Your client does not support opening this list with Windows Explorer - sharepoint-2010

Question

I installed Microsoft SharePoint and Project PWA on Windows Server 2008 R2.
When I want to open Library in Windows Explorer, I randomly get an error:
Your client does not support opening this list with Windows Explorer
When I open IE it's working for 1st and 2nd time, but after some clicks it's not working anymore and I need to restart IE and then it normally works for couple of times.
When it not working through Sharepoint it also not works via \server\DavWWWRoot\PWA and oposite.
I'm searching through the web for weeks and didn't find any solution.
Do you have any idea what should be wrong here. Any suggestion is welcome :)

Answer 1

I had the same exact issue with Windows 7 and explorer view. The following steps resolved the issue for me:
First - be sure that the Web Client service is running (run>services.msc).
Next - In I.E. check Tools>Internet Options>Security>Local Intranet>Sites>Advanced and add the site that you want to use explorer view with.
This finally fixed it for me. I hope that you have already found a solution to this issue! I was surprised at how difficult it was to find a solution to this problem!

Answer 2

This error message is a symptom to a billion different problems.
I solved this problem when I realized my XP32 box could do this just fine with IE8. So I reverted to IE8 in 7x64 (you have to do it by uninstalling updates for IE until you're back at 8) and it didn't work. The build versions were different and on the 7x64 "about" box it said IE8 was using 256-bit cipher while in XP32 it had 128-bit. That to me was a hint that there may be 64-bit issues even when you run the 32-bit executable.
Then I found this hotfix so I reinstalled the windows update for IE10 and then installed this hotfix. Now I'm able to open the TeamCenter site in question in windows Explorer. IE10 reports it's version 10.0.9200.16686. I cannot guarantee that it was the hotfix alone (and not also the reinstallation of IE10) which fixed it. But I'm willing to bet it was the hotfix alone.
In XP I found it impossible to then map this network location to a drive letter, as mapping doesn't like URL's. However in Windows 7 you can transform the URL so that it is interpreted as a Windows share. If the URL of a given folder is of this form:
https://somesharepoint.com/folder1/folder2/folder3
you can also access it as
\\somesharepoint.com#SSL\DavWWWRoot\folder1\folder2\folder3
and, in this form, it can be mapped to a drive letter.
I do have issues at that point that even with IE10 open and logged in to the site I see some random time-out like problems and I get kicked off (and prompted to log in again in IE10). My situation is complicated because the site I'm accessing requires an Exostar token to log in, so I have to log in via website no matter what.

Answer 3

If it helps any one do the steps suggested above:
Make sure to use 32 bit internet explorer (program files (x86)/internet explorer).
Like was mentioned above Web client must be started.
You may also need to add your site to trusted sites in internet explorer.
Make sure enabled protected mode in internet options is disabled.
This is what finally fixed it for me: Check "Keep me signed in" on the login page. This was the key for me. Will not work without it checked in my case.

Answer 4

I had the same symptoms, and it turned out I don't have a root site collection. Creating one solved this for me.
Summarized the troubleshooting steps here:
http://letitknow.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/your-client-does-not-support-opening-this-list-with-windows-explorer-error/

Answer 5

There can be multiple reasons for it.
One could be using IE x64 version. It won't work there.
Secondly, check out this blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/asiasupp/archive/2011/06/13/error-message-quot-your-client-does-not-support-opening-this-list-with-windows-explorer-quot-when-you-try-to-quot-open-with-explorer-quot-on-a-sharepoint-document-library-in-office-365-site.aspx

Answer 6

I experienced the same problem as well.
And I found out that if none of the above options are working, and if you work in an organisation, maybe the proxy is blocking the "Open with Explorer" option.
I did the same, and removed the proxy and it worked just fine.

Answer 7

this fixed it for me ( however in windows server 2008 you may need to install desktop experience i think its called)
After you log into windows go into services then restart the WebClient then see if you can use explorer view without the error " your client does not support. blah blah blah" if it does work then. make a batch file that says:
net stop webclient
net start webclient
then make a scheduled tasks that runs that batch file at start up. Have it run as a user with administrative rights, make sure you tell it to run even if user is not logged in. it should prompt you for the password of the admin account you selected. this worked for me with windows 7.

Answer 8

I found online where the error can occur intermittently with SharePoint 2010, however I think the SharePoint version is irrelevant. They said the client polls for a SharePoint root site and that the error occurs if one isn't found.
We have not seen the error since I created a root site even though we’re only using WSS3. Our errors began when we changed clients to Windows 7. So in our case it sounds like the issue could be the root site polling due to an IE8 security change in Windows 7.

Answer 9

SOLUTION:
*you on x64 bit machine* so solution is that there is no problem but you are using the wrong IE shortcut.
There are different IE types you can use (just type Internet Explorer in start search bar) and you will see..
Internet Explorer (64-bit) - won't show any sharepoint add-ons
Internet Explorer (No Add-ons) - won't show any sharepoint add-ons
Internet Explorer - only this will show sharepoint add-ons and will
work so basically make sure you always use this version of IE