Define Default Windows Vista Folder Settings

The default folder settings are not working consistently in Windows Vista and it becomes quickly annoying to move and resize folders to the right size all the time in the new Microsoft operating system.

Brian Scott posted an interesting Registry hack that lets you define default folder settings for all folders in Windows Vista. It requires that you delete two keys in the Windows Registry and modify a third one but it is well worth it in my opinion as you get rid of the issue once and for all.

A good suggestion would be to backup the Windows Vista Registry before starting to apply the changes. Windows saves folder information in two Registry keys that need to be deleted prior to applying the changes to reset already stored settings and make it easier to identify the Registry key that needs to be changed.

Open the Windows Registry by pressing Windows.R, typing regedit and hitting enter. Now navigate to the following two keys and delete them:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU


Logout from the computer system or restart it so that the changes can take effect. Now right-click on the Windows desktop and create a new folder. Open that folder afterwards and resize it the way you want the default folder to look like. You can also change the default view and other settings. Close the folder afterwards and open the Windows Registry again.

Go to the key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\

and notice that there is only one subkey now that should show up.. Expand that key, then the Shell subkey and the guid name afterwards so that the structure looks like the one on the image below:

The digit and the guid will most likely be different from the ones shown in the screenshot. Right-click the guid name and Export that key to the hard drive. Name it anything you want. Now locate the exported key on the hard drive and edit it with Notepad.

There should be a line looking like the following:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\4\Shell\{5C4F28B5-F869-4E84-8E60-F11DB97C5CC7}].

The digit 4 corresponds to the digit under the Bags Registry key, remember that it might be different on your computer system.

Replace the digit with AllFolders so that it looks like the following:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell\{5C4F28B5-F869-4E84-8E60-F11DB97C5CC7}].

Save the edited key and double-click it to import it to the Windows Registry again. Now open up any folder in Windows Vista and see that it will be displayed in the the default size and view mode that you picked up earlier.

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