Unable to select multiple files in Windows Explorer
March 5th, 2007I use windows explorer a lot in Vista with select all or Ctrl+a to select multiple files, now the annoying thing is it works perfectly just like on XP, but here’s the catch, after a while using it suddenly I cannot select multiple files anymore or even use the Ctrl+a key (even tried on file and select all) because it’s either grayed out or just won’t let me, now by that time i have to select one by one which is very annoying!
Is there a solution to that or security settings that I need to change, because right now if I have to delete i.e. more then 20 documents I don’t even bother anymore which make me to do the system restore to get back to the previous settings which still works flawlessly.
In waiting for your response, Thank You.
- Jodi
This is due to a rogue setting which is created is perpetuated by the saved folder view settings.
- Run Regedit.
- In Regedit, navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags
In it try to identify the the BAG number which is causing the selection problem. Delete that single bag entry. If you are unable to identify it then delete the entire Bags folder. All that these Bags entries do is remember folder view settings so you would not be deleting anything vital. Moreover, they get re-created once you logoff, logon and start using Windows Explorer.
March 18th, 2007 at 6:24 pm
Hi guys,
Thanx a lot.It worked for me and I would surely recomend this site to everybody worried with this BUG in VISTA.
March 18th, 2007 at 9:20 pm
@Chandrashekar:
Good to know it was of help to you.
May 11th, 2007 at 4:17 am
Thanks a bunch. (Gotta love that Vista is so much more user-friendly and better organized then XP. Ha. Interested to see what happens w/ SP1.)
May 14th, 2007 at 2:29 am
Thanks, exactly what I needed
May 14th, 2007 at 4:02 am
@Robaye and David:
Glad to know if worked for you
June 10th, 2007 at 12:13 am
really tanks!!! I was becoming crazy with this bug…
July 10th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
i was dreading this but your solution for this problem was so simple . this problem had driven me crazy . i do want to know if it is posible to stop this problem from surfacing again so that i don’t have to modify the registry to cure my comp
August 23rd, 2007 at 1:33 am
Thanx a lot dude!! worked for me… relieved!!
October 5th, 2007 at 6:16 am
Thanks for this, solved the problem immediately.
December 11th, 2007 at 2:49 am
Thanks a ton!! this problem was bugging me a lot…. am so relaxed that multiple selection works after all in Vista
Cheers!!
January 3rd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Awesome. Worked like a charm.
February 12th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Hi!
This problem can be solved a lot easier, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934548/en-us. It is NOT the ‘fault’ of Vista, but it happens because some stubborn programs write the already mentioned key in the registry. Which they shouldn’t do.
Ronald.
March 4th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
@Ronald: mentioned KB is very shady - no real info - what apps are responsible for this issue?
Because right now on my Vista machine I’ve wiped HDDs, installed clean Vista x64, installed a couple of drivers, NO APPS yet, no Windows Updates yet, no networking or internet connection at all, didn’t mess around or anything and already got this issue!
nVidia driver messing with shell reg keys? Seems unlikely to me…
May 20th, 2008 at 10:41 am
hey DUDE thnkX a Lot UR freak’n awsome and wicked
thnkx for the help…
July 4th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Above mentioned link, “tp://support.microsoft.com/kb/934548/en-us.” didn’t work for me. I have Swedigh Vista Ultimate.
August 14th, 2008 at 9:55 am
First, my Vista is clean (no piracy, never malware, etc…)
I use the ‘problem’ Vista (no multiboot) as end user.
The solution here presented looked promissing because I indeed a trillions of those ‘bags’.
I used this “trick” a few months ago, it looked ok BUT I’ve (NTFS) quadrillions of folders…
Today I got a folder with all subfolders having the problem and went looking if those bags were back…
No “bags” so IT IS NOT THE SOLUTION.
Lucky are those for who the “trick” works, it looks like I have benefit from it but it’s not 100% so I’ve done, who want to have this pc etc… take it and never say a word about it! I’ve at home a HP3000 mini computer with MPE/ix propretary OS, it can run any Windows version (if I REALLY need windows) in a sandbox and a lot faster than any state-of-the-art $1.5 million pc (4 Xeons, 128GB RAM, etc…) and no “suicide” bugs.
So thanks and goodbye, I only used a pc in order to be capable to help famaly, relatives, friends, collegues, friends from friends, friends from friends from friends, etc… Now I gonne sleep and wake up as reborn with lots of free time not helping those billions shitwindows end users.
Hasta la vista!
November 23rd, 2008 at 1:53 am
on my Dell laptop with Vista Home Premium, I can select multiple files only using the right CTRL key, not the left!! the right key works perfectly, the left one only sometimes….
December 12th, 2008 at 9:06 am
matteo, thats seems like a hardware issue. perhaps time to change the keyboard unless you wanna live with it..
December 14th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
I have the same problem, the left ctrl key will not select multiple files. However, it works for other things, like for ctrl-alt-delete, just not for selecting files. The right ctrl key selects multiple files just fine. Running vista on a Dell Studio laptop. HELP!
December 17th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Also, I noticed that the left ctrl key has now started doing the same thing (works for everything except selecting multiple files) on my desktop (windows xp), after installing the Dell Dock. Any ideas why the Dell Dock would cause the left ctrl key to stop selecting multiple files?
January 19th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
I have exactly the same problem with my brand new Dell Studio laptop so it seems like a Dell bug with Vista.
I seems to vary by application. I have left+ctrl working fine (right now) in an explorer window but not in an image thumbnail tool. Behaviour randomly changes and running executable as administrator seems to have an effect.
January 19th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Looks like it’s a bug in the Alps touchpad driver :
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19244312/19378810.aspx
Will test and let you know.
January 19th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
I was not able to find the correct driver but it is definitely the source of the problem. To prove this you simply need to kill the “apoint.exe” process in the task manager and the left ctrl file/thumbnail select starts working again immediately. The touch pad also still works but you lose the extras like scrolling.