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I’ve been having a problem with my newly purchased Dell computer with Windows XP pre-installed. Everytime I go into my shared folders and create a new sub-folder, Windows Explorer doesn’t automatically refresh the folder. I have to manually hit F5 (or go to View | Refresh) in order to see the New Folder I just created.

This is pretty lame. I have to hit F5 after I create a new folder, after I change the name of the new folder and after I move or copy files to the folder.

Again, this only happens in my Shared folders.  Every other folder works fine.

So I did some searching and found some other people were having similar problems. But no one had a solution.

I went to Microsoft’s support website and discovered that this is a known problem with XP and shared folders only. Go figure. Unfortunately, the only solution is a HotFix, which wasn’t available for public download anywhere from Microsoft’s website–I could only get it if I contacted Microsoft’s support department.

I’d rather get a root canal than have to call or e-mail Microsoft’s support team.

I guess it’s such a rare error that they only give it out on an individual basis. But I really wanted to take care of this error right now, not in 1 business day or who knows how long Microsoft would take to get back to me. I started the process of e-mailing Microsoft tech support and discovered that I had no idea what XP version I owned or what my “product identification number” was. So I just gave that up.

Instead I did a Google search using the knowledge base number–KB873392–and was able to find a few websites that referenced the article and the HotFix.

Finally, I found a cool site–TheHotFixShare.Net–that has downloads available for all the known HotFixes that you normally have to beg Microsoft to receive. Here’s the link for the Windows XP HotFixes.

So just wanted to say thanks, TheHotFixShare.Net!

Filed under: Windows XP