In Windows Explorer, double-clicking on a folder name in the list pane opens that folder so you can view its files.  This is nothing new.  Over the years I have become accustomed to double-clicking and having that folder’s files appear in the list pane.  Life is good.

Well, life was good.  For reasons unknown, many of my servers now are opening a new window whenever I double-click on a folder.  This is exceedingly odd.  I have not changed any settings, and nobody else here logs in to those servers except to check on status.  Even so, I can’t imagine that they would modify Explorer’s behavior.

When it comes to that, I don’t see a setting anywhere that says whether it should open a new window or open in the same window.  The View settings in Tools->Folder Options doesn’t have a setting for this.  Oddly, if I right-click and then select “Explore” (the default), it opens in the same window, which is what it’s supposed to do when I double-click.  Selecting “Open” opens a new window.

Later:  I just installed the latest Windows Server 2008 Service Pack on one of the servers in question.  Problem gone.  Weird.

Even later: Reader Roy Harvey notes that the setting is on the General tab of Tools -> Folder Options, labeled “Open each folder in the same window.”  On my servers that still exhibit the problem, that radio button is checked.  There’s a bug in Explorer somewhere that’s fixed by installing the latest service pack.