[unclew]

In all previous versions of Windows the Recent Items list showed exactly that: recent items, listed chronologically. In Vista (Home Premium) the list is alphabetized, which means any items or files not beginning with A or B are not displayed on the list, even if I just closed them. This is so illogical that I cannot believe it was intentional, yet I've posted the question in numerous Windows newsgroups and no one has a clue as to to fix it.

Does anyone have an idea how can I get that list to show actual recent items like it did in XP?

Thanks.

[VladTheImpaler1990]

Hey i will be getting windows vista today and will get back to you as soon as possible. Sorry i had windows vista but i have not had your problem, but i am sure you can change it under your tools then you folder options then under advance.

[mphenterprises]

Hi UncleW. I am not sure I know exactly what you mean. I have Vista Ultimate and I am able to see all Recent Items (in my case B-T). Yes, my listing is alphabetical; however, I see all the files - from text files to images and video files. I highly doubt there is such a drastic difference between Home Premium and Ultimate that the Recent Items would only be fully visible in Ultimate. Here are the steps I took:

- Clicked on the Vista Start button

- Put my cursor over Recent Items

- All recent items appear to the right of the Start Menu




If you would like to try something:

- Right Click on the Vista Start button and select Properties

- Make sure the Start Menu tab is in the forefront

- You can change the way the Start Menu appears back to the classic style by making sure the radial button is selected for Classic Start Menu

- Click Apply and OK to close this window

[LincolnSpector]

While it lists them alphebetically, it only displays the most recent items. At least that's the case on my computer.



Lincoln

[Adama]

My Recent Items also lists them alphabetically, but there are a couple of things there that I worked on about 8 months ago... to me that's not quite "recent."

[unclew]

Thank you all for your replies and suggestions. I've done a bit of searching over the past couple of days and found quite a few users have complained about the same problem. The only reasonable (?) solution I've found is to go to my Recent folder and delete all the items beyond a certain date. That way at least I'll be able to access the latest files on the Recent Items list. An awkward, unintuitive workaround to be sure, but my options are limited.

Thanks again.

unclew

[mphenterprises]

Hi UncleW. I still am a bit perplexed as to how this is an issue. Three people within this forum who use Vista mentioned that they have full access to all Recent Items. Unless we are all misinterpreting your concern, I cannot see how we can all see the recent items and you cannot.

- How many items list within your Recent Items Start Menu list?

- Did you try the suggestion presented within a previous post?




Right now I am using Windows XP in my Dual Boot computer but I can see at least 30 recent items, all the same assortment as they were within Windows Vista. If we are misunderstanding your concern, please clarify.

[unclew]

mphenterprises, perhaps I'm not clearly explaining my problem. My wife is running WinXP on her computer. There are 15 items listed in her My Recent Documents, alphabetized, just as Recent Items is on my Vista Computer. I created a simple Excel file, named it "Xenophobe" and closed it. I went to My Recent Documents on the XP and "Xenophobe" now appeared at the bottom of the list. The oldest item had dropped off, leaving the 15 most recent files.

Next I did the exact same thing on my Vista computer, however this time the "Xenophobe" file was nowhere to be seen. The 15 files in lowest alphabetical order remained. If I create 100 files beginning with the letters D through Z, not one will appear in my Recent Items list.

It has always been a nice convenience for me to go to My Recent Documents to access files I need. It is frustrating to lose that functionality in Vista.

unclew

[mphenterprises]

That is a very thorough explanation. Thank you.

Using Vista, I just ran the exact same test you did and here are my results:

- I looked at my original Recent Items list (Bookmarks through Toni Braxton-The Heat)

- I created a .txt file and called it Xenophobe

- I saved the file and then closed the file

- I went back to my Recent Items list and it now shows (Bookmarks through Xenophobe) not including Toni Braxton-The Heat

- I created another .txt file and called this one Alpha

- I save the file and then closed the file

- I went back to my Recent Items and it now shows (Alpha through Xenophobe) not including Temp

- I opened up the Recent folder within Windows Explorer and every single recent document, folder, and file were listed since I installed Vista.





(I have a Dual Boot system so I will compare this to Windows XP in a moment)

[smax013]

unclew said:

mphenterprises, perhaps I'm not clearly explaining my problem. My wife is running WinXP on her computer. There are 15 items listed in her My Recent Documents, alphabetized, just as Recent Items is on my Vista Computer. I created a simple Excel file, named it "Xenophobe" and closed it. I went to My Recent Documents on the XP and "Xenophobe" now appeared at the bottom of the list. The oldest item had dropped off, leaving the 15 most recent files.

Next I did the exact same thing on my Vista computer, however this time the "Xenophobe" file was nowhere to be seen. The 15 files in lowest alphabetical order remained. If I create 100 files beginning with the letters D through Z, not one will appear in my Recent Items list.

