I personally like my folders to display contents the same across all folders on the PC. Windows Vista by default displays folder contents with large icons but to me it seems much easier to navigate if you use the folder view where it displays small icons with details about each item. Below are instructions on how to modify the folder view options and then apply that view to all the folders on your computer.

The default folder view will look something similar to the below.

Follow these steps to modify the default folder view to display folder/item details and the menu system in each window.

1. Open a Folder: First open a folder on your computer by clicking on the My Computer link followed by the default drive which in my case is the C: drive.
2. Modify Item View: Click the Views drop down and select Details so your folder now displays similar to the below image.

   

3. Open File Menu: Now click the Alt button on your keyboard to display the File Menu as shown below.

   

4. Open Folder Options: Now click on Tools in the File Menu and select Folder Options from the drop down. Select the View tab to display a window similar to the below.

   

5. Always Show Menus:Now select the checkbox next to “Always show menus” as shown below.

   

6. Apply To Folders: Click the Apply to Folders button to save these options for all folders.
7. Verify Settings: Now close out all the folder windows and open a new folder to make sure the options have been saved as the default.

Now when you open a folder on your computer the details of each item in the folder will be displayed.

Windows Vista Inside Out, Deluxe Edition

Ed Bott. Microsoft Press 2008, Paperback, 1440 pages, $28.12

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 at 8:15 AM and is filed under Insights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.