using SendMessageTimeout cannot refresh all windows explorer in windows 7

Question

4.00/5 (1 vote)

See more:

I change the registry "Control Panel\\Desktop\\WindowMetrics\\Shell Icon Size" twice and using

SendMessageTimeout(HWND_BROADCAST, WM_SETTINGCHANGE, SPI_SETNONCLIENTMETRICS, (LPARAM) _T("WindowMetrics"), SMTO_ABORTIFHUNG, 5000, &dwResult);

to notify windows explorer to refresh the icon of a virtual folder. It did well in xp and vista, but in window 7 it has no reactions.

I'm using MFC.

Posted 19-Dec-10 22:51pm

chishui

Updated 19-Dec-10 22:55pm

JF2015

v2

Add a Solution

6 solutions

Solution 2

There is one way i dont know it is correct way or not but call this function twice can solve your problem.
I did it in my project :)

void CXYZ::RefreshIcons()
{
    CString val;
    HKEY hKey;
    LONG result = ::RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_CURRENT_USER,
        _T("Control Panel\\Desktop\\WindowMetrics"),
        0,KEY_READ,&hKey);
    BYTE buff[256];
    ZeroMemory(buff,255);
    DWORD sz = sizeof buff;
    DWORD typ = REG_SZ;
    RegQueryValueEx(hKey,_T("Shell Icon Size"),0,&typ,buff,&sz);
    RegCloseKey(hKey);
    val = buff;
    int i = _ttoi(val);
    i++;
    val.Format(_T("%d"),i);
    result = ::RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_CURRENT_USER,
        _T("Control Panel\\Desktop\\WindowMetrics"),
        0,KEY_WRITE,&hKey);
    RegSetValueEx(hKey,_T("Shell Icon Size"),0,REG_SZ,
        (const BYTE*)val.GetBuffer(0),val.GetLength());
    val.ReleaseBuffer();
    RegCloseKey(hKey);
    ::SendMessageTimeout(HWND_BROADCAST ,
        WM_SETTINGCHANGE,0,0,SPI_SETNONCLIENTMETRICS,1000,NULL);

    i = _ttoi(val);
    i--;
    val.Format(_T("%d"),i);
    result = ::RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_CURRENT_USER,
        _T("Control Panel\\Desktop\\WindowMetrics"),
        0,KEY_WRITE,&hKey);
    RegSetValueEx(hKey,_T("Shell Icon Size"),0,REG_SZ,
        (const BYTE*)val.GetBuffer(0),val.GetLength());
    val.ReleaseBuffer();
    RegCloseKey(hKey);
    ::SendMessageTimeout(HWND_BROADCAST ,
        WM_SETTINGCHANGE,0,0,SPI_SETNONCLIENTMETRICS,1000,NULL);
}

This code is working fine on Window7 and Vista.

Posted 20-Dec-10 19:01pm

ShilpiP

Updated 20-Dec-10 19:07pm

v2

Comments

chishui 21-Dec-10 2:42am

My code is almost the same as yours, but in win7, the icon of my virtual folder in "My Computer" does not change but its thumbnail has changed. So weird~. 3x anyway.

ShilpiP 21-Dec-10 4:15am

Did you check if you restart your computer than the icon of virtual folder changed ??

Solution 1

Nobody knows?
I spent all day without figuring it out...

Posted 20-Dec-10 15:10pm

chishui

Solution 4

I have the same problem when I SignIn windows7 with Adminstrator. I have tried the Answer 1, but the problem is still not solved.

But if i switch the user to Guest, everything is just fine....why?

Posted 18-Jan-11 14:46pm

caohuilin

Updated 18-Jan-11 14:58pm

v2

Solution 5

finally, this problem had been solved by using "SHChangeNotify". I was misleaded by "SendMessageTimeout(HWND_BROADCAST,WM_SETTINGCHANGE"...

Posted 18-Jan-11 15:09pm

chishui

Solution 6

Try this:
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vblanguage/thread/e8c08ebb-33fb-4bad-8678-3a2581ca4d90[^]

Posted 2-Jun-11 2:59am

NIkradsystem

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

mbue · Accepted Answer · 2010-12-29T14:42:00

Solution 3

Have you ever tried the SHChangeNotify function?

Posted 29-Dec-10 14:42pm

mbue