Total commander does not change drive selected in the combobox in the upper left corner

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ldor
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Total commander does not change drive selected in the combobox in the upper left corner

Post by *ldor »

I've been encountering this problem since a few years already on 3 different computers. Two of them run Windows 7, the third one runs Windows 10. I don't remember on which version of TC the problem appeared first but with the latest version it is still there.
So, from time to time TC stops changing the drive when I select a different drive in the small combobox located in the upper left cornet of either pane. The drive letter in the combobox changes but the directory displayed in the respective pane does not change. A temporary solution is to close TC and to open it again. Then it would be able to change drive 1-2 times, then the problem comes up again. Restarting the computer helps better. Then for some time TC is able to change drive but ultimately the problem reappears.
As I said, it's already the third computer where I am encountering this problem, so it must be something general, not computer specific.
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Re: Total commander does not change drive selected in the combobox in the upper left corner

Post by *petermad »

What kind of drives do you experience this with? Local harddisks? Local harddisk partitions? Mapped drives (local or network shares)? Media drives (smartphone etc)? Removable drives (CD-drives, USB-drives, USB-sticks, Floppy drives (getting nostalgic))? RAM-drives? Substituted drives?

Are you in a locked tab when you change drive (then the drive will open in another tab)?

Next time it happens for you could you maybe provide a screenshot...?
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ldor
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Re: Total commander does not change drive selected in the combobox in the upper left corner

Post by *ldor »

It happens with all kinds of drives I use - local hard disk partitions, local hard disks, USB-sticks.

I don't know what a locked tab is, never used that feature. So, I suppose, I am not in a locked tab. When I change drive, it opens in the same tab, not in another one.

Right now this problem is not happening but I will try to explain it using the screenshot below. I now have drive C selected in the left pane and drive D in the right. Suppose, I want to change the drive in the left pane to D. So I use the combobox marked with the red arrow. But after I select drive D there, the content of the left pane will remain unchanged, although "d" will appear in the combobox.

Image: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jKuqMggta5aeS5FMq7WIdS4HEMr8Z4VN/view?usp=sharing

As I said, this happens already on the third computer I use. So it looks like something general, not computer specific.
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elgonzo
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Re: Total commander does not change drive selected in the combobox in the upper left corner

Post by *elgonzo »

Uh, your screenshot says you are using TC 8.01.

Why don't you try with the current TC version 9.51? (On a related note, i cannot confirm the problem in TC 9.51 x64 and x86 on Win7 x64.)

Even if it we were to assume this would indeed be a bug in TC 8.01, there is imo pretty much zero chance that Christian will spend effort fixing a bug in an outdated version of TC from eight years ago.
Begrudgingly back to Windows... now 11... sigh... but i have no nerve for Linux desktop anymore...
ldor
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Re: Total commander does not change drive selected in the combobox in the upper left corner

Post by *ldor »

On this computer it is TC 8.01 but just a week ago I installed 9.51 on another computer and encountered the same issue again. Only after that I decided to report this issue. Otherwise, as I said, I've been having it since several years on different computers and different versions of TC.
Moreover, when I just installed TC 9.51 on my new computer, the issue was permanent. Restarting would help for 2-3 times, then it would stop changing drives again. Now, after one week, it subsided somewhow but still happens from time to time.
Now I am on another computer, that is why I sent a screenshot of TC 8.01. But, as I said, it's the same on the latest version
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Re: Total commander does not change drive selected in the combobox in the upper left corner

Post by *Dalai »

Try with a fresh wincmd.ini:

Code: Select all

totalcmd.exe /i="%temp%\fresh.ini"
to see if that fixes the issue. If so, it's likely some setting in your wincmd.ini.

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Re: Total commander does not change drive selected in the combobox in the upper left corner

Post by *elgonzo »

You have the same problem with various TC versions on various different computers running various Windows versions.
Yet, it seems the issue has not been reported before -- or more precisely, i couldn't find a post here on the forum of another user experiencing similar problems like you. This makes me believe that there is something we are missing about how you set up and operate your computers that makes your setup(s) unusual in comparison to the "common" TC user.

I would suggest to first follow Dalai's suggestion, as it is easily and quickly executed. If this does not help in troubleshooting the problem, look at any 3rd-party software you are using across your machines that can potentially meddle with filesystem operations (like antivirus/antimalware, on-the-fly-encryption for files/disks, any other software whose features require monitoring of filesystem activities, etc...). If this also doesn't give a clue, look at any 3rd-party desktop utilities or similar you are using that could potentially interact with a program's GUI controls in some way.

