set default windows file explorer dimensions | The Coffeehouse

Koogle
I'm a Terminator - Astalavista, Vis7a!

is there a default registry key that is used by windows to set the explorer window size? (i'm not talking about IE.. btw.. just to make it ultra clear)

soo sick of having some file explorer windows open up at some poxy little size..

And I know about the shift close method to save the window sizes.. that works fine on the folder you did it on.. but then when you launch a different folder that hasn't had its size set..its back to default tiny size again.. and sure its ok if you opened c:\ with its set size and then navigate to the folder you wanted to view..

but if you had some other application launch "c:\windows\rubbish" then it seems explorer opens it up some tiny window proportions

so registry key pls.... just want to set the default [width] x [height] for any future file explorer window ever opened ever again.

one last thing.. there is registry key that coudl be used to disable the "Folders" sideview from showing when you open the file explorer(like winkey+e )... does anyone know what that registry key is. I had a look many times but trying to come up with the right search terms to find it, just got mind numbingly stupid for an option that should be readily available for the user to choose.

OnErrorDoThis

I don't think so. But I have been pondering to create an application to auto resize certain windows "always" upon opening.

Koogle
I'm a Terminator - Astalavista, Vis7a!

something that could fix this sillyness would be good. i'm finding that its defaulting to 800x600.. and from what i've read searching for some sort of actual proper fix, that seems to be hard coded into windows. btw is this still the case with vistar?

i have 1920x1200 dual monitors and this 800x600 default explorer window size retardedness is nutz, does MS not upgrade employees workstations? is that why they feel 800x600 is a good hard coded default size? Perplexed

DCMonkey
Monkey see, monkey do, monkey will destroy you!

Koogle wrote:
something that could fix this sillyness would be good. i'm finding that its defaulting to 800x600.. and from what i've read searching for some sort of actual proper fix, that seems to be hard coded into windows. btw is this still the case with vistar?

i have 1920x1200 dual monitors and this 800x600 default explorer window size retardedness is nutz, does MS not upgrade employees workstations? is that why they feel 800x600 is a good hard coded default size?

I thought I had my Explorer windows "trained" in Vista, but they've recently started to come up at that annoyingly small default size too.

Grr, MS never seems to get this setting of window size, default view etc in Explorer right*. I know for some of these it is difficult to choose the right behavior, but it should still be an understandable and reliable model.

* To this day, I think this is a big reason that Windows 95 original default behavior to open every folder in a new window like the Mac OS classic never caught on. It never remembered the individual folder settings with anything approaching reilability.

Koogle
I'm a Terminator - Astalavista, Vis7a!

soo no quick solution/fix/workaround to this then?? not even a tweak tool to change it. not even a script that could be called upon to resize any windows window to my set size?

Maybe Win7 might actually let the user decide whats best in some sort of new hidden registry key? thats the sort of bare minimum progress on windows I've come to expect. Seeing as how this is just another area of Vista that is no better.

just to see i'm not the only one annoyed by this:

http://www.vistaheads.com/forums/microsoft-public-windows-vista-file-management/120073-closing-folder-window-ctrl-w-resets-all-folders-globally.html

http://bink.nu/forums/p/3622/3632.aspx

brianScott

I came across this post in my search for a solution. I was able to figure out a fix and thought I would let you all know. All of my Windows Explorer windows now open at a custom size, no matter how I get to them. Even brand new folders I create.

I posted the solution on my blog.

mogaard

After a few hours of Registry hunting, I have re-solved this problem. Although Brian has a good solution, I haven't seen it work yet. I will be posting the solution on my website by 10:30 PM Central time tonight (December 1st, 2008). http://mogaard.com/explorer-issue

BHpaddock

FYI, holding shift while closing a window does absolutely, positively nothing. Except close the window of course.

DCMonkey
Monkey see, monkey do, monkey will destroy you!

Does anyone know if these folder size and the related problems of folder type guessing and view settings have been fixed in the Windows 7 PDC build?

ZippyV
Fired Up

In reply to DCMonkey

#Dec 2nd, 2008 @ 3:00 PM

PauloM has said that this problem should be fixed in Windows 7.

Koogle
I'm a Terminator - Astalavista, Vis7a!

In reply to BHpaddock

#Dec 2nd, 2008 @ 2:42 PM

These solutions aren't really great solutions to this problem at all.. just sloppy workarounds that users have to do in order to get this sh/t working the way they want it..but its far from perfect... I don't want ALL my explorer windows to opening up at the same size EVERYTIME... you can get addons to do that.. unfortunately none of them have ability to look at previous saved explorer window sizes and see if they have been adjusted.. then leave them.. and most are sloppy in that you'll still see the window opening at Explorers set size and then adjusted to your custom size/... its just *. Obviously if a specific folder like a folder where i've wanted more colunm details showing etc... and the window dimensions were adjusted then most likely thats how I'd be wanting to see that folder the next time, not that the new custom size.

To me it would just make sense if they original settings that dicates what newly created explorer window sizes was opened up and made customizable... along with some more user friendly explorer customizability( like movie thumbnail generation settings! maybe even the ability to set the frame capture % within the file myself... maybe even mouseover animated thumbnail display within explorer, like from 4~ captured frames of a movie file)

But this Windows Explorer <a bag sh/t, with extra smelly toppings if its Vista Exploder, but hey its just like such a key area of Windows OS (hope C9 doesn't EVER interview that team)... and turns out the reason Adobe still haven't bothered getting a proper STABLE thumbnail support working for any of there applications in explorer.. is..... surprise, surprise... because of the whatever Explorer API's .... well no bloody surprise there.. they've only just dropped official explrer thumbnail support for xnumber of years since PS7.. when they ditched the support because of countless user complaints about the bugs. That problem still exists in Vista... no wonder they force installation of that Bridge sh/t on CS suite installations. Thanks MS, I love bridge NOT

Chris Cox - 1:44pm Dec 2, 08 PST

Adobe Photoshop Engineer
As I already said: the Microsoft API is broken. For one thing it leaves files open and fails to close them, so you get complaints about "the file is open or in use" when you shouldn't. Adobe cannot always work around something that is broken at the OS/Explorer level.

BHpaddock

In reply to Koogle

#Dec 2nd, 2008 @ 4:49 PM

Where is that quote from? If that's real, that engineer is just revealing his own ignorance.

If there is a handle or reference leak in their code that is absolutely their problem. Windows obviously doesn't ship with problems like that, none of the other handlers have such problems. If that Chris Cox needs programming lessons I can suggest some classes he should take.

Blaming the OS for your own bugs is so 90s.

Koogle
I'm a Terminator - Astalavista, Vis7a!

In reply to BHpaddock

#Dec 2nd, 2008 @ 8:52 PM

Well it doesn't surprise me that Adobe have sat on the issue for all this time regardless of where the problem lies, much like they've sat not improving so many areas within there applications, that could have been sorted out by now. But their ulterior motive of peddling that Bridge junk as an alternative to just allowing users to see explorer thumbnails for such common creative industry formats as .psd files within a default OS file browser, and forcing users to have it installed is a joke, course if I was an OSX user, well doesn't bare thinking about.

"If that Chris Cox needs programming lessons I can suggest