When should I activate the "launch folder windows in a separate process" option?

In folder options -> view, there's an option that's off by default called "Launch folder windows in a separate process". I'm on windows-7, but I know this capability has existed since at least windows xp.

When is it advantageous to do this? When does this option improve performance? Are there any other considerations to take into account before using this option?

Solution 1:

the main reason i would suggest turning this on is so that if you have a folder window open which stops responding and you kill the task, it won't/shouldn't take the main explorer.exe with it (meaning your desktop won't be inaccessible for a few moments while windows restarts it).

I am unsure what advantage there would be to not having it enabled other than not using as much memory.

Solution 2:

I know this is a pretty old post, but I ran into it during a search so figured others might as well.

One other reason to do this is to allow running Explorer.EXE as a different user than the one currently logged in. Be aware though, this has the potential to use more resources on your system.

Check this blog post for more detail.

Solution 3:

One difference between opening folders in a separate process or not has to do with how the copy, move, delete, rename file transfer dialog boxes are presented. From what I've read from Windows Insiders, when folders open in a separate process the transfer dialogs all appear beneath (UNDER) all other open windows — even alerts that require your immediate attention (as in file conflicts). Apparently leaving "Launch windows folders in a separate process" at its default setting with the option UNchecked, the file transfer dialogs appear as you would expect them to: ON TOP of all other open windows. To me this decides it: I'm leaving it unchecked.

Solution 4:

Since Windows 10 Build 1903 this option is enabled by default.

It is not known why this setting was not previously enabled by default, other than that it may cause an increase in memory and CPU utilization due to the use of additional processes. With the greater system requirements of PCs running Windows 10, Microsoft may have decided that computers are powerful enough to not feel the effects of the additional processes.

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