folder colour-change in Xp

[RoseW]

Folders used to be able to have a colour. In Xp it does not appear to be an
obvious feature.
I found the reference to soadabush windowpaperxp which manages
wallpaper(desktop, folder background) and I think will change the folder
colour. Its a 2.5+- freeware download.
All I want to do is experiment with organizing a folder structure with
colour coding.
I looked through the Pricelessware lists and didn't see a utility
specifically for changing a folder colour.

My idea is for a very new person on a computer and if the topics are
organized by colour -for e.g. all family related topics & subtopics would
have a green folder; all houselhold topics would have a blue folder....etc

Does anyone know of other choices that are 'one task' type of utility-i.e.
change the colour to... in Xpsp2 (home)

This windowpaper certainly looks like it would allow for ease of
'decoration'. I just want to try changing folder colors <LOL>
http://www.sodabush.com/products/windowpaperxp/downloads.php
or
http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/Windowpaper-XP.shtml

Rose

 

[Carolyn]

Folders used to be able to have a colour. In Xp it does not appear to be an
obvious feature.
I found the reference to soadabush windowpaperxp which manages
wallpaper(desktop, folder background) and I think will change the folder
colour. Its a 2.5+- freeware download.
All I want to do is experiment with organizing a folder structure with
colour coding.
I looked through the Pricelessware lists and didn't see a utility
specifically for changing a folder colour.

My idea is for a very new person on a computer and if the topics are
organized by colour -for e.g. all family related topics & subtopics would
have a green folder; all houselhold topics would have a blue folder....etc

Does anyone know of other choices that are 'one task' type of utility-i.e.
change the colour to... in Xpsp2 (home)

This windowpaper certainly looks like it would allow for ease of
'decoration'. I just want to try changing folder colors <LOL>
http://www.sodabush.com/products/windowpaperxp/downloads.php
or
http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/Windowpaper-XP.shtml

I use a freeware program called Rainbow Folders which can be found here:
http://www.rainbowfolders.k7.pl/

From the website:
" Rainbow Folders (RF) is an easy to use program, which allows you to change
color of the icon representing chosen folder to any color you like. "

I find that this program is great for organizing my business folders. It
also allows you to add notes that will appear when you hover over each
folder.
Carolyn

 

[seabat]

You could try Rainbow Folders. Not sure if it will work on XP or not,
but it is a stand alone proggy, so it should.
<quote>
Rainbow Folders (RF) is an easy to use program, which allows you to
change color of the icon representing chosen folder to any color you
like. What for ? Mainly to boost yours computer usage speed & skills.
When you're exploring directory which contains lots of subdirectories
in Windows Explorer you can easily commit a mistake, e.g. by clicking
the folder's icon which have similar name to the one you really wanted
to go. When the folders will be marked with the colors of your desire
you won't make any mistake and after some time you'll be clicking the
right folders by the impulse. For example you can use RF to mark
subdirectory TEMP inside C:\WINDOWS\. Then after going to the system
dir you won't be searching the TEMP dir on the whole screen, but at
the start you will click e.g. the eye attacking bloodly red folder.
And now the best part: you can colorize unlimited number of folders -
each into a different color. So you can e.g. colorize to red all
important folders, then colorize all frequently visited folders to
green etc. Also the effect of colorizing folders is not only visible
in Explorer but in whole system, so also in any directory selection
tree, and open/save dialog in any Windows application ! But changing
colors is not everything you can do with help of RC, you can also set
an extra warning when someone will be trying to delete colorized
folder, and optional text that will 'pop up' when the cursor stops
above the folder's icon for a while. Speed up your work now !
</quote>

http://www.rainbowfolders.k7.pl/

 

[Roger Johansson]

I use a freeware program called Rainbow Folders which can be found
here: http://www.rainbowfolders.k7.pl/

From the website:
" Rainbow Folders (RF) is an easy to use program, which allows you to
change color of the icon representing chosen folder to any color you
like. "

I find that this program is great for organizing my business folders.
It also allows you to add notes that will appear when you hover over
each folder.

I tried a program called foldericon, thinking it was freeware, I think it
was announced i acf a few days ago.

It works well, but I discovered that it is 21 days trialware, so I will
stop using it.

But, it allowed me to understand better how to change, not only the
color, but also the icon for a folder.

When windows uses a special folder icon it places a small file
inside that folder, called Desktop.ini. This file can only be seen in a
file manager if "show hidden files" is used.

This is the content of a typical Desktop.ini

[.ShellClassInfo]
InfoTip=
IconIndex=0
IconFile=D:\Programs\1by1\Ikona1735265619.ico
NoSharing=1
ConfirmFileOp=0

The folder uses the icon specified here.

[.ShellClassInfo]
InfoTip=PizzaTimer
IconIndex=0
IconFile=D:\Programs\AlphaScript\Ikona1919638163.ico
NoSharing=1
ConfirmFileOp=0


in this Desktop.ini we see how to set an infotip, which will be seen when
hovering the mouse over the file, if your file manager supports that.

I used rainbow folders before and it is very easy to use also. But there
are no readymade folder icons with it.

By putting together what I learned from these two programs, rainbow
folders and foldericon, I can use any color and any icon I like for
folders.

I have chosen to use the filesystem itself for organising my data, so
folder icons and colors are really useful.

 

[RoseW]

RE: freeware program called Rainbow Folders which can be found here:
http://www.rainbowfolders.k7.pl/

I FOUND this after I had posted in the All 4 you freeware site. Scrolled
through many pages until this popped up. It does change the colour. Strange
thing the colour and outline look crisper if the checkmark for Xp is left
unchecked.
The other freeware I mentioned in my original post does apply BACKGROUNDS of
the ACTUAL folder content page. How that is useful is beyond me but there it
is. There was no capacity to color code the actual directory folder icon.

RE: Roger J's comment on : change, not only the color, but also the icon
for a folder.

When windows uses a special folder icon it places a small file inside that
folder, called Desktop.ini. This file can only be seen in afile manager if
"show hidden files" is used.
..........
I think learning to use the .ini file is the way to go.
There was not a change icon feature in Rainbow Folders but some reference
was made to Cool and I've forgotten the actual name but it was described as
a place for many icons. I just want to colour code.

Thanks
Rose