Folder, i hardly even...

May 27, 2010 6:53 PM

How can I change the view of EVERY FOLDER on my computer (vista 64) to the same view, sort by and group?

For he past few months my computer has taken it upon itself to change the view and layout of contents of folders, but not all the same way in all folders.

Some come up list view, sometimes thumbnails, now its taken to presenting some folder as 0-9, a-h, i-p... but i didn't ask it to. Open 4 folders on the screen? get 4 different views. Close a folder and open it back up, different view. It's driving me nuts!

The "folder options" under control panel doesn't appear to be of any help. Ive tried "Reset Folders" "restore Defaults" nothing works.

How can I set it so that every folder displays exactly the same way with exactly the same view, sort by and group options.

Thanks, gang!

posted by sandra_s to computers & internet (5 answers total)

In the 'View' tab of the Folder Options control panel, there is a list of Advanced Settings at the bottom. Look for the one titled 'Remember each folder's view settings' - uncheck this box and press OK.

Then go back to an Explorer window, set up the views just as you like them, open the Folder Options control panel again and click the 'Apply to Folders' button, followed by 'OK'.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 7:05 PM on May 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

That's not entirely correct - in the second paragraph, don't open Folder Options through the Control Panel. If you do the 'Apply to Folders' button won't work. Instead, once you've set up your view, pull down the 'Organize' menu and choose Folder and Search options; then click 'Apply to Folders' and OK.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 7:13 PM on May 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

Hardcore Poser: "That's not entirely correct - in the second paragraph, don't open Folder Options through the Control Panel. If you do the 'Apply to Folders' button won't work. Instead, once you've set up your view, pull down the 'Organize' menu and choose Folder and Search options; then click 'Apply to Folders' and OK."

Worked for me just now. Much thanks!
posted by Joe Beese at 7:14 PM on May 27, 2010

It turns out to be just a bit more complicated than that. What the button says is "Apply this view to all folders of this type." I have no idea how many types there are or how they're organized, but I recall having to do this about three times before I stopped seeing anything other than "list", which is what I prefer.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:33 PM on May 27, 2010

From the Technet forums, I found this solution that seemed to work for others:

you can force the 'All Items' template on to
all folders with the following:

Copy the text between the lines below into notepad & save as a .reg file.
Watch out for line wrap -- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\...\Shell] is all one line,
there is a space between 'Local' and 'Settings'.

--------------------------------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell]
"FolderType"="NotSpecified"

--------------------------------------------------

Merging the .reg file will set the 'All Items' template for any folders that
don't currently have a view saved with a different template. You can clear
all saved views by deleting the

"HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags"

key BEFORE merging the .reg file. If any folders open with a different
template after clearing the 'Bags' key & merging the .reg file, they most
likely have a template specified via their desktop.ini file.

Good Luck,

Keith"

Just tried it. It worked for me.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 6:13 AM on May 28, 2010