Default view of folders reverts back to previous settings.

Hello,

The default view of folders sometimes reverts back to previous settings.
I've setup a folder with the view that I'd like for all of my folders, with
Details, Size, Create Date, & Modified Date (turned off Tag since it's of no
use to me whatsoever since I can't use it for MPEGS, AVIs, or Real files)
and then clicked Tools/Folder Options, then clicked the View tab and under
Folder Views, where it says: You can apply the view (such as Details or
Icons) that your are using for this folder to all folders of this type. I
click the "Apply to Folders" button.

Later I'll come back to that very same folder and the view has changed. And
not all of the other folders on the system have taken on those same
settings.

I know in XP all I had to do was the same procedure that I outlined above
and I could get all my folders to look the same.

What gives with Vista?

Thanks,

Jeff

'Apply to Folders' in Vista works on a per-template basis. Different
defaults can be saved for 'All Items', 'Documents', 'Pictures & Video', etc.
You need to be sure of what template the current folder is using before
using 'Apply to Folders'.

This also means that the default will only be applied to folders of that
type.

As for a specific folder forgetting it's view, folder views are unique based
on the namespace path to the folder -- the saved view for
'Desktop\UserName\Pictures' has no bearing on the view of
'Desktop\Computer\c:\Users\UserName\Pictures', it can remember different
view settings -- even use a different template. So make sure that's not the
cause of the discrepancy that you are seeing.

If that's not it, post back. Lots of things we can check! :-)


--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]

"Jeff Ingram" <> wrote in message
news:etT%...
> Hello,
>
> The default view of folders sometimes reverts back to previous settings.
> I've setup a folder with the view that I'd like for all of my folders,
> with
> Details, Size, Create Date, & Modified Date (turned off Tag since it's of
> no
> use to me whatsoever since I can't use it for MPEGS, AVIs, or Real files)
> and then clicked Tools/Folder Options, then clicked the View tab and under
> Folder Views, where it says: You can apply the view (such as Details or
> Icons) that your are using for this folder to all folders of this type. I
> click the "Apply to Folders" button.
>
> Later I'll come back to that very same folder and the view has changed.
> And
> not all of the other folders on the system have taken on those same
> settings.
>
> I know in XP all I had to do was the same procedure that I outlined above
> and I could get all my folders to look the same.
>
> What gives with Vista?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jeff

Thanks for the reply. I'll have to look at it a little more closely...


Thanks,

Jeff

"Keith Miller MVP" <> wrote in message
news:...
> 'Apply to Folders' in Vista works on a per-template basis. Different
> defaults can be saved for 'All Items', 'Documents', 'Pictures & Video',
> etc.
> You need to be sure of what template the current folder is using before
> using 'Apply to Folders'.
>
> This also means that the default will only be applied to folders of that
> type.
>
> As for a specific folder forgetting it's view, folder views are unique
> based on the namespace path to the folder -- the saved view for
> 'Desktop\UserName\Pictures' has no bearing on the view of
> 'Desktop\Computer\c:\Users\UserName\Pictures', it can remember different
> view settings -- even use a different template. So make sure that's not
> the cause of the discrepancy that you are seeing.
>
> If that's not it, post back. Lots of things we can check! :-)
>
>
> --
> Good Luck,
>
> Keith
> Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
>
> "Jeff Ingram" <> wrote in message
> news:etT%...
>> Hello,
>>
>> The default view of folders sometimes reverts back to previous settings.
>> I've setup a folder with the view that I'd like for all of my folders,
>> with
>> Details, Size, Create Date, & Modified Date (turned off Tag since it's of
>> no
>> use to me whatsoever since I can't use it for MPEGS, AVIs, or Real files)
>> and then clicked Tools/Folder Options, then clicked the View tab and
>> under
>> Folder Views, where it says: You can apply the view (such as Details or
>> Icons) that your are using for this folder to all folders of this type.
>> I
>> click the "Apply to Folders" button.
>>
>> Later I'll come back to that very same folder and the view has changed.
>> And
>> not all of the other folders on the system have taken on those same
>> settings.
>>
>> I know in XP all I had to do was the same procedure that I outlined above
>> and I could get all my folders to look the same.
>>
>> What gives with Vista?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Jeff
>

Jeff, I am having this exact same issue and, coincidentaly, I just found out
what Keith explained today. I've changed my Downloads folder from
C:\Users\[username]\Downloads to E:\Downloads. So if I go to this folder
through this path: click E:\ drive then Downloads folder, it gives me a view.
If I go to this folder through clicking on my user name and then downloads it
gives me another view. To tell you the truth, it is a bit annoying.

