Windows XP Managing Files and Folders Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

Shared Documents Folders

Many are finding the links to all of the shared folders on your system to be pretty annoying. This may be the system default setting, but you certainly do not have to live with it. Here is how to remove the Shared Documents Folders from My Computer.

Go to Start > Run and type in: regedit
Hit [Enter] on your keyboard
Navigate through the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ My Computer \ NameSpace \ DelegateFolders
Click once on DelegateFolders to empty its contents in the right pane.
You will see a sub-key named: {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}Deleting this sub-key will remove all of the Shared Documents Folders.

It is not necessary to reboot to see this change.

[Top]

Encrypted Files

Windows XP and Windows 2000 both include the Encrypting File System (EFS). If you have NTFS permissions to a file that another user has encrypted, you will receive an "access is denied" error.

To determine whether a file is encrypted, perform the following steps to enable the view attributes option in Windows Explorer:

Start Windows Explorer.
From the View menu, select Details.
Select the Attributes option, and click OK.

If a file has an E attribute, that file is encrypted. Only the user who encrypted the file or the recovery agent user can decrypt the file.

[Top]

Enlarge your Thumbnail Images

In Windows XP, you have the option of viewing a little thumbnail image of pictures on your hard drive as a quick preview of the image. If you would like to make these images a little larger, here's how:

Warning: The following tip involves editing the Windows Registry. Be sure that you make a backup copy prior to making any changes to your registry. Please proceed with caution!

Go to Start>> Run. Type in: regedit [Enter] or click OK.
Drill to the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
Click once on the Explorer entry to empty its contents into the right pane.
Look for an entry named ThumbnailSize. Once you find it, double click this entry and change the hexidecimal value to anything between 32 and 96.
If this entry does not exist, right click an empty area within the right pane and select NEW>> DWORD. Name this value: ThumbnailSize
Then, double-click this new DWORD entry and insert a value between 32 and 96.
Exit the Windows Registry saving your changes.
It may be necessary for you to reboot your system for the changes to take effect.

[Top]

Change file associations

If you would like to change how a certain file-type opens, here's how:

Right click the file you would like to change.
Hold your mouse over "Open With".
In the resulting menu, select "Choose Program...".
Select a program that you would like this file to be opened with.
Once you've made your selection, place a checkmark in the box titled: "Always use the the selected program to open this kind of file".

[Top]

Creating a backup registry file

Go to Start>> Run. Type in: regedit [Enter] Or click OK

Go to File, then select Export...

Browse to a folder where you would like to keep your backup copy.
Name the file what-ever you would like (eg: Backup 7-24-05)

To restore your registry from this backup copy:

Double-click your Backup file
Select Yes from the resulting menu.

Your backup file will now be Imported in to your Windows Registry. [

[Top]

Saving Files to a CD-RW

I often get questions from people who would like to use a CD-RW disc much like a floppy disc. Using it to save and erase files as needed.

The RW stands for "Re-Writable". So in a sense, the CD-RW will perform this task as long as you have the proper packet writing software, which is not included with Windows XP.

However, once you remove a file from the CD, the space is NOT reallocated until the disc itself is re-formatted. So, if you are going to continue saving and erasing files, the space available on the CD will continue to shrink.

I personally do not recommend saving important data to a CD-RW as the media could become unreadable and the data lost forever. This can occur if you take your disc to a different computer system that may have different software. Other times, the data can become "magically" unreadable for no apparent reason.

I would prefer that users use the CD-RW disc's as they were intended. Put your favorite songs, pictures or data on it until it is full. Then save what you would like to keep onto your hard drive and delete the rest. Reformat the CD-RW and start over.

[Top]

Protect your files by using a screen saver password

A handy method of protecting your files while you are away from your desk is to use a screen saver password. For instance, when you set your screen saver to come on after your system has been idle for 5 minutes, your screen saver will automatically lock your system and a password will be required to unlock it. Here is how this is done:

Note: Your screen saver password is predefined as your login password. If your system does not require a login password, then the screen saver password feature will not work.

1. Go to Start>> Control Panel>> Display
2. Once in the Display Properties window, select the Screen Saver tab.
3. If you do not have a screen saver choice made, you will need to make a section from the Screen Saver drop down menu.
4. With a screen saver selected, choose the amount of time you would like Windows to wait until activating your selected screen saver.

5. Place a check mark in the check box labeled; "On resume, password protect".

Display Properties Window

[

[Top]

Clear Page File at Shutdown

To clear Windows Page File at shutdown;

Go to Start>> Run, Type in: regedit [Enter]

Drill to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

Single click once on "Memory Management" to empty its contents into the right pane. Double click on ClearPageFileAtShutdown, then change the value to 1.

Restart your computer for this change to take effect.

Note: If the value does not exist, add the following value:
Value Name: ClearPageFileAtShutdown
Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

Warning: Be sure to make a backup copy of your registry prior to making any changes.

