But the tools Vista gives you (Explorer, et al.) to manage your
pictures, music, spreadsheets, email mailboxes, saved games, etc., fall short
in a lot of ways. Fortunately, with some of the tricks and adjustments in this
chapter, you should be able to transform the shell into a more useful tool
that??”at the very least??”you actually won??™t mind using every day.
Customize Windows Explorer
Many aspects of the way Windows works can be controlled by changing settings
scattered throughout the interface. When it comes to the look and feel
of Windows Explorer, and the way it displays and handles your files, the
Figure 2-2. All of the subtle??”and not so subtle??”controls you can use to navigate folders
and manage your files in Windows Explorer
Click once to show control
menu or double-click to
close window
Use these
checkboxes as
another way to
select files or go to
Folder Options to
hide this column
History of folders
viewed in this window Click any folder name to jump to that folder
Click the path arrows to jump to a different folder at that level
Click this area to type a path in the address bar
Click here to
deselect files or
right-click here to
show options for
the current folder;
this is also where
you??™d start drawing
a rubber band to
select files, and
where you can drag
files without risk of
inadvertently
dropping them on a
program file or
subfolder
Type here to begin
a search or press
Ctrl-F to open
a separate search
window
Some of the details here
are editable, such as MP3
tags and photo EXIF data
Use this narrow
handle just above
the divider to resize
the panes; it??™s the
only way to get rid
of the Favorite Links
pane
Use this to resize the Details
pane; enlarge to show more
details or shrink to hide it
When this turns to a red X,
click it to get rid of the Green
Ribbon of Death
Extra tools
appropriate to
the current folder
sometimes appear
here
Customize Windows Explorer | 25
Shell Tweaks
Folder Options window is a good place to start.
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