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When I open a file from Windows Explorer using right-click -> Edit with Vim, Vim creates a "Program" folder on the root, and a "Files" folder in the directory of the file I've opened. The Files folder includes Vim/vimfiles/doc. There are no files anywhere, just the directory tree.

This also happens when I run Vim without a file name as an argument.

A DOS Box flashes just before Vim opens, but it goes away too fast for me to read what it's saying.

I've used Vim for years and have never seen this behavior. This is the first time, however, that I've used it on Windows 8.1.

Any suggestions or ideas? I'm getting really tired of deleting Program and Files folders all over the place. Lol!

Jeff Maner
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1 Answers1

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You could follow the steps on Vim-FAQ 2.5. Some relevant parts follows:

2.5. I have a "xyz" (some) problem with Vim. How do I determine it is a problem with my setup or with Vim? / Have I found a bug in Vim?

First, you need to find out, whether the error is in the actual runtime files or any plugin that is distributed with Vim or whether it is a simple side effect of any configuration option from your .vimrc or .gvimrc. So first, start vim like this: 

vim -u NONE -U NONE -N -i NONE

this starts Vim in nocompatible mode (-N), without reading your viminfo file (-i NONE), without reading any configuration file (-u NONE for not reading .vimrc file and -U NONE for not reading a .gvimrc file) or even plugin.

If the error does not occur when starting Vim this way, then the problem is either related to some plugin of yours or some setting in one of your local setup files. You need to find out, what triggers the error, you try starting Vim this way: 

vim -u NONE -U NONE -N

If the error occurs, the problem is your .viminfo file. Simply delete the viminfo file then. If the error does not occur, try: 

vim -u ~/.vimrc --noplugin -N -i NONE

This will simply use your .vimrc as configuration file, but not load any plugins. If the error occurs this time, the error is possibly caused by some configuration option inside your .vimrc file. Depending on the length of your vimrc file, it can be quite hard to trace the origin within that file.

The best way is to add :finish command in the middle of your .vimrc. Then restart again using the same command line. If the error still occurs, the bug must be caused because of a setting in the first half of your .vimrc. If it doesn't happen, the problematic setting must be in the second half of your .vimrc. So move the :finish command to the middle of that half, of which you know that triggers the error and move your way along, until you find the problematic option. If your .vimrc is 350 lines long, you need at a maximum 9 tries to find the offending line (in practise, this can often be further reduced, since often lines depend on each other).

If the problem does not occur, when only loading your .vimrc file, the error must be caused by a plugin or another runtime file (indent autoload or syntax script). Check the output of the :scriptnames command to see what files have been loaded and for each one try to disable each one by one and see which one triggers the bug. Often files that are loaded by vim, have a simple configuration variable to disable them, but you need to check inside each file separately.

There is additional information on the link if the steps above doesn't solves the problem.

mMontu
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