dir

[BoB]

how do you see if a dir is open or not

Use the FindWindow and FindWindowEx api functions.

Private Declare Function FindWindow Lib "user32.dll" _
Alias "FindWindowA" (ByVal lpClassName As Any, ByVal _
lpWindowName As Any) As Long

Private Declare Function FindWindowEx Lib "user32" Alias "FindWindowExA" (ByVal hWnd1 As Long, ByVal hWnd2 As Long, ByVal lpsz1 As String, ByVal lpsz2 As String) As Long

Private Sub Command1_Click()

Dim cabinetwclass As Long, shelldlldefview As Long, internetexplorerserver As Long
Dim atlshellembedding As Long, syslistview As Long
cabinetwclass = FindWindow("cabinetwclass", vbNullString)
shelldlldefview = FindWindowEx(cabinetwclass, 0&, "shelldll_defview", vbNullString)
internetexplorerserver = FindWindowEx(shelldlldefview, 0&, "internet explorer_server", vbNullString)
atlshellembedding = FindWindowEx(internetexplorerserver, 0&, "atl shell embedding", vbNullString)
syslistview = FindWindowEx(atlshellembedding, 0&, "syslistview32", vbNullString)
If cabinetwclass <> 0 Then
MsgBox "Folder open"
Else
MsgBox "Folder closed"
End If

End Sub

That's to see if A folder is open. If you want to find out if a specific folder is open or not:

Private Sub Command1_Click()

    hWin = FindWindow(vbNullString, "Folder caption")
    If hWin <> 0 Then
        MsgBox "Folder open"
    Else
        MsgBox "Folder closed"
    End If
    
End Sub