Those "Save As" and "Open" locations...

August 5, 2009 8:17 PM

I'm in Windows XP. Whenever I manage files in various apps, like "save as" or "open file," there's that stack of location icons on the left such as My Recent Documents, Desktop, My Computer, My Network Places, etc. I want to destroy the My Recent Documents and My Network Places locations and add a custom folder or drive to that stack of location icons--or whatever the heck you call that. There must be a way! (Apologies if this has been asked, but I don't even know what that stack of icons is called so I can't search for it...)
posted by Ky to computers & internet (9 answers total)

There's a setting in the registry to do this. This explain it, but read the comments below it for a correction.
posted by orthogonality at 8:29 PM on August 5, 2009 [1 favorite]

This is even easier, if you don't want to set any to be special folders.
posted by orthogonality at 8:31 PM on August 5, 2009

If I recall, the Tweak UI PowerToy also allows you to set this, and is very user-friendly.
posted by Jacen Solo at 8:36 PM on August 5, 2009

Tweak UI will allow you to change the 'Places Bar' but only in a few fairly limited ways.
The 'Places Bar' settings are under the 'Common Dialogs' menu item.
You only have the choice of: a. Default, b. Hide, or c. Customize, but you can only choose from a limited number of places.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 8:51 PM on August 5, 2009

Yeah, what confess, Fletch says is what I remember (it's been a year since I used MS-Windows regularly). The links I give above all all "Places"to be set.
posted by orthogonality at 9:27 PM on August 5, 2009

tweak ui is what you want.
posted by jak68 at 9:45 PM on August 5, 2009

That's not true, Confess. You can also type in any arbitrary path in the Tweak UI dialog.
posted by Rhomboid at 2:36 AM on August 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

Ah, yes. According to the comments in one of the links from orthogonality... I neglected to mention that I have XP Home and not XP Pro, which means I don't have access tp the "gpedit.msc" tip, so I'll have to go through the Tweak UI route.

I'll also try the separate tip for changing the MS Office (2k3) Places Bar.

Thanks, all!
posted by Ky at 9:39 AM on August 6, 2009

Update:

Tweak UI worked for me (and yes, you can add custom locations besides what's available in the list--just type it in) for all the non-MS Office applications I checked.

I ended up downloading and using the "Office Places Editor" for my MS Office 2003 (supposedly works for 2000/2002/2003), and while it's a bit less user-friendly than TweakUI, that worked for my Office places bar too.

:)
posted by Ky at 10:03 AM on August 6, 2009