Finally, as a suggestion of last resort (in case you have not done so already, and if you can afford the effort/time), make a complete virgin standard Windows installation on one of the affected computers (use a proper clean original Windows installation media that has not been modified/tampered with) without installing any 3rd-party software (no, do not even install drivers for your hardware if they are not part of the genuine Windows installation media) and then run TC on this virgin Windows installation. See if the issue appears. If it doesn't, install step-by-step any driver and other software you need/want to use, and after installing each of those run TC again to see when the issue starts appearing. That perhaps could hopefully help to narrow down the problem scenario...
Begrudgingly back to Windows... now 11... sigh... but i have no nerve for Linux desktop anymore...
ldor
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Re: Total commander does not change drive selected in the combobox in the upper left corner

Post by *ldor »

Thank you guys. Actually, there is one report of a similar issue in the forums, a very old one, of 2009: https://www.ghisler.ch/board/viewtopic.php?t=21537 . And, as far as I can see from that chain, the issue was not resolved then.

I am trying now Dalai's suggestion but since yesterday I did not experience this issue yet. It is really strange, it comes up from time to time, continues to appear for some period and then disappears for some time. So now I am in a period where this issue does not show up. So will wait.

As for a virgin installation of Windows, I cannot do that, it's too much trouble. But I've done almost the same just less than 2 weeks ago. It was a new computer with a virgin installation of Windows 10. I did install drivers but nothing else before installing TC. And in the very beginning this problem would come up every time. Re-opening TC or restarting the computer would help just for one time. Next time TC was not able to change drive. But now it happens much more rarely, yesterday it did not happen at all. So it's really weird. Will wait till the issue re-appears and will share my observations then.
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Re: Total commander does not change drive selected in the combobox in the upper left corner

Post by *ldor »

Was just able to reproduce the issue.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PFUD1stpRxmDtXwqAKzGAZ0Srta4t_9k/view?usp=sharing
As you can see, the drive letter shown in the left combobox is C but right underneath it you can see d:\*.* . It is because I tried to select drive C instead of D but TC could not change the drive.
I am currently running two instances of TC - one with my old ini file and another one with fresh.ini as suggested by Dalai. So the issue appeared with both instances at the same time. Probably this means that the reason is not in the ini file?
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Re: Total commander does not change drive selected in the combobox in the upper left corner

Post by *Dalai »

Can you change the drive when you type "cd C:\" into the TC command line (without quotes)?

And, as elgonzo suggested: Look for background programs present on all affected systems. There might be one among them that injects its DLLs into all processes; anti-virus programs might do this, but 3rd party desktop interaction programs like AquaSnap are known to do this (to be able to change/manipulate window behavior).

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Re: Total commander does not change drive selected in the combobox in the upper left corner

Post by *ldor »

Yes, I can change the drive by typing "cd C:\"
As for the background programs, difficult to say. All three computers have different antiviruses. On of them is my work computer, it was configured by our IT department, not by me. So their configuration is quite different, although there are some programs installed on all of them. But I don;t have anything like on-the-fly-encryption and things like that
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Re: Total commander does not change drive selected in the combobox in the upper left corner

Post by *ldor »

And, as I have just mentioned, on my new almost virgin machine, which had only Windows and drivers installed, no other software, this issue would appear almost every time.
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Re: Total commander does not change drive selected in the combobox in the upper left corner

Post by *Dalai »

Sounds to me like something is interfering with TC's GUI.

Download and start Process Hacker, open the properties of any totalcmd.exe process and switch to tab "Modules" and sort it by "Company name". Check all modules that are neither Ghisler Software GmbH nor Microsoft Corporation. Do this an all affected systems to try to find a commonality.

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Re: Total commander does not change drive selected in the combobox in the upper left corner

Post by *petermad »

2ldor
Could you try and enable the drive button bar ("Configuration" -> "Options..." -> "Layout" -> "Show drive buttons") - and next time it happens then see if you can change the drive with the button.

Also try and change the setting "Configuration" -> "Options..." -> "Operation" -> "Main program" -> "Always go to root when changing drives" to see if that makes a difference.

On you Screenshot you are using Brief View - does it also happen in Full View?

I also notice that there is no cursor visible in the file panel(s) in your screenshot - that is peculiar!

When you install TC on a new computer, do you do it from scratch, or do you reuse the .ini files from another installation?
Last edited by petermad on 2020-08-12, 18:17 UTC, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Total commander does not change drive selected in the combobox in the upper left corner

Post by *Dalai »

petermad wrote: 2020-08-12, 11:26 UTCI also notice that there is no cursor visible in the file panel(s) in your screenshot - that is peculiar!
Well, the focus is in the drive combobox, not in any of the panels. That's normal TC behavior.

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