Post by j***@astraweb.comBut my question is: how did you change the folders permanently when you were doing it on a folder by
folder basis?
(win 7 home premium here)
It's not simple. In XP, Explorer was broken and didn't remember
folder windows unless Registry settings were changed. Starting
with Win7 they broke what was already broken. Win10 is similar to
Win7 but with some minor changes and bugs.
For Win7:
DO THIS WITH NO FOLDERS OPEN:
Delete these keys in HKLM and/or HKCU:
Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags
Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU
Next, recreate both keys and in each create a dword value "BagMRU Size"
and set it to 5000
Then create, if necessary:
Software\Classes\Local
Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell
(Win10 adds another key for generic folders, but you don't have to worry
about that.)
In the Shell key create the following settings:
WFlags dword 0
ShowCmd dword 1
HotKey dword 0
Create a further subkey "Microsoft.Windows.ControlPanel"
Put those same 3 values there. Back in the Shell key, you need to create
4 values to define a rectangle based on left, top, width, height. First
you need to get your screen resolution. Example, all dword:
WinPos1024x768(1).left
WinPos1024x768(1).top
WinPos1024x768(1).bottom
WinPos1024x768(1).right
The differences are the main thing, in order to spec the standard
window size. If you set them to, say, 200, 200, 800, 900 then you'd
define a standard window size of 700pxw x 600pxh
Also in the Shell key, create 2 string values:
FolderType NotSpecified
SniffedFolderType Generic
(That's to stop Windows guessing how to display folders. These settings
give you the same display in all folders.)
Under Shell you now need to create 2 subkeys named
{5C4F28B5-F869-4E84-8E60-F11DB97C5CC7}
and
{7d49d726-3c21-4f05-99aa-fdc2c9474656}
Those are the guids for document folders and generic folders.
Both keys need 2 settings named Mode (dword) and Vid (string) to
define the display type. Those two settings control display type as follows:
icons
Mode 1 Vid "{0057D0E0-3573-11CF-AE69-08002B2E1262}"
list
Mode 3 Vid "{0E1FA5E0-3573-11CF-AE69-08002B2E1262}"
details
Mode 4 Vid "{137E7700-3573-11CF-AE69-08002B2E1262}"
tiles
Mode 6 Vid "{65F125E5-7BE1-4810-BA9D-D271C8432CE3}"
If you've deleted the bags and bagmru keys then they'll be repopulated
by using these settings in AllFolders. If you don't delete those keys then
all existing folders will already have their own settings.
Windows 10 is even more of a mess. There are more display options
with less flexibility. Personally I like "icons" view, with 32x32 icons.
That doesn't work on Win10. Small icons are tiny and in list style display.
Medium icons are 48x48. I finally ended up using medium icons but
setting icon size to 33. That works as long as I don't start changing
the display.
This stuff has always been messed up and half broken. It generally
works fairly well on Win7 and 10. 10 is a bit senile, howevr, and
occasionally
forgets. With each Windows version Microsofties fuck it up more than it
was fucked up last time. In no version have they made it work properly.
And it's actually even more ridiculous than it at first seems. For no
good reason, these settings are designed to mimic Win32 API functions.
WFlags corresponds to WINDOWPLACEMENT values. Vid (ViewID)
corresponds to Explorer's FOLDERVIEWMODE enum. And the GUIDs are just
the childish behavior of Microsofties, compulsively making things far more
complicated than they need to be. "Secret Decoder Ring Syndrome".
As in, "I suffer from SDRS. I'm hoping that once I turn 16 I can get laid
and this will go away." :)
All of this probably seems very complicated, but it's not actually too
involved.
If you're nervous you can always export the involved keys before you start,
in case you want to reverse the process. But I've been doing this myself
since WinXP. It drives me crazy to have Windows suddenly decide that I
should have a folder full of images display as giant thumbnails when I
didn't
ask for it.