Over the last week I have had recurring problems with folder views changing around.
I have different folders set to views that suit my purpose, some thumbnail, some tiles, and most as list.
A good example is My Computer, where my preference is tiles. Each time I open My Computer in the last few days the items are in list view.
Another is the folder with most of my music files in it. This I set to list, and it keeps opening in tile view.
Not a big issue perhaps, but they should stay the same.
A possible clue is that explorer.exe has crashed a number of times, and it sends a little message to Uncle Bill each time.
All recent A/V, Spybot, mbam and SuperAntispyware scans have not shown any malware present, in fact since I blocked one particular site Super no longer finds those annoying tracking cookies.
Any suggestions not involving a clean install welcome, I really don't want to do that.

Just to be clear, you open My Computer, change the view, you close My Computer, and if you re-open it straight away, the view has reverted back?

I did find a number of threads similar to the issue with music folders, and apparently there is a limit in XP with regard to folder view limit. There is a registry tweak here: http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm (Number 2, "Increase Folder View Size Limit to 8000")

Ensure you back-up your registry before making any changes: How to back up and restore the registry in Windows XP

Hi Mister Fink,
Yes I open My Computer, change to the view I prefer, and when I go back to My Computer the view has reverted.
I am a little baffled as to the limit in XP, I only use the options available, I am not trying to create a new category.
I have bookmarked the link, and made a back up of the registry - for this I use ERUNT, the utility that everyone should have. It automatically backs up the registry each day when you start the computer. If you leave the computer running for days at a time you just double click the icon to do the same thing manually. That way, if the computer goes weird on you you just restore to an earlier backup. It also takes up less space than a Restore Point, plus malware have yet to learn to hide there, which is not the case with Restore points.
Thanks for the suggestion, I will post with results.

The limit was to remember settings for 400 folders. SP2 changed this to 5000 so this is not a problem for most people any more.

Hi Ztruker,
Your post has clarified the issue somewhat. So, just to be clear XP SP2 will remember the view settings for up to 5000 folders?
Any change with SP3?
And I assume the registry tweak suggested by Mister Fink will increase that to 8000.
I seem to have quite a few more folders than that. My doing a marquee select of the visible folders on each drive and clicking on properties I have a total of, drum roll, 24723 folders. Almost 13000 of these are on the C drive. I am quite stunned by these numbers.
Suggestions?

The question is though, how many of them are you interested in saving settings for? Probably less than 2000 or 3000, actually probably much less than that. The only ones that matter are the ones you actually look at often enough that their arrangement is of use to you.

Hi Ztruker,
As usual you hit the nail on the head, not a carpenter are you? The only one that really bugs me is My Computer. Most folders I frequent usually behave themselves. The near 13000 on the C drive are program folders (mostly) and rarely if ever opened.
I will try out the registry tweak suggested above, when I feel like a restart.
I will post the results, might be a day or so.
Thanks for your wise counsel.

Mister Fink
I have downloaded the file you pointed me to, it is just text and I saved it to a Notepad and named it "REG File". When I double click it I don't get any prompt, as the Kellys site suggests, it just opens the notepad.
As I am very wary of tinkering with the registry I am not sure what to do with this text/script.
Suggestions?

The file should be named bags8000.reg. The key is that the file extension has to be .reg. If file extensions do not show for you, then do the following:

Open Control Panel then Folder Options and click on the View tab.
Select "Show hidden files and folders"
Uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types"
Click Apply and OK

Rename it to that then double click on it to apply it to your registry.

Hi Ztruker,
That seems to have worked, I renamed it, was asked the question and said yes. Renaming it changed the icon, but you probably knew that would happen.
Tried all the usual suspects, the folders that were being particularly skittish, and it seemed to have worked.
Where in all the instructions did it say to change the name? I am guilty of not being as observant as I should at times, and I didn't see anything about renaming the "tweak."