You can (theoretically) open a SharePoint document library with Explorer, either by choosing Open With Explorer from the Actions menu, or choosing the Explorer View from the View menu.

Unfortunately, this has proven problematic in a number of scenarios. Issues related to IE configuration and security zones, firewall, and other settings mix together to make troubleshooting problems quite tricky!

I know our community has folks who've successfully troubleshot (is that a word?) this problem. If you've found tips or workarounds that are helpful, please post them as replies to this thread!

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Dan Holme
Office & SharePoint Pro Community Leader
MVP (Windows Server - Directory Services)

Here are some basic instructions on how to create a new network place for a Sharepoint shared document folder. This corrected many of the issues we were having on using Explorer including an error when trying use the "Open with Explorer" from the Actions menu.

 

Use of a "Network Place" to copy files

 This method requires the creation of a new Network Place for the destination files to be saved to, in this case our new Sharepoint site. A new Network Place for the old site source files is recommended but not mandatory.

 

Find your "My Network Places" to launch the "Add Network Place" wizard that will guide you through the creation process.

 

There are several ways to find your "My Network Places" two are described below. Note: Do not confuse this process with "Map Network Drive".  

 

1. Use of Window start button.

• a. Left click on Windows XP start button.
• b. Mouse over "My Network Places".
• c. Select "Add Network Place" to launch the wizard.

 

2. Use of Windows Explorer to find your "My Network Places" wizard.

• a. Right click on Windows XP start button and select Explore.
• b. From Windows Explore click on "My Network Places" then select "Add Network Place" from the listing on the right to launch the wizard.

  

3. From the Wizard follow the instructions below

a. Click the "next" button, select "Choose another network location"

b. Click the "next" button, enter the URL of your destination Sharepoint site and click "next".

c. Give the new network place a unique name like, "New Sharepoint Site"; be sure to choose something you can remember.

d. Click finish, the wizard will automatically open an instance of the new site in an Explorer window. Notice the directory structures and "shared document" libraries under each department listing. Leave this window open for now.

 

 You have just created a new Network Place called New Sharepoint Site that will now appear in any file folder "save as" dialog box under "My Network Places".  
 

4. Repeat steps above to launch a new instance of the "Add Network Place" wizard. In step 3b replace the new Sharepoint site URL with an old Sharepoint site URL.

 

5. In step 3c give the new network place a unique name like, "Old Sharepoint Site".

 

 

 When you finish the second wizard you will have two instances of Windows Explorer running, one of the new site and one of the old site. You may now very easily copy to and from the sites using copy and paste functions. Be careful not to copy files into the wrong directory.

The biggest issue we have run into with customers on SharePoint is they do not want the user to see an Explorer view at all. The Explorer view can let the user see documents that exist that you may not want them to see.

It is not easy to remove the Explorer view.

That has been requested by most of our customers to remove this.

An easier way to remove this capability would be a good thing.

I am currently suffering from this, I can list, at least, 2 issues I have here:

• Problem 1: User are getting a "page cannot be diplayed" message when they try to navigate down a site using Explorer View if the the URL path is long
• Workaround: need to move thur the Standard view till they reach the list they want to access then they can switch to Explorer View
• Problem 2: When some users try to view a document library by using Explorer View, theyt are prompted several times to type their user name and password. If they click Cancel, Explorer View displays Web folders.
• Resolution:
• check the Web Client service on the user machine & make sure it is working, if not, start it by going to Administration Tools, Services, and start the Web Client service. Windows XP SP2 disables WebDav which is needed for Explorer View. If this didn’t work -->
• Try the following:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WebClient\Parameters
4. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value
5. Type UseBasicAuth, and then press ENTER.
6. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
8. Exit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer

 

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Fathi Abu Alam | Senior Systems Administrator | Qatargas