Intermittent appearance of Zip files as folders (SP3)

[ChrisGreaves]

This has been nagging at me for months now:
Why does Windows Explorer suddenly decide to show ZIP files as folders in the left-hand pane, and just as suddenly not?
Right now they are there. Later today they will not be there?
I should add that all the zip files are created by the same process/package in this case a DOS batch file running PKZip25.EXE
I do not update these zip files in situ, I just rerun the batch file to create a new zip file using a date/time stamp as file name.

1.JPG

[HansV]

Do you have WinZip (or another third-party file compression utility for Windows)?

[ChrisGreaves]

Do you have WinZip (or another third-party file compression utility for Windows)?

I may have, but I don't use it AFAIK.
I use my DOS batch file to effect zipping, and use Windows' "Extraction Wizard" for extraction.
The dis/appearance is something that was brought to my attention last night; once it was pointed out to me I realized that indeed the left-pane behavior had been changing, but hadn't risen to my consciousness.
Now, of course, it is a minor irritant! (But still, no big thing).

I am curious as to whether other loungers have noticed this effect.

3.JPG

[HansV]

I think it may have to do with (a) how zip files were created, and (b) whether you have installed a third-party zip utility.

Windows XP (and later versions of Windows) have built-in support for zipping and unzipping, and by default, they treat zip files as folders in Windows Explorer.
If you install a third-party compression utility such as WinZip, it will (with your permission) take over the .zip association, and this changes the way Windows Explorer treats zip files.
And, although I don't have any proof for this, I suspect that these third-party utilities may add custom properties to zip files that may cause Windows Explorer not to see them as folders any more.

By the way, it is possible to turn off the built-in support for zip files. If you do that, Windows doesn't see zip files as folders any more, and it will not search inside zip folders. You'll have to use a third-party utility for zipping and unzipping.
Turn do this:
- Select Start | Run...
- Type

regsvr32 /u %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll

- Press Enter or click OK.
- Restart Windows.

To turn on the built-in support for zip files again, do the same, but with

regsvr32 %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll

[ChrisGreaves]

regsvr32 /u %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll

GOOD CALL!
Using the "zipfldr.dll" as a clue, I searched my batch files and found a little "NoZip.bat" which, I suspect, is getting invoked from somewhere/someone.
I have dropped a PAUSE statement in there to catch the little sneak ...

Code: Select all

regsvr32 /u /s cabview.dll
regsvr32 /u /s zipfldr.dll