IE7 Favorites

[barelij]

I run on my computer Windows XP Home SP2 and recently I upgraded to IE7. When trying to save a favorite (by clicking the "add to favorites " button I get the entire list of all favorites with all the folders and sub-folders open, and not necessarily in alphabetical order. This is very annoying. In the older IE6 I used to get in this situation only the short list of the main favorite folders.
Is it possible to get same behaviour with IE7?
Thanks,

[Statica]

The ENTIRE folder tree visible is probably set as a feature to allow you to select a subfolder immediately without having to go through extra clicks. I dont think it is user setable feature.

[Ob1]

you could always uninstall IE7 and use IE6 for now. could be a bug.

[patrickt]

This isn't going to help but mine doesn't display that way. So, either it's a feature that is malfunctioning on my computer or it isn't a feature and is malfunctioning on your computer.

[barelij]

Hi Patrickt. I checked with Microsoft Customer Service in my area and they told me that they think that the new way of displaying the faforite folders is prefferable. I found that there is also a bonus : when I attempt to store a second favorite in same folder that I just stored the previous one, it shows up right away. So be it. Thanks,

[sinewave]

This may not be a bug. I don't think this is a beta version of IE7. I got it via Windows update a few days ago. As requested by Microsoft automatic updates notifier. It does not say beta in "about internet explorer". It says version 7.0.5730.11

Whenever I click on the "add to favorites" link after launching a new IE7 window it takes around 30 SECONDS before I see the favorites list. Subsequent attempts that session within the same window (any tab within the same window), or in new IE7 windows, will open the full, long, bookmarks list instantly.

I can't do anything else in that particular IE7 window until that favorites list shows up. That IE7 window is locked. And even when the bookmarks list finally shows up I can't add anything to the favorites list because every single folder and subfolder is opened up. So I can't find the desired subfolder when I try to add to favorites. The list is very, very long.

I can open a different IE7 window while waiting for the first IE7 window to finish up opening the favorites list.

I exported my bookmarks before updating from IE6 to IE7. The exported bookmarks file is 5 megabytes. That should give you an idea of the number of bookmarks I have.

Tens of thousands of favorites over the years. I have around 40 major categories of bookmarks with many nested subfolders. Many subfolders contain other subfolders using one letter of the alphabet for each subfolder. So It was easy for me to find stuff in spite of the many favorites.

So I will have to try another browser. I have no choice. It amazes me that Microsoft after months of beta testing does not recognize what a serious problem this is for many people. Favorites worked OK in IE6. And fast.

What is that statement about "if it aint broke, don't fix it"?

Or for doctors. "do no harm"

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I just installed Firefox 2. It fortunately does not open all the folders and subfolders when I try to add a bookmark. But it still takes over 15 seconds to show the bookmark list (with subfolders closed). So I can at least add new bookmarks. But it takes over 15 seconds each and every time I try to add a bookmark.

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I guess I will check out the Opera browser next. Any other ideas?

[glc]

Maybe cleaning up and validating your favorites/bookmarks might help.

http://www.pcmech.com/show/opensource/1011/

I use it, it does a nice job in all my browsers. If you have a ton of bookmarks, it could take a long time to chew through them - give it a few hours.

[sinewave]

I bookmarked that page (after a 15-second wait).

I read the page and I don't think it applies to my problem. Sounds useful though anyway.

I believe that Firefox is opening my 5-megabyte bookmarks file as an HTML page. That would explain why it takes 15 seconds. The Firefox bookmarks file is an HTML file found in the hidden folder here in WinXP:
C:\Documents and Settings\...\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\...\bookmarks.html

I have noticed that a 3.5 megabyte HTML page takes 7 seconds to fully open. Such as the expanded full-list zip file one can download from here:
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup...p#THE_PROGRAMS

That msconfig startup item list is a 3.6 megabyte HTML page after it is unzipped. I have a fast computer and it takes 7 seconds to fully open the HTML file.

IE6 must look at its Favorites folder directly without the intermediary of an HTML file.
C:\Documents and Settings\...\Favorites

It would be nice if Firefox could keep the bookmarks file open in the background once opened after clicking "Bookmark this page". That would solve the problem as far as I am concerned. Because then I could bookmark additional pages instantly.

I clicked "properties" for my favorites folder in IE6. It shows that I have over 20,000 favorites bookmarked.

[glc]

In Firefox, just hit Ctrl+B to open the bookmarks sidebar. Leave it open.

[sinewave]

Thanks for the tip. I was wondering how to get just the left side of the bookmark manager to show in Firefox.

But it didn't help with speeding up the bookmarking of a page. It still takes 15 seconds each and every time I bookmark a page in Firefox.

I also installed the Opera browser and imported all the bookmarks. It takes 30 seconds to show the bookmarks when I click on "bookmark page" from the bookmarks menu. And it shows all the folders and subfolders. Just like in IE7. So I can't bookmark pages in Opera either. Since I can't find the desired subfolder in such a huge list of nested bookmarks.

I guess now I need to research add-on bookmark managers. Any ideas?

[sinewave]

It seems more and more people are really mad about the favorites problem in IE7. Found this:
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2006/...ity-sightings/

jmarkj Says: November 1st, 2006 at 3:02 am Boy clintonG, do I feel your pain. Couldn’t believe that IE7 expands all the folders automatically. That’s one of the most boneheaded feature changes I’ve ever seen Microsoft do, and they’ve done some doozies. I’m one of those users who has a huge favorites archive, and it’s going to be e nightmare managing them now. If FireFox does this any better, this will be the thing that finally makes me switch. I haven’t seen a workaround anywhere, and it sounds like there isn’t one. :-(

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I found a place where people can vote and/or inform Microsoft of this problem:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities...a1998943a8&p=1

Searching there for 'favorites' pulls up similar newsgroup posts and threads. Such as:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities...=en-us&m=1&p=1

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I am really liking the Firefox browser. I hope they find a way to keep my bookmarks in memory so that I can continue using Firefox. Or that they go to a directory of bookmark shortcuts as in IE6. Otherwise I may have to revert to IE6. It is the only browser I have found so far that works fast for adding favorites.