It has always been a nice convenience for me to go to My Recent Documents to access files I need. It is frustrating to lose that functionality in Vista.

unclew

Based upon others not having a problem, sounds like you might have bug effecting you system that is NOT effecting others. It would appear that for some strange reason, Vista is NOT "flushing" older files in the Recent folder.



Have you been installing all the Micro$oft Updates to Vista? I am wondering if you might be missing an update that might have "fixed" this problem. Or maybe it is something else screwy going on.

[mphenterprises]

To finalize, I am now under Windows XP. I did the exact same process and I got the exact same result. The latest (most recent) items remained in alphabetical order and the earliest (oldest) item dropped off the list.

[unclew]

First to answer smax013 question: yes, I'm consistent in installing all Windows updates as they arrive.

mphenterprises, I guess your test confirms that my OS has some sort of bug. Odd that no one in the MS newsgroups has heard of this. Oh well, I'll continue to haunt the MSKB until enough folks report the problem for MS to address it.

I appreciate the time you took to assist me.

unclew

[SpiritWind]

:D Hi :


I realize this is a long shot, but perhaps the "Tutorial" at www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial130.html

MAY provide some wisdom !? That Forum has several Vista "Tutorials" .

[smax013]

unclew said:

First to answer smax013 question: yes, I'm consistent in installing all Windows updates as they arrive.

mphenterprises, I guess your test confirms that my OS has some sort of bug. Odd that no one in the MS newsgroups has heard of this. Oh well, I'll continue to haunt the MSKB until enough folks report the problem for MS to address it.

I appreciate the time you took to assist me.

unclew

I suspected you were being a good little computer user and applying the updates, but thought it would not hurt to double check.



At this point, it would appear that you either stumbled on a bug that does not effect everyone or you have some program/application/device with drivers installed that creates some sort of conflict that results in Windoze not purging the recent items folder properly. You running any odd utilities or programs?



About the only thing that I can think of at this point would be to do a clean re-install. Considering what a pain in the a$$ that is, I am not sure if that is worth it or not at this point. You might want to hold tight for a while longer and see if someone comes up with a brilliant idea.

[unclew]

Hi Spiritwind, I do have "Show hidden files and folders" selected but there's no joy.

smax013, you're right, this is a real nuisance but not quite frustrating enough for a clean reinstall. I'll bide my time. I need to work on my patience anyway ;)

unclew

[smax013]

unclew said:

smax013, you're right, this is a real nuisance but not quite frustrating enough for a clean reinstall. I'll bide my time. I need to work on my patience anyway ;)

unclew

I hear you! While you are working on your patience, you could try my other "ace up the sleeve"...think violent thoughts such as how the sledge hammer in the garage would do wonders on the computer. I have found that my computer must be telepathic since when I start to think about the sledge hammer, it tends to start behaving better...for a while at least! ;-)

[unclew]

[mphenterprises]

LOL Uncle, SMax is serious the majority of the time. However, when he is joking around, he is hilarious. LOL





Anyway, I think I may have found a workaround for you. Within this Document are the steps to create a new User Account and to copy the files to the new User Account within Windows XP. I just did a test under Windows Vista and, although the verbiage is slightly different, the steps are the same. I cannot guarantee that this will work for you; however, it is worth a shot.

[smax013]

mphenterprises said:

LOL Uncle, SMax is serious the majority of the time. However, when he is joking around, he is hilarious. LOL





Anyway, I think I may have found a workaround for you. Within this [Document|d-1370] are the steps to create a new User Account and to copy the files to the new User Account within Windows XP. I just did a test under Windows Vista and, although the verbiage is slightly different, the steps are the same. I cannot guarantee that this will work for you; however, it is worth a shot.

Now, that I have re-engaged my serious mode, I would agree this is a worthy thing to try. You don't even need to copy the files right away. Just create a new user account and see if the recent files function behaves properly BEFORE worrying about copying over your files (i.e. create a bunch of "dummy" files in the new account until you fill up the recent list so that you can see how it behaves). If the recent files list works in the new user account, then we will know that it is just something in your user account that is corrupted...and you can then copy over the file to the new account and delete the old account. If it does not work, then there is something more fundamentally wrong or corrupted. Regardless, it is a good thought...[mphenterprises] gets a gold star for the day...wait, he alway has a gold star as a moderator! ;-)

[mphenterprises]

LOL Hi SMax. Shoot, you remember me from my "green" days. LOL :D I had no idea what I was doing as a Moderator. I just knew I wanted to help everyone I can. I think I have calmed down quite a bit since then. LOL The best part is that we all continuously hone our strengths and work on our weaknesses. Thanks for the star. :-)