Using the Explorer's Send To Feature
Moving Up and Down Directory Levels
- To go one directory deeper, key RIGHT ARROW
- To back out one directory level, key LEFT ARROW
Hiding the File Menu in the Explorer
To hide the File Menu in Explorer:
- Start Regedit
- Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
- Create a new Binary Value
- Name it NoFileMenu
- Give it a value of 01 00 00 00
- Reboot the computer
Explorer Session from the Start Menu
To open the Explorer with a session on the Start Menu,
you can just right click on the START button and choose EXPLORE
Most avid windowers know that "Start | Settings | Taskbar | Start Menu
Programs | Advanced..."
will start an Explorer session focused on the Start Menu directory.
This allows you to easily and quickly add/modify your Start menu.
To immediately access this Explorer session from the Start menu itself,
- Open Explorer and open the Windows directory.
- Right-drag EXPLORER.EXE to the desktop, then select "Create shortcut
here."
- Open the properties to this shortcut, select the Shortcut tab and add the
following switches to the command line in Target: "/e,/root,c:\windows\Start
Menu".
- Double-click on the title of the shortcut and change it to "Configure
Start Menu."
- Open "Start | Settings | Taskbar | Start Menu Programs |
Advanced..." and drag the shortcut just created into the window on the
right.
- This will place a configuration item in the first level of the Start Menu.
These command-line options will allow a similar Explorer session to be
started with any folder as the root.
Automatically Adjusting Right-Panel Column Widths
The column widths in the right hand panel of the Explorer might not be the
correct sizes to display all the file information.
To automatically adjust all the columns at once to show all the information,
- Click somewhere on the right-hand panel
- Simply press the Ctrl-+ key.
- The Name, Size, Type and Modified columns will automatically adjust
themselves to display all their information.
Note: The + is the one on the numeric keyboard
Inserting the Name of a File into a Document
When you need to insert the exact name of a file into a document:
- Open the Explorer
- Right click on the file you want to reference
- Select Rename. You can either right click and select Rename or press the
F2 key.
- Instead of renaming it, right click on it again, and select Copy.
- Then you can paste the exact file name into your document
Added Non-Expanded Explorer when Right Clicking on
a Folder
Adding a second Explorer to the menu that pops up when right clicking on any
folder or the Start Button.
This is handy to be able to open Explorer non-expanded and also for being able
to open a second Explorer (non-expanded) while already in Explorer.
- Open My Computer
- Choose View-Options-File Types
- Select the File Folder file type
- Click Edit
- For ACTION, type EXPLORER2
- For APPLICATION USED, type C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n,/e,/select,C:\
- Click OK and close all windows
- Run REGEDIT
- Expand HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
- Locate and expand DIRECTORY
- Locate and expand SHELL
- Locate and expand EXPLORER2
- Select COMMAND
- On the right window RIGHT CLICK on DEFAULT
- Select MODIFY
- Remove the space and %1 at the end of the line
- Click OK and close REGEDIT
EXPLORER2 will show up and launch a non-expanded view of Explorer whenever
you right-click on the START BUTTON or any folder, even if you are already in
Explorer.
The whole procedure can be done in REGEDIT, but this may be safer for users
not experienced with REGEDIT
Finding Files from Explorer
To find files from a particular directory:
- Start the Explorer
- Go to the directory you want to search
- Press the F3 key
- The Find File dialog box will come up with the initial directory being the
one you highlighted
Printing a Directory from Explorer
To make a Print Directory option from a right-click in Explorer:
- In Explorer, choose View / Options / File Types
- Highlight Folder (not File Folder)
- Click on the Edit button
- Click on the New button
- In the Action box, type &Print Dir
- In the Application use to perform action box type C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM
/C DIR %1 /S /A /O:N > PRN
You can use other switches for COMMAND.COM (COMMAND.COM /?) or DIR (DIR /? |
MORE) to customize to your preference.
Opening a DOS Prompt in the Directory You Want
You can use the Explorer to easily open up a DOS window to a specific
directory.
