Windows Explorer (XP) does a weird random tiling of all open programs

[Gibbon22]

So, this is one that I have never seen before, I am hoping someone can help me out.

My colleague is running winxp on a dell latitude. She often has a number of programs open - word, excel, IE, acrobat, outlook, windows explorer folders, and skype are most common - in varying combinations. Seemingly randomly, whatever she is working on will minimize and the entire screen will be filled with what I can only refer to as a "snapshot" of all open programs, laid out gridlike across the screen, not overlapping each other. (I am sure most are familiar with the little popup "preview" from the task bar in Vista - it sort of looks like that, but all across the screen.) As soon as you touch a key, it disappears and everything goes back to normal. I tried to take a screenshot, but that just reset it, and didn't take the shot. Apparently, this has been happening for a while, but very infrequently. However, today it is happening about every five minutes.

Any ideas?

 

[Bobbye]

First, if she is using IE7, does she have tabs set up? I know there is an add-on for Firefox that does exactly what you describe> gives a 'tiled type' view of all the tabs when I click on the function. (It is called 'Showcase" and requires only that I click on the small arrow point on the right of the tabs. Clicking on any one tab restores the normal view)

Second, has the person done a right click> undo tile on the Taskbar?

 

[Gibbon22]

She is in windows explorer, not IE, though IE can be one of the windows open.

Tabs are set up and it is not tiling, though I will check that tomorrow morning to be certain.

It's hard to explain. If you took all the open windows of whatever she was working on, made them into little individual paintings and then hung those paintings on a wall side by side, top to bottom, in rows of three; that's kind of what she gets. But as soon as you touch a key, it goes away.

 

[Bobbye]

I don't know how you can open multiple windows using Windows Explorer. When I click to open anything in WE, it replaces what was open. There isn't even an option to 'open in a new Window'.

I understand exactly what you are describing- it's exactly what happens when I use my Firefox Showcase extension. I think what she is doing is opening multiple Windows Explorers. Doing a right click> Explore on Start each time will give her another Windows Explorer. I have no idea why she would do this though. That not the purpose of WE- not to work there, but to do file management.