Windows 7 Explorer cannot sort files alphabetically

Question

I use sort by + name, and explorer cannot sort my files by name. How can they screw up something so easy?

Is there any magic registry way to do this, here is the exp

Answer 1

Windows 7's sort is an absolute joke. The rubbish above about natural sorting is no excuse - I don't know anyone who would naturally sort "Back to the Future 3" before "Back to the Future" for example, and other languages existed pre Windows 7.

The fix can be found here:

http://www.alliancegroup.co.uk/windows7-explorer-sort-order.htm

And in case the link dies:

• Type gpedit.msc in the Start menu’s search box and then press Enter.
• Navigate to User Configuration>Administrative Templates>Windows Components, and then select Windows Explorer in the left column of the Group Policy editor.
• Double-click Turn off numerical sorting in Windows Explorer in the Settings section of the Group Policy editor.
• Select Enable and then click OK to save the changes.

Answer 2

It's not screwed up at all, it's by design.

There are a lot of things to consider when sorting, for example non-English languages can do sorting completely differently. The DIR command however ignores all this and does a 'stupid' sort. Explorer is for end users and therefore tries to sort the way users expect.

Here's an article with some info: Why, when you sort by name, doesn't it actually sort by name? What order does the DIR command arrange files if no sort order is specified? String sorting is not done by ASCII code any more