- From Explorer Option Menu select File Types
- Highlight the object for Folder - NOT File Folder
- Click the Edit button
- From the 'Edit File Type' panel click the 'New' button
- Action is '&Goto DOS Prompt'
- Application used is C:\windows\command.com /k cd %1
- Select OK, then Close and Close.
- Now from Explorer secondary (right) click the folder you want to go to in
DOS
- From the menu select 'GotDOS Prompt' (or hit G) and you are in that
directory with a DOS windows
- For Win NT 4.0 same tip, but substitute cmd.exe for command.com)
Starting Explorer with No Drives Expanded
Normally when you start the Explorer, it expands the folders on the root of
the C: Drive.
For those computers with multiple hard drives plus CD ROM Drives, this might not
always be what you want.
If you want it to start without expanding any drives, use the following
switches:
EXPLORER /n, /e, /select, c:\
This will work with NT 4.0 as well
Opening Explorer and System Properties from My Computer
By holding Shift key and double-clicking My Computer you get an
Explorer view of My Computer.
By holding down Alt and key and double-clicking My Computer you
get the System Properties of Control Panel.
Submitted by Paul Alderson
Opening Explorer from My Computer
To open an explorer view of "My Computer", in "My
Computer" or an Explorer window,
- Select the View menu, Options.
- Click the File Types Tab
- Highlight the Folders entry
- Click the Edit button
- Highlight the action you wish (Open, Explore, Explore From Here)
- Click the Set Default button.
This is much easier than editing the registry and easily changeable.
Undo Last Command in Explorer
When you use the Explorer to Copy, Move, Rename or Delete Files or Folders,
you can Undo your last action by pressing Ctrl-Z
File Copying in Explorer Without Opening Two Sessions
There was a previous tip regarding opening two Explorer sessions, tiling
them, and drag and dropping files from one to the other.
An another way to copy files without needing to open a second Explorer session
is to:
- Highlight the file(s) you want to copy
- Right click on the mouse
- Select Copy
- In Explorer, move to the target directory
- Right click on the mouse
- Select Paste
- The files will now be copied
Easier File Copying with Explorer
One difference between Explorer and File Manager is that with
File Manager
you could open up two windows to more easily copy files between drives.
To do the same thing with Explorer:
- Close all running applications
- Start two copies of Explorer
- Press Ctrl-Esc to bring up the task bar
- Right click on an open space
- Select Tile Horizontally or Vertically depending on your
preference
Your two Explorer sessions will now split the screen and you can copy between
them by
dragging files like before.
Expanding All Subfolders in Explorer
To quickly have Explorer expand all subfolders for a selected drive or
folder,
simply press the asterisk (*) key on the numeric keypad.
Starting Explorer when opening a Folder
To have an Explorer window be the default when you open up a Folder:
- Open up any folder.
- Select View / Options
- Select File Types
- Go down to Folder
- Click on Edit
- Highlight Explore
- Click on Set Default
- Click on Close
- Click on Close again
Now when you open a folder, you will get an Explorer window with the programs
or shortcuts in the right panel
and the regular explorer window in the left panel.
Explorer Shortcut Keys
- F4 - Displays the Combo Box
- F5 - Refresh the display
- Ctrl+G - Go to a specific directory
- Ctrl+Z - Undo last action
- Backspace - Go up one directory
Starting the Explorer from the Current DOS Directory
To start Explorer from whatever subdirectory you are in when shelled out in
DOS:
- Type "Start .\"
- The Explorer will start in that very same directory
- "Start ..\" will start the Explorer one directory above the
current one.
- "Start \" will start the Explorer at the root of the drive.
Changing the Sort order in Explorer
To change the sort order of the right window of MS Explorer
simply double click on the Name button underneath the toolbar
to change the sort order from ascending to descending, a single
click after that will toggle. The same works for Size, Type and Date Modified.
Using the Explorer's SEND TO Feature
- When you right click on a file, SEND TO is one of the options.
- To add other directories or programs, simply drag them to the SEND TO
folder that is directly under the directory where you installed Win95.
- This will allow you to quickly move files to commonly used areas.
- For example, you can SEND TO applications like WinZip.
If you have any additions or comments, please