[Top]

Directory size limitations in XP

I am often asked if Windows XP, both Home and Pro editions, have file limits on their directories. The answer is that it would depend on the file system that you are using. I have listed both below:

NTFS Size Limits
Files per volume
4,294,967,295

FAT32 Size Limits
Maximum number of files and subfolders within a single folder
65,534

Note: Using long file names can greatly reduce the figure listed.

[Top]

Erase Files from a CD-RW

If you have a computer that is equipped with a CD recorder and it supports CD-RW (re-writable) discs, then you will be able to easily erase and reuse the CD-RW disc. Here's how:

1. Place the CD-RW disc you would like to reuse in your CD-RW drive.
2. Go to Start>> My Computer
3. In My Computer, right-click the CD-RW drive, and then click Open.

A temporary storage area is now displayed. This storage area is where files are held before they are copied to the CD. You will find the files listed in the "Files Ready to Be Written to the CD" box.

4. In the CD Writing Tasks pane, click "Erase this CD-RW".

Windows will now display the "Welcome to the CD Writing Wizard".

5. Click Next. The "Erasing the CD" dialog box is displayed along with a progress bar.
6. When the process is completed, you will receive a message in the notification area. You can now reuse your CD-RW disc.

[Top]

Stop seeing Links folder in your Favorites menu

Below, you will find two methods that can be used to stop seeing the Links folder in your Favorites menu. In the first method, the Links folder will be permanently deleted. In the second method, the folder will just be hidden from view but will not be deleted from your system.

First method:

Start>> Run. Type in: regedit [Enter]

Drill to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar

Click once on "Toolbar" to empty its contents into the right pane.
Double click on "LinksFolderName".
Remove the default word "links" from this string value leaving it blank.
Open IE and delete the Links folder from the Favorites menu.

The next time you start Internet Explorer the Links folder will not be recreated.

Second Method:

Using File Attributes-

Using Windows Explorer find the location of your Favorites folder (e.g. C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Favorites) within that folder will be a sub-folder named Links.

Right click the "Links" folder and select Properties. Check the Hidden checkbox and click OK.

From now on the Links folder should be hidden from the Favorites list. This works for any other folder or link on the favorites menu as well.

[Top]

Synchronizing Files

Question:

I have two separate computers that I keep photo files on. Is there a way to copy the files from one to the other so that both computers have the exact same files? Currently, I have many files that are the same on both, but many are different.

Answer:

Yes, this can be done as long as the file names are intended to be the exact same for both computers. Here's how:

Copy each file in any folder(s) that you wish to transfer from Computer #1. Paste them into the folder of choice on Computer #2. Once Windows gives a prompt asking if you wish to overwrite a file, simply choose Yes to all. Do the same thing from Computer #2 to Computer #1.

[Top]

Clean Out "Send To" Items

Deleting items that you'll never use is simple, here's how:

Open My Computer and navigate your way to the C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\SendTo folder, where C is the drive on which Windows is installed.
Inside the SendTo folder, right-click any shortcut you don't want and select Delete.
It will no longer appear in the SendTo list.

[Top]

Create a Zip Folder

The information listed below gives instruction on three methods of creating a Zip Folder and password protecting your Zip Folder.

Method #1:

To create a new zip file in Windows Explorer, click the File menu>> New>> Compressed (zipped) Folder. A new folder will appear. Enter a file name making sure that you use .zip at the end. Press Enter on your keyboard to save it.

Method #2:

Right-click an open area of your desktop and select Compressed (zipped) Folder from the resulting menu. As in method #1, name and save your folder the same way.

Note: In methods #1 and #2, you will need to drag and drop files into these folders once they are created. This is easily done by double-clicking your newly created folder to open it. Then drag a chosen file and drop it into your folder. If you are just wanting to copy a file, use drag and drop. If you want to move the file from its location into your folder, use drag and drop while holding down the Shift key.

Method #3: (Preferred Method)

Right-click a selected file or folder and choose Send To>> Compressed (zipped) Folder. This will create a new zip folder with a .zip extension. As an example; sending a file named AnyFile.txt to a compressed folder using this method, will automatically be named AnyFile.zip. If you double click your new Zip Folder, you will see that it contains AnyFile.txt.

You can also send multiple files to one Compressed Zip Folder using this method. All you would have to do it use your CTRL key while clicking individual files, or click the first file, hold down the SHIFT key and click the last file. In either case, once you have all of the files highlighted (selected), just use the above instructions for method #3 to create a Compressed Zip Folder containing all of your selected files. In using this procedure, Windows XP will create a file name automatically. If you would like to change the name, simply right-click the folder and choose rename.

Note: Now that you have create a Zip Folder, you can password protect it. Open your folder then click the File Menu>> Add a Password... In the resulting dialog box, type in your password then again in the field below to confirm it. Click OK. To remove your password, open your zip folder, click the File Menu and select Remove Password.

[Top]

Folder Memory Setting

Windows XP remember the view settings for the 400 most recently used folders by default. Once that figure has been reached, it will start overwriting the data of the oldest folder. Below you will find a registry tweak that will increase the number of folders from 400 to 5000. The information is stored in two registry keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam

Open Windows Explorer and go to Tools>> Folder Options>> View>> Advanced Settings. Ensure that "Remember each folder's view settings" is checked.
Go to Start>> Run. Type in: regedit [Enter]
Navigate to: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell
Right-click on "Shell", then follow to New>> Key>> DWORD Value.
Name this item "BagMRU Size" (without quotation marks) Ensure there is a space between BagMRU and Size.
Double-click BagMRU Size, give it a "Decimal" value of 5000, then click OK.
Now navigate to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam.
Create another BagMRU Size DWORD Value for "ShellNoRoam". Again, give it a "Decimal" value of 5000, then click OK.
Close the registry and reboot your computer.

Windows XP will now remember 5000 folder view settings instead of 400.

[Top]

How to Put an Entire Drive into a Folder in XP

This feature, called "Volume Mount Points" (also supported in Windows 2000) allows you to associate an entire partition with a single folder on your hard disk. We recommend using the Volume Mount Points feature to free up disk space on a C: drive that's getting too full. If your C: drive is getting too full, you'll find this very helpful.

Create an empty folder on your C: drive called "NewDrive".
Install your new hard disk and open the Disk Management console. You can access Disk Management from the Run command. Type diskmgmt.msc in the Run command and click OK.
In the Disk Management console, right click on the new disk and click New Volume. Click Next when the Welcome to the New Volume Wizard dialog box appears.
On the Select Volume Type page, select the Simple option. Click Next.
On the Select Disks page, make sure the correct disk (the new one) is selected and then type in the size of the partition you want to create. The default is to use the entire disk. Type in the size in the Select the amount of space in MB text box and click Next.
On the Assign Drive Letter or Path page, select the Mount in the following empty NTFS folder option and then type in the path to the NewDrive folder. Click Next.
On the Format Volume page, accept the default settings and click Next. Click Finish and the volume will be created and formatted.
Find some folders that are taking up a lot of space. Right click on those folders and click the Cut command. Then click on the NewDrive folder and use the Paste command. Note that you shouldn't do this with Program Folders and System Folders, as there are many files in use in those folders so you won't be able to reliably copy them to the new location. The Cut and Paste operation moves the files from their old folders into the new one.
Notice that all the files still appear to be on the C: drive. This makes it easy for you to save all your stuff to the C: drive, but actually use the space on the new disk.

Note: You can, of course, name the folder whatever you wish instead of NewDrive.

[Top]

Print a Folders Contents

If you need to print the contents of a folder, then this batch file will come in very handy. Once you have followed the instructions below, you will be able to right click a folder and click Print Directory Listing from the resulting menu.

Create the Printdir.bat File:

To create the Printdir.bat file:

Go to Start>> Run, type: notepad
Click OK
Paste the following text into Notepad:
@echo off
dir %1 /-p /o:gn > "%temp%\Listing"
start /w notepad /p "%temp%\Listing"
del "%temp%\Listing"
exit
On the File menu, click Exit, and then click Yes to save the changes.
In the Save As dialog box, type: %windir%\Printdir.bat
Click Save

Create a New Action for File Folders:

Click Start, click Control Panel (or, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel), and then click Folder Options.
On the File Types tab, click File Folder.
Click Advanced, and then click New.
In the Action box, type:
Print Directory Listing
In the Application used to perform action box, type:
printdir.bat
Click OK.
Click OK, and then click Close.

Edit the Registry:

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft and 5 Star Support cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using the Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

After you follow the steps in the previous sections, Search Companion may start when you double-click a folder (instead of the folder being opened). Or, if you have associated other actions with file folders, those actions may be performed instead.

To resolve this issue:

Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
Locate the Default value under the following key in the registry:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell
Click Modify on the Edit menu.
In the Value data box, type:
none
Click OK.
Quit Registry Editor.

[Top]

Rename Start Menu Folders

If you would like to rename the folders in your Start Menu (ie: My Documents, My Pictures...etc), Windows XP makes it very easy to do:

Click Start, then right-click My Pictures and select rename. Type in the new name, then press Enter. That's it! The same instructions will apply to all of the folders within the Start menu.

[Top]

Selecting Files

When viewing files in Windows Explorer, there may be times when you want to select more than one file at a time to work with. For example; if there are multiple files in a folder, and you would like to delete several of them, you could click them and delete them one at a time, or you could use one of the methods below to delete several of them at once. Here are a few ways to select multiple files:

If all the files to be selected are next to each other, click the first one, then hold down the Shift key and click the last one. Those two files and every file in between will be selected.
If the files to be selected are scattered throughout the folder, you can click the first one, then hold down the CTRL key while you click the others one at a time (holding down the CTRL key until they are all selected).
To select all of the files in a folder, click the first one, then press CTRL-A on the keyboard, and they will all be selected.
If there are 20 files within a folder and you would like to delete 18 of them, it may be faster to use CTRL-Click and select the two that you do not want to delete and then go to Edit and choose the "Invert Selection" command. This will reverse the process and highlight the other 18 files.

Once you have selected these files, any action you take will be applied to them as a group. For instance, if you press the DEL key, they will all be deleted. If you right-click them and choose Copy, they will all be copied, etc.

[Top]