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I'm making an automated installer for Windows XP, and I want the default view to be the "details" view on all folders - that is, the effect gotten by setting one folder to the details view, then going to Tools -> Folder Options -> View -> "Apply to All Folders". I also want the status bar to be showing, same as going View -> Show Status Bar.

What registry entries should I modify, and to what, to have this be the case?

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3 Answers 3

Reset to default
9

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams

"Settings"=hex:08,00,00,00,04,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,77,7e,13,73,35,cf,11,ae,\ 69,08,00,2b,2e,12,62,04,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,43,00,00,00

.

However, as you can see the data is in an uncomprehensible format. The bold, fifth hexadecimal value in my example indicates the display style setting. Possible values:

01: Large Icons

02: Small Icons

03: List View

04: Details

. There may be others.

. Source of Information

.

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1
  • hmm changing the value to 4 + logging off+on doesnt seem to work.. wil have to play around w/ it more
    – Claudiu
    Commented Mar 4, 2011 at 16:54
7
+100

Tested on XP SP3:

Save as bat file and run

:: Show Status Bar
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main" /v StatusBarOther /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

:: Apply Details view to All Folders
reg add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams /v Settings /t REG_BINARY ^
/d 08000000040000000000000000777E137335CF11AE6908002B2E1262040000001000000043000000 /f

:: Restart explorer
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
start explorer.exe

Some clues on the cryptic binary string:

080000000300000000000000E0A51F0E7335CF11AE6908002B2E1262040000001000000043000000
08000000040000000000000000777E137335CF11AE6908002B2E1262040000001000000043000000
        |               |
        |               |
        Mode            CLSID with first 3 segments in small endian

CLSID Key                                 Description   Mode
{0057D0E0-3573-11CF-AE69-08002B2E1262}     Icons        1
{0E1FA5E0-3573-11CF-AE69-08002B2E1262}     List         3
{137E7700-3573-11CF-AE69-08002B2E1262}     Details      4
{8BEBB290-52D0-11D0-B7F4-00C04FD706EC}     Thumbnail    5
{65F125E5-7BE1-4810-BA9D-D271C8432CE3}     Tiles        6
{8EEFA624-D1E9-445B-94B7-74FBCE2EA11A}     Filmstrip    7

Handling Already Saved Folder Views

If you want to apply this to folders with saved view settings, then you can run the below script that has added logic in it from the Option One as listed on Reset Folder View Settings of All Folders

:: To reset folder view settings of all folders
Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags" /F

Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\Bags" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU" /F

Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags" /F

Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU" /F


:: To reset size of details, navigation, preview panes to default
Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Modules\GlobalSettings\Sizer" /F

:: Show Status Bar
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main" /v StatusBarOther /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

:: Apply Details view to All Folders
reg add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams /v Settings /t REG_BINARY ^
/d 08000000040000000000000000777E137335CF11AE6908002B2E1262040000001000000043000000 /f

:: To kill and restart explorer
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
start explorer.exe
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  • 2
    +1 this works successfully just as explained on my Windows XP VM machine and from my Windows 10 machine as well.
    – Vomit IT - Chunky Mess Style
    Commented Sep 4, 2016 at 16:29
5

You could have found by yourself:

  1. Export the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
  2. Change the Explorer option you are interested in
  3. Export the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer again
  4. Use a "diff" tool such as WinMerge to find the differences between the 2 files.
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  • 7
    indeed i could have if i knew where the key was, or about tools like WinMerge, or if my google searches led me to such tools =).
    – Claudiu
    Commented Mar 4, 2011 at 16:28

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