I've always wished that Windows stored folder settings (whether it is
Documents, Pictures, Videos, All Files, etc) in the desktop.ini file, where
it stores the folder's custom icon. It would also help to save folder
settings through formats. I believe Windows stores these settings on the
registry, right? For that reason I disabe "Remember each folder's view
settings" so that my registry doesn't get too big. Sometime I change some of
the folder's settings (like the width of the colums) so that I can see the
full filename, for example. Imagine if Windows stores all these settings in
the registry, for all the folders I change during my Windows installation
lifetime! Including those folders I delete (does Windows delete their custom
settings too? I don't think so).

I didn't like the way Windows XP handled these customizations, I don't like
the way Vista does it either.

Andre

"Keith Miller MVP" wrote:

> 'Apply to Folders' in Vista works on a per-template basis. Different
> defaults can be saved for 'All Items', 'Documents', 'Pictures & Video', etc.
> You need to be sure of what template the current folder is using before
> using 'Apply to Folders'.
>
> This also means that the default will only be applied to folders of that
> type.
>
> As for a specific folder forgetting it's view, folder views are unique based
> on the namespace path to the folder -- the saved view for
> 'Desktop\UserName\Pictures' has no bearing on the view of
> 'Desktop\Computer\c:\Users\UserName\Pictures', it can remember different
> view settings -- even use a different template. So make sure that's not the
> cause of the discrepancy that you are seeing.
>
> If that's not it, post back. Lots of things we can check! :-)
>
>
> --
> Good Luck,
>
> Keith
> Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
>
> "Jeff Ingram" <> wrote in message
> news:etT%...
> > Hello,
> >
> > The default view of folders sometimes reverts back to previous settings.
> > I've setup a folder with the view that I'd like for all of my folders,
> > with
> > Details, Size, Create Date, & Modified Date (turned off Tag since it's of
> > no
> > use to me whatsoever since I can't use it for MPEGS, AVIs, or Real files)
> > and then clicked Tools/Folder Options, then clicked the View tab and under
> > Folder Views, where it says: You can apply the view (such as Details or
> > Icons) that your are using for this folder to all folders of this type. I
> > click the "Apply to Folders" button.
> >
> > Later I'll come back to that very same folder and the view has changed.
> > And
> > not all of the other folders on the system have taken on those same
> > settings.
> >
> > I know in XP all I had to do was the same procedure that I outlined above
> > and I could get all my folders to look the same.
> >
> > What gives with Vista?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Jeff
>
>

"Andre" <> wrote in message
news:9A004B90-3869-4F47-8066-...
> Jeff, I am having this exact same issue and, coincidentaly, I just found
> out
> what Keith explained today. I've changed my Downloads folder from
> C:\Users\[username]\Downloads to E:\Downloads. So if I go to this folder
> through this path: click E:\ drive then Downloads folder, it gives me a
> view.
> If I go to this folder through clicking on my user name and then downloads
> it
> gives me another view. To tell you the truth, it is a bit annoying.

But once you've set the view for each path, they'll be remembered.

> I've always wished that Windows stored folder settings (whether it is
> Documents, Pictures, Videos, All Files, etc) in the desktop.ini file,
> where
> it stores the folder's custom icon. It would also help to save folder
> settings through formats.

A limited amount of View info can/is stored in desktop.ini. Folder
Template, Icon Style, & Thumbnail Pic. The problem with view settings is
that they are intended to be per-user. If you start to think about a
desktop.ini type file for each user on a network where 100+ users may access
the folder, you'll see how that's a lot of filesystem space & clutter.

> I believe Windows stores these settings on the
> registry, right?

Yes

> For that reason I disabe "Remember each folder's view
> settings" so that my registry doesn't get too big.

The 'Remember each folders view settings' could more aptly be named 'Recall
each folders view settings'. If you turn it off, the saved settings for the
folder you first open are applied to that view -- as well as any folder you
browse to from that window -- i.e. the view settings stay the same while
browsing. The view settings from that first folder are also saved as the
view
settings for any folder you browse through. So you're not saving much
registry space.


