.bat file to restart explorer.exe sometimes fail

m18xr2 said:

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im getting this in response from CMD. any idea what might be the cause?

Attachment 303927

My code is PowerShell, not cmd.exe. Open a PowerShell window.

KeithM said:

My code is PowerShell, not cmd.exe. Open a PowerShell window.

so run it with powershell instead of cmd? i'll try that thanks

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KeithM said:

My code is PowerShell, not cmd.exe. Open a PowerShell window.

ran it in powershell, it restarted explorer.exe but did not reopen folders. i am not sure what I did wrong, pls help.

It can only reopen filesystem locations. Virtual folders such as This PC , Quick Access, and Libraries don't have a LocationURL value.

Open some Explorer windows & check the ouput of this command:

Code:

$Shell.Windows() | select LocationName, LocationURL

KeithM said:

It can only reopen filesystem locations. Virtual folders such as This PC , Quick Access, and Libraries don't have a LocationURL value.

Open some Explorer windows & check the ouput of this command:

Code:

$Shell.Windows() | select LocationName, LocationURL

yea this code shows the path of folder that i have opened, but it wasnt part of the original codes, where should this go?

Try3 said:

Keith,

I get the response

Code:

PS C:\> $Shell.Windows() | select LocationName, LocationURL
You cannot call a method on a null-valued expression.
At line:1 char:1
+ $Shell.Windows() | select LocationName, LocationURL
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (:) [], RuntimeException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvokeMethodOnNull

I take it you meant for it to be inserted within the original script?

Denis

Denis,

The initialization of $Shell was in my earlier reply:

Code:

$Shell =New-Object-ComObject shell.application

This was follow-up/troubleshooting code.

Try3 said:

Keith,

Thanks.

I've been playing around with the code and am a bit baffled by its behaviour. Sometimes it captures my open IE windows and sometimes it does not.

I tested it by altering it a bit

Code:

$Shell = New-Object -ComObject shell.application
$SavedPaths = ( $Shell.Windows() | select LocationName, LocationURL ) -ne ''
#####Get-Process explorer | Stop-Process
#####$SavedPaths | ForEach { explorer $_ }
$SavedPaths | ForEach { echo $_ } | export-csv "D:\Desktop\ExplorerProcessList.csv" -append -NoTypeInformation
pause

so I could see what it was picking up instead of going through the whole procedure every time.

The inclusion or omission of IE windows is not critical behaviour but the inconsistency is a puzzle [to me].

Denis

Not sure about the IE window behavior, but if I may....

1. You can drop the -ne '' from:
   $SavedPaths = ( $Shell.Windows() | select LocationName, LocationURL ) -ne ''
   In the original code, it filtered out empty strings that were returned by virtual folders from the array of strings created by expanding LocationURL. You're now creating a custom object that will never match an empty string.
2. $SavedPaths | ForEach { echo $_ } | export-csv "D:\Desktop\ExplorerProcessList.csv"...
   can be simplified to:
   $SavedPaths | export-csv "D:\Desktop\ExplorerProcessList.csv"

KeithM said:

Not sure about the IE window behavior, but if I may....

1. You can drop the -ne '' from:
   $SavedPaths = ( $Shell.Windows() | select LocationName, LocationURL ) -ne ''
   In the original code, it filtered out empty strings that were returned by virtual folders from the array of strings created by expanding LocationURL. You're now creating a custom object that will never match an empty string.
2. $SavedPaths | ForEach { echo $_ } | export-csv "D:\Desktop\ExplorerProcessList.csv"...
   can be simplified to:
   $SavedPaths | export-csv "D:\Desktop\ExplorerProcessList.csv"

ive tried a few times and unlike try3 i have had no success. I opened up several folders (not My Computer type, but c drive, system 32, d drive etc) and they all show and list under

Code:

 $Shell.Windows()|selectLocationName,LocationURL 

but with original code they just dont get restored upon process restart. what could be the cause?

$Shell = New-Object -ComObject shell.application
$SavedPaths = ( $Shell.Windows() | select -expand LocationURL )
Get-Process explorer | Stop-Process
$SavedPaths | ForEach { explorer $_ }