Explorer Bar View

[Ken]

XP Pro, SP2

How to save different "Explorer Bar" view for different folders?

I finally figured out how to get Windows Explorer to open to a default view
with the whole directory tree listed in the left-hand pane. (Before that,
each time there was the "common tasks" list, and I had to click
View|Explorer Bar.)

However, now, when I open, e.g., Control Panel, the left-hand pane shows a
directory tree. If I click the "x" to close the left-hand pane, I get the
desired "common tasks" there.

How do I get *different* folders to open with *different* left-hand panes?
The changes seem to go across the boards.

Thanks.
Ken

 

[Keith Miller]

I assume you set the default action for folders to be 'Explore' rather than 'Open'. You can override this default action for special folders by adding an 'Open' command under the CLSID key for the special folder in the registry. For Control Panel:

Copy the text found between the lines below

Paste into notepad and save as a .reg file

Merge the .reg file.

---------------------------------------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}\shell]
@="Open"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}\shell\Open]
"BrowserFlags"=dword:00000010
"ExplorerFlags"=dword:00000012
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}\shell\Open\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,45,00,78,00,70,00,6c,00,6f,00,72,00,65,00,72,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,\
65,00,20,00,2f,00,69,00,64,00,6c,00,69,00,73,00,74,00,2c,00,25,00,49,00,2c,\
00,25,00,4c,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}\shell\Open\ddeexec]
@="[ViewFolder(\"%l\", %I, %S)]"
"NoActivateHandler"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}\shell\Open\ddeexec\application]
@="Folders"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}\shell\Open\ddeexec\ifexec]
@="[]"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}\shell\Open\ddeexec\topic]
@="AppProperties"

----------------------------------------------------------

You can change the default for other special folders by replacing the control panel CLSID ({21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}) with the CLSID for the folder you want to change. Here's a list I obtained from David Candy:

Name CLSID
Control Panel {21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
Printer {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
Recycle Bin {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Network Neighborhood or
My Network Places {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
Dial-Up Networking {992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48}
My Computer {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Desktop {00021400-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
Shortcut {00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
Shell Favorite Folder {1A9BA3A0-143A-11CF-8350-444553540000}
The Internet {3DC7A020-0ACD-11CF-A9BB-00AA004AE837}
My Documents {450d8fba-ad25-11d0-98a8-0800361b1103}
Internet Cache Folder {7BD29E00-76C1-11CF-9DD0-00A0C9034933}
Internet Explorer {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}
Internet Explorer {FBF23B42-E3F0-101B-8488-00AA003E56F8}
ActiveX Cache Folder {88C6C381-2E85-11D0-94DE-444553540000}
Scheduled Tasks {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}
Subscription Folder {F5175861-2688-11d0-9C5E-00AA00A45957}
Url History Folder {FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}
Briefcase {85BBD920-42A0-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D}
Inbox {00020D76-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
IE5

Web Folders {BDEADF00-C265-11D0-BCED-00A0C90AB50F}
Visual Studio 6

Registered Active X {6B19FEC2-A45B-11CF-9045-00A0C9039735}
Developer Studio Components {D545EBD1-BD92-11CF-8772-00A0C9039735
**End of List

Good Luck,
Keith