--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]

Post back with results, please.


--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]

"Jeff Ingram" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Thanks for the reply. I'll have to look at it a little more closely...
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jeff
>
> "Keith Miller MVP" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> 'Apply to Folders' in Vista works on a per-template basis. Different
>> defaults can be saved for 'All Items', 'Documents', 'Pictures & Video',
>> etc.
>> You need to be sure of what template the current folder is using before
>> using 'Apply to Folders'.
>>
>> This also means that the default will only be applied to folders of that
>> type.
>>
>> As for a specific folder forgetting it's view, folder views are unique
>> based on the namespace path to the folder -- the saved view for
>> 'Desktop\UserName\Pictures' has no bearing on the view of
>> 'Desktop\Computer\c:\Users\UserName\Pictures', it can remember different
>> view settings -- even use a different template. So make sure that's not
>> the cause of the discrepancy that you are seeing.
>>
>> If that's not it, post back. Lots of things we can check! :-)
>>
>>
>> --
>> Good Luck,
>>
>> Keith
>> Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
>>
>> "Jeff Ingram" <> wrote in message
>> news:etT%...
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> The default view of folders sometimes reverts back to previous settings.
>>> I've setup a folder with the view that I'd like for all of my folders,
>>> with
>>> Details, Size, Create Date, & Modified Date (turned off Tag since it's
>>> of no
>>> use to me whatsoever since I can't use it for MPEGS, AVIs, or Real
>>> files)
>>> and then clicked Tools/Folder Options, then clicked the View tab and
>>> under
>>> Folder Views, where it says: You can apply the view (such as Details or
>>> Icons) that your are using for this folder to all folders of this type.
>>> I
>>> click the "Apply to Folders" button.
>>>
>>> Later I'll come back to that very same folder and the view has changed.
>>> And
>>> not all of the other folders on the system have taken on those same
>>> settings.
>>>
>>> I know in XP all I had to do was the same procedure that I outlined
>>> above
>>> and I could get all my folders to look the same.
>>>
>>> What gives with Vista?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Jeff
>>

> But once you've set the view for each path, they'll be remembered.

Right. But you have to agree with me that it is a bit annoying having to set
your "personal" folders view twice. Specially because most of them are
customized as Templates (nice name) such as Documents, Photos, Videos, etc.
So setting one template should customize them all, like you said. This is
something I can live with. The trouble is that when I insert a DVD, for
instance, the DVD files are shown as Tiles, the Windows default. I've created
a new folder, just today (before I discovered that different paths would
result in different views) and it was also showing as Tiles and, what's
worse, it was "sorted" by file types (that blue line separating the files),
something that I never use, besides on the Computer folder. I felt like
Windows applied a completely random view and sorting, since I didn't use any
templates on that folder and I didn't customize it (I had just created it).
This is the second annoying thing.

>If you start to think about a
> desktop.ini type file for each user on a network where 100+ users may access
> the folder, you'll see how that's a lot of filesystem space & clutter.

That, I agree with you. But still, the way Windows handles these
customizations bothers me, ever since Windows XP (and now I believe this same
problem will still haunt me). I know Windows stores a limited amount of
folders customizations. So the more I use my computer, the messy it gets.
Soon, say three months from now, my Pictures folder will be viewed as
Details, my Videos as small thumbnails, my Music as Tiles, not to mention the
other folders I have somehow configured. All because I committed the sin of
pulling the Name column a little bit on an old folder I deleted just to see
the filenames better and Windows stored that and erased my customizations. So
there I go customizing everything again.

> The view settings from that first folder are also saved as the
> view
> settings for any folder you browse through. So you're not saving much
> registry space.

This is bad news. So I'm better off with that setting turned on. Who knows
how long my customizations on my favourite, persistent folders will last
until Windows decides to wipe them out.

You see, my only real complaint here is that Windows won't simply apply
"Details" view for all Folders, except the ones I customize differently. I
don't want a simple column resizing, or a column sorting, or a column
positioning to ruin my customization on the other folders I have. If I can do
that and somebody tells me how, I will be really grateful.

Andre

"Andre" <> wrote in message
news:24F3CD59-B3BB-4CFC-968E-...
>> But once you've set the view for each path, they'll be remembered.
>
> Right. But you have to agree with me that it is a bit annoying having to
> set
> your "personal" folders view twice. Specially because most of them are
> customized as Templates (nice name) such as Documents, Photos, Videos,
> etc.
> So setting one template should customize them all, like you said. This is
> something I can live with. The trouble is that when I insert a DVD, for
> instance, the DVD files are shown as Tiles, the Windows default.

Well, I just popped a data CD in my CD drive, and that came up in the
grouped, tiled mode you describe. A peek at 'Customize this folder' showed
its template to be 'All Items'. I ungrouped it & set the view to details,
then used the 'Apply to Folders' option. I then ejected the CD, opened &
closed some other folders, then inserted a different CD. It displayed with
the view settings I had applied. It does use a weird template, though:
{57807898-8C4F-4462-BB63-71042380B109}
Which is not the same template that applies to ordinary file folders using
the 'All Items' template. This one appears to be 'shared' -- folders that
can set or are affected by it include: Desktop, Computer, &
Desktop\UserName.

Templates set by 'Apply to Folders' are found under:

"HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ex plorer\Streams\Defaults"

If you want to see what affects what.

> I've created
> a new folder, just today (before I discovered that different paths would
> result in different views) and it was also showing as Tiles and, what's
> worse, it was "sorted" by file types (that blue line separating the
> files),
> something that I never use, besides on the Computer folder. I felt like
> Windows applied a completely random view and sorting, since I didn't use
> any
> templates on that folder and I didn't customize it (I had just created
> it).

But once you configure it to your liking & use 'Apply to Folders', the next
new folder you create will use your custom template.

> This is the second annoying thing.
>
>>If you start to think about a
>> desktop.ini type file for each user on a network where 100+ users may
>> access
>> the folder, you'll see how that's a lot of filesystem space & clutter.
>
> That, I agree with you. But still, the way Windows handles these
> customizations bothers me, ever since Windows XP (and now I believe this
> same
> problem will still haunt me).

Remember that pre-SP2 XP had a default limit of 400 saved views -- that was
rather small. The default in Vista is 5000.

>
> You see, my only real complaint here is that Windows won't simply apply
> "Details" view for all Folders, except the ones I customize differently.

I think if every time a folder pops up in something other than detail view,
you take a moment to set it to details & use 'Apply to Folders', you'll soon
find you've got all your templates set the way you like.

Here's a sampling of templates to look for under the 'Defaults' key:

NotSpecified - {5C4F28B5-F869-4E84-8E60-F11DB97C5CC7} - All Items (File
Folders)
Documents - {7D49D726-3C21-4F05-99AA-FDC2C9474656} - Documents
Pictures - {B3690E58-E961-423B-B687-386EBFD83239} - Picutures and Video
Music - {AF9C03D6-7DB9-4A15-9464-13BF9FB69A2A} - Music Details
MusicIcons - {0B7467FB-84BA-4AAE-A09B-15B71097AF9E} - Music Icons
Contacts - {DE2B70EC-9BF7-4A93-BD3D-243F7881D492} - Contacts

Desktop, Desktop\UserName, Computer - {57807898-8C4F-4462-BB63-71042380B109}
Control Classic - {0C3794F3-B545-43AA-A329-C37430C58D2A}
Network - {25CC242B-9A7C-4F51-80E0-7A2928FEBE42}

> I don't want a simple column resizing, or a column sorting, or a column
> positioning to ruin my customization on the other folders I have. If I can
> do
> that and somebody tells me how, I will be really grateful.

I think you'll be pretty happy once you get the various defaults set.

If you want to go one step further and override content-sniffing (where
Explorer makes its best guess at which template to use), here are my
instructions to force the 'All Items' template on all folders.

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\All Folders\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
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]

On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 14:38:02 -0700, Andre

>Jeff, I am having this exact same issue and, coincidentaly, I just found out
>what Keith explained today. I've changed my Downloads folder from
>C:\Users\[username]\Downloads to E:\Downloads.

Results can vary depending on exactly how you did this. Did you:
- edit registry directly via Regedit?
- use a 3rd-party tweaker?
- rt-drag the location to E:, Move, and possibly rename it there?
- rt-click the namespace object and change the Location property?
- other?

If you navigate into the User namespace, do you see one Downloads
object, or two? If two, do they have different icons and locations?

>through this path: click E:\ drive then Downloads folder, it gives me a view.
>If I go to this folder through clicking on my user name and then downloads it
>gives me another view. To tell you the truth, it is a bit annoying.

Are the locations the same, i.e. if you create a file in one, does it
show up in the other?

Are the Desktop.ini files in both "locations" the same? Test this by
copying the Desktop.ini to another place, and then comparing the two.

There may be forward and backward references involved here:
- from namespace object to file system location via CLSID
- from file system location to namespace object via Desktop.ini

>I've always wished that Windows stored folder settings (whether it is
>Documents, Pictures, Videos, All Files, etc) in the desktop.ini file, where
>it stores the folder's custom icon. It would also help to save folder
>settings through formats. I believe Windows stores these settings on the
>registry, right?

I remember raising this with Raymond Chen back in the Win95 days,
before IE4/Win98 did much Desktop.ini stuff.

My point was that it avoid breaking the "don't store unbounded
instance data in finite global storage" rule, which was already
raising it's head in Win95 ("why do my folder settings get lost?").

His point was to ask how this would work with removable storage,
mapped network drives, multiple users etc. which he rightly suspected
I had not considered. Still, it might scale better to reproduce that
into in each Desktop.ini than try to hold that content in the
registry, and since then, Desktop.ini has become the repositor for
much of that information.

The danger with Desktop.ini (already present) is that it might provide
a mechanism to integrate dropped malware. This risk makes every
full-shared location an infection risk, and if Desktop.ini is
processed on LAN shares and removable disks, it gets worse.

This is not very relevant to your idea, because changing the view is
less dangerous than things already facilitated by Desktop.ini

>For that reason I disabe "Remember each folder's view
>settings" so that my registry doesn't get too big.

I avoid the Icon views for the same reason, in case moving one icon to
different (x,y) co-ordinates in the folder view should cause these to
be remembered for all 10 000 items in the folder.

Two things to bear in mind:

1) Vista's default views vary with content

In earlier Windows, whatever view you set as default would apply to
all locations, unless some other setting was "remembered" for that
location. But Vista has different default views depending on whether
it is a "music", "pictures", "general" etc. folder, and this in turn
may depend on the files present.

So adding a single .JPG may to what used to be a "general" folder into
"pictures" behavior, and thus a Thumbnails default view.

2) Namespace and directory settings may vary and/or clash

I'm not sure how these correlate, and they'd certainly be separated
out if the location you use as Downloads is not actually tracked as
the location for the Downloads namespace object.

It's interesting you say YMMV depending on whether you navigate via
the Users object or the E:\ file system location. I'd expect that
from XP experience, but Vista usually applies namespace rather than
file system properties, even if you navigate via the file system.

For example, let's say the namespace object Users\You\Downloads points
to the file system location E:\BLOB. You'd expect to see "Downloads"
if navigating via Users, and "Blob" if navigating from E:, but in
practice, you see E:\Downloads, not E:\BLOB.

>Sometime I change some of the folder's settings (like the width
>of the colums) so that I can see the full filename, for example.
>Imagine if Windows stores all these settings in the registry, for
>all the folders I change during my Windows installation lifetime!

That's pretty much what it does, though it will FIFO out the earliest
ones so that only the last XXX views are remembered - at least, that's
how it worked from Win95 throught to XP, with only the number of
"remembered" folders increasing over the years.

I don't know if Vista is any different in this respect.

>I didn't like the way Windows XP handled these customizations, I don't like
>the way Vista does it either.

To me, these frills are almost more hassle than they are worth. I
want List view everywhere, with a minimum of unsolicited content
groping, but that is at odds with the direction of Vista's quest to
"make it easier" and be more effective/powerful.

Mind you, I can see the value in some of these things, especially for
those with only the OS in default form (i.e. they don't have things
like Irfan View installed and integrated).

The risk is that the more stuff is groped automatically, the easier it
is for malware to find an exploitable surface.



>-------------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -
Tip Of The Day:
To disable the 'Tip of the Day' feature...
>-------------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -

"cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)" <> wrote in
message news:...
>
> To me, these frills are almost more hassle than they are worth. I
> want List view everywhere, with a minimum of unsolicited content
> groping, but that is at odds with the direction of Vista's quest to
> "make it easier" and be more effective/powerful.
>

Set the list view for a folder that's using the 'All Items' template, then
use 'Apply to Folders'. Then override content-sniffing with my 'AllFolders'
regedit:

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\All Folders\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.