win11 Explorer? At least in Win11 22H2 there is no difference.

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You should see many interface differences and there are also functional differences, such as setting the folder type for an entire folder tree does not work on the Win11 Explorer.

Can you post a screenshot of each from your machine?

LesFerch said:

You should see many interface differences and there are also functional differences, such as setting the folder type for an entire folder tree does not work on the Win11 Explorer.

Can you post a screenshot of each from your machine?

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I never used Windows 10, but the Explorer in Windows 11 is roughly the same as in Windows 8.1
I really do not know what is meant by "setting folder type". I would like to know what is meant.

Here's a screenshot of the Windows 11 Explorer:


Here's a screenshot of the Windows 10 Explorer on Windows 11 accessed via the Control Panel:


Here's the dialog where you can set the folder type (aka folder kind):


The option "Also apply this template to all subfolders" does not work on the Windows 11 Explorer. On a USB drive (that does NOT mount as a "local disk") the subfolders will remain as type "General items". And on a "local disk" such as C:, you can not override the automatically selected folder type (which resets every time you open a folder causing performance issues on some folders).

And for those who say "it works for me on Windows 11", that's because you have a mod, such as StartAllBack or Explorer Patcher, installed that makes Windows 11 use the Windows 10 Explorer code.

Fabler2 said:

Yes.

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Is Smart App Control turned on? It's off on all my machines, grayed out, and apparently can't be enabled without reinstalling Windows:


Edit: Please let me know if that option is on, but my understanding is that this should only block unsigned Exes. My Exe is signed with a valid certificate, so the block on your machine is really bugging me. It falsely claims a trojan which I have only seen before with very old definitions. Very strange.

LesFerch said:

Is Smart App Control turned on? It's off on all my machines, grayed out, and apparently can't be enabled without reinstalling Windows:


Edit: Please let me know if that option is on, but my understanding is that this should only block unsigned Exes. My Exe is signed with a valid certificate, so the block on your machine is really bugging me. It falsely claims a trojan which I have only seen before with very old definitions. Very strange.

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It's off.

LesFerch said:

Here's a screenshot of the Windows 11 Explorer:

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LesFerch said:

Here's a screenshot of the Windows 10 Explorer on Windows 11 accessed via the Control Panel:

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The only difference is command bar style, which is switched by a checkbox in Explorer Patcher or in registry.

LesFerch said:

such as setting the folder type for an entire folder tree does not work on the Win11 Explorer.

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Do you mean it is a bug? I have the corresponding checkbox in Win11.

LesFerch said:

And on a "local disk" such as C:, you can not override the automatically selected folder type (which resets every time you open a folder causing performance issues on some folders).

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I wonder why this function is needed? I can set the view options in any folder and it gets remembered, I never used that "folder type" thing.

Anixx said:

Do you mean it is a bug? I have the corresponding checkbox in Win11.

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Yes, it's a bug. The checkbox is there. It does not work.

Anixx said:

I wonder why this function is needed? I can set the view options in any folder and it gets remembered, I never used that "folder type" thing.

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Let's say you have a folder with dozens of subfolders. You cannot set a view for an entire folder tree, so, if you want the same view for all those subfolders, you would have to set them one at a time.

However, you can set the folder type for an entire folder tree (on Windows 10) and that will apply the same view to all of those folders. That's what does not work with an unmodified Win11 Explorer.

Anixx said:

The only difference is command bar style, which is switched by a checkbox in Explorer Patcher or in registry.

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As I mentioned, there are functional differences as well (that may not matter to you). Another one is the ability to work with the "offline files and folders" feature.

Also note that when you use a tool, such as EP, to change the command bar to the Windows 10 style ribbon, it switches you to the Windows 10 Explorer code. That's why the option to set the folder type for a whole tree works again after using EP or StartAllBack.

LesFerch said:

Yes, it's a bug. The checkbox is there. It does not work.

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Yes, Windows nowadays is absolutely buggy. For instance, it depocts irrelevant icons instead of checkboxes:

LesFerch said:

Also note that when you use a tool, such as EP, to change the command bar to the Windows 10 style ribbon, it switches you to the Windows 10 Explorer code. That's why the option to set the folder type for a whole tree works again after using EP or StartAllBack.

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Hmm. I think command bar and folder type features should not influence each other. EP does not switch to use "old code" systemwide, it switches on and off certain features.
Maybe it is aware about folder type bug and fixes it, I do not know, but it is not because it switches all the explorer to "old code".

In most cases, depending on the software, it has nothing to do with switching/swapping code..., it's simply loading an alternative shell, or stylesheet by way of a guest dll...



Heck, you can still drum up the old UWP File Explorer from the bowels of Windows..., of course, it's probably governed by an app manifest but, it's mounted via Explorer...