Windows 7 : Putting Windows Explorer to Work for You

Now that you know the essential for navigating your computer with Windows Explorer, let’s look at how you can make Windows Explorer work for you. I’ll start by discussing ways you can customize Windows Explorer and then I’ll provide specific tips and techniques to optimize folder views.

1. Setting Folder Options

Day in and day out, you use Windows Explorer and its various views to navigate your computer’s files and folders. Unfortunately, Explorer’s default settings are configured for general use and not specifically for the way you work. Isn’t it about time you customized Windows Explorer for the way you prefer to work? Not only will this save you time, but it will also make Windows Explorer easier to work with.

You control the way Windows Explorer works using the Folder Options dialog box. To access this dialog box, open Windows Explorer, click Organize, and then click “Folder and search options.” As Figure 1 shows, most of the options you’ll want to work with are on the View tab. Review Table 1 to see how each option works and then choose the settings that work best for you.

Figure 1. Configuring Windows Explorer using View tab options

Table 1. Configuration options for Windows Explorer

Setting	When selected	When not selected
Always show icons, never thumbnails	Windows Explorer shows large thumbnail images of the actual content for pictures and other types of files. When folders have many pictures, this option can slow down the display as Windows Explorer has to create the thumbnail representation of each image.	Windows Explorer does not create thumbnails. Instead, Windows Explorer shows the standard file and folder icons.
Always show menus	Windows Explorer always shows the menu bar, providing quick access to the menus. (You can also toggle this option by clicking Organize, pointing to Layout and then selecting Menu Bar.)	Windows Explorer hides the menu bar and you must elect to display it by pressing the Alt key.
Display file icon on thumbnails	Windows Explorer adds file icons to thumbnails it displays.	Windows Explorer displays thumbnails without file icons.
Display file size information in folder tips	Windows Explorer displays a tool tip showing the creation date and time, the size of the folder, and a partial list of files when you move the mouse pointer over a folder name or folder icon.	Windows Explorer displays a tool tip showing the creation date and time when you move the mouse pointer over a folder name or folder icon.
Display the full path in the title bar	When you press Alt-Tab to access the flip view, Windows displays the actual file path instead of the folder name when you move the mouse pointer over a Windows Explorer window. If you are using the Windows Classic theme , this will display the actual file path instead of the folder name in the title bar.	When you press Alt-Tab to access the flip view, Windows displays the folder name when you move the mouse pointer over a Windows Explorer window. If you are using the Windows Classic theme, this will display the folder name in the title bar.
Hidden files and folders	Windows Explorer displays hidden files, folders, or drives.	Windows Explorer does not display hidden files, folders, or drives.
Hide empty drives in the computer folder	Windows Explorer displays information about empty drives in the Computer window.	Windows Explorer does not display information about empty drives in the Computer window.
Hide file extensions for known file types	Windows Explorer does not display file extensions for known file types.	Windows Explorer displays file extensions for known file types.
Hide protected operating system files	Windows Explorer does not display operating system files.	Windows Explorer displays operating system files.
Launch folder windows in a separate process	Windows runs each instance of Windows Explorer in a separate process. Though this requires more memory and generally slows down the process of opening new windows, it also means that each instance is independent of the other. Thus, if one instance crashes or hangs, it generally will not affect other instances of Windows Explorer.	Windows runs all instances of Windows Explorer in the same process. Though this saves memory and generally speeds up the process of opening new windows, it also means that all instances of Windows Explorer are dependent on each other. As a result, if one instance crashes, they all crash, and if one instance is in a pending or wait state, all instances could become locked.
Show drive letters	Windows Explorer displays drive letters as part of the information on the Locations bar.	Windows Explorer does not display drive letters as part of the information on the Locations bar.
Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color	Windows Explorer lists encrypted files and compressed files using different colors. Normally, encrypted files are displayed with green text and compressed files are displayed using blue text.	Windows Explorer does not distinguish between encrypted, compressed, and normal files.
Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items	Windows Explorer shows tool tips with additional information about a file or folder when you move the mouse over the file or folder.	Windows Explorer does not show tool tips with additional information about a file or folder when you move the mouse over the file or folder.
Show preview handlers in Preview pane	When the Preview pane is visible, Windows Explorer displays previews of selected files and folders.	When the Preview pane is visible, Windows Explorer does not display previews of selected files and folders.
Use checkboxes to select items	Windows Explorer displays checkboxes that you can use to select files.	Windows Explorer allows you to select files, folders, and other items using only the standard selection techniques such as click, Shift-Click and Ctrl-Click.
Use Sharing Wizard	Windows Explorer uses the File Sharing wizard for configuring file sharing.	Windows Explorer uses the advanced file sharing options. When you try to share files, you’ll need to click Advanced Sharing on the Sharing tab so that you can configure permissions, caching and connections settings separately.
When typing into a list view, automatically type into the Search box	When you are working with the list view and press a letter key, Windows Explorer enters the text you type into the Search box.	When you are working with the list view and press a letter key, Windows Explorer selects the first file or folder with that letter.

2. Optimizing Folder Views

Windows Explorer uses view templates to determine what each folder looks like in the Contents pane. The predefined templates include the following:

General Items

For folders that contain a mix of file types including documents, pictures, and other folders.

Documents

For folders that contain mostly documents.

Music

For folders that contain mostly digital music. When you are working with music, the Music pane provides the Play, Play All, and Burn options.

Pictures

For folders that contain mostly pictures. By default, each picture is displayed with a thumbnail that you can use for quick browsing. When you are working with pictures, the Picture pane provides Preview, Slide Show, Print, and Burn options.

Videos

For folders that contain mostly videos. When you are working with videos, the Video pane provides Play, Play All, and Burn options.

Folder view settings you use are seen by all users who access the system, either locally or remotely. The default view for most folders is Documents. If you have write permissions on a folder, you can customize the folder view. You can even apply a favorite view to all folders of that type on the system as well.

You can configure custom views for folders by following these steps:

1. In Windows Explorer, right-click the folder you want to customize, and then select Properties.

2. Click the Customize tab, as shown in Figure 2.

3. On the “Optimize this folder for” list, choose the template you want to use, such as Pictures. To apply the view to subfolders of this folder, choose “Also apply this template to all subfolders.”

4. Optionally, customize the folder preview. By default, a folder shows a folder icon with thumbnails for the first few files as a folder preview. If you want, you can set a specific background picture or other file that will be used instead of the thumbnails. Click Choose File, and then use the Browse dialog box to select the picture or other file you want to use as part of the folder’s preview.

5. Click OK.

Figure 2. Customizing folder views

You also can apply a custom view to all the folders of a particular type on the system or restore the default view to the folders. To apply a custom view to all the folders of a particular type, complete the following steps:

1. In Windows Explorer, select the folder you want to work with. Use the options of the View list or View menu to configure the folder view that you want to use, such as Large Icons.

2. Click Organize and then click Folder And Search Options.

3. In the Folder Options dialog box, select the View tab.

4. To apply the current folder view to all folders of this type, click Apply To Folders.

5. To restore all folders of this type to their default view, click Reset Folders.

6. Click OK.

Sometimes you’ll want all folders—regardless of type—to use the same default view. To do this, follow these steps:

1. In Windows Explorer, right-click the folder you want to work with, and then select Properties.

2. Select the Customize tab. Under Optimize This Folder For, choose General Items. Click OK.

3. In Windows Explorer, select the folder. Use the options on the View list or View menu to configure the folder view that you want to use, such as Large Icons.

4. Click Organize and then click Folder and Search Options.

5. In the Folder Options dialog box, select the View tab.

6. To apply the current folder view to all folders of this type, click Apply To Folders.

7. Repeat this procedure four times, once each for the Documents, Pictures, Music, and Videos templates. In step 2, choose Documents, Pictures, Music, or Videos as appropriate.