File Manager Directory Window Not Updating

• Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.0, 3.0a

SUMMARY

This article discusses some common File Manager usage problems in Microsoft Windows 3.0.

MORE INFORMATION

When File Manager Updates Its Display

Windows File Manager's directory list window updates automatically when files are changed, added, or deleted under the following circumstances only:

• If a Windows-based application makes the change and uses proper Windows calls to do so
• If an MS-DOS-based application running under Windows in 386 enhanced mode makes the change, and the SYSTEM.INI setting FileSysChange is set to YES (the default):

        FileSysChange=yes
  

  Files changed by MS-DOS-based applications running from Windows in real or standard mode will not update File Manager. To update the directory list display, choose Refresh from the Windows menu, or press F5.

Search Window Not Updated

If you move, delete, or rename a file from the File Manager Search window with the mouse, the Search window is correctly updated. However, if you move, delete, or rename a file by choosing Move from the File menu, the Search window isn't updated.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows versions 3.0 and 3.0a. This problem was corrected in Windows version 3.1.

Network Drives Not Updated

File Manager's active drive listing includes any network drives to which a connection has been established prior to running Microsoft Windows.

Additional drives may be added by choosing the Connect Net Drive command from the Disk menu. If a third-party utility is used to establish network connections, File Manager's drive list does not update, and the drives are not available in File Manager. The only way to update the drive list without closing and restarting File Manager is to connect to or disconnect from a network drive through File Manager, at which point File Manager rereads and updates the drive list.

If a third-party utility establishes or removes network connections, connecting or disconnecting a drive through File Manager forces File Manager to update its drive list, which will then include all changes made by the third-party network utility.

Note that the Refresh command on the Window menu only refreshes the directory tree -- not the drive list. Choosing this command does not make the network drives available.