Finder problem-can't sort some folders in list view

Hi,
I have a problem with some of my folders in Finder. I prefer to use 'list' view when working in Finder. However, in some of my folders the item bar is greyed out and I can't click the bar to sort. From the image below, the left image is the folder in question; the right is the normal view that I like to work in where I can click on the bar to sort items.
I'm not sure why this is happening, so could somebody shed some light on this please.
Thanks.

I had the same question.   Credit goes to http://superuser.com/questions/339525/os-x-lion-new-finder-view-that-doesnt-allo w-sorting    for the answer.
If you have a window that is in this state,  first click the title bar to make sure it's the "active" window, then go to the "View" menu,  then click "Sort by..." : None.
Make sure "None" is active, then you can sort just like it's 1984-2010.

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