sub readDirectory {
	my ($class, $dirname, $validRE) = @_;
	$validRE ||= Slim::Music::Info::validTypeExtensions();

	my @diritems = ();
	my $log      = Slim::Utils::Log::logger('os.files');

	my ($volume) = splitpath($dirname);

	if ($volume && $class->isWinDrive($volume) && !$class->isDriveReady($volume)) {
			
		$log->debug("drive [$dirname] not ready");

		return @diritems;
	}

	Win32::OLE->Option(CP => Win32::OLE::CP_UTF8);   

	my $fsObj = Win32::OLE->new('Scripting.FileSystemObject');
	
	my $folderObj = $fsObj->GetFolder($dirname) || do {

		$log->debug("opendir on [$dirname] failed: $!");

		return @diritems;
	};
	
	$log->info("Reading directory: $dirname");

	foreach my $item (in $folderObj->SubFolders) {

		my $folder = $item->Name;

		# call idle streams to service timers - used for blocking animation.
		if (scalar @diritems % 3) {
			main::idleStreams();
		}

		next unless Slim::Utils::Misc::fileFilter($dirname, $item->ShortName, $validRE);
		push @diritems, $folder;
	}

	if ( $log->is_info ) {
		$log->info("Directory contains " . scalar(@diritems) . " items");
	}

	return sort(@diritems);
}