So this is new.. I've never seen anything like this before so I'm not sure where to start debugging the issue... Using an Explorer window's search box to search a directory for files (*.*) works normally.. but if I try to right-click Sort By or Group By there are no options to use.. it only has Ascending/Descending and 'More', and the More option only brings up an empty, useless box: Also if I change the View to Details, all I see are the file/folder icons with nothing else displayed, and no column headers either: Got any ideas where I should be looking to fix this? Thanks.
Start off with a simple system scan : Start->Programs->Accessories-> right-click cmd->run as administrator-> type: "sfc /scannow" (minus the quotes) If that don't help, try to clean your system with Piriform CCleaner (section cleaner: check everything under "Windows Explorer" -> analyse + run cleaner)... That should clean up all thumbnail and file cache under explorer... Keep us posted ;-)
Those had already been done.. this is a little bigger issue than just something that needs to be cleaned.. and with no other responses, because nobody knows what this is, I feel the only resolution would be to reinstall Windows. Got to love the little problems that require a reinstall.
Try a repair install. If that and all else fails, indeed sounds like time to reinstall from scratch onto a clean disk. If you have a system image from a time when all was well you could restore that.
Just for giggles I did try both options, neither helped. The indexing option --- well I don't index many locations to begin with (who does?), and the Fix It did not work either. As for the third solution --- let me just reiterate that the problem is only with the explorer window after using the search box, not the regular file list, everything works fine if I just open up an explorer window to a drive/folder, but if I search that's where the issue comes. In List mode all files/folders are present, but cannot sort in any way, in Details mode only the file/folder icons are visible and no text, and no "detail" information or column headers. I may try a repair, but this installation of Windows is only a couple weeks old.. not sure when the problem started or if it's already built into my backup images so.. still not fun. Thanks for the tips anyways.
If you have system restore enabled, you could also try a restore point, if you know when exactly this issue started. Restore to a date before...little less hastle than doing a repair install... Grtz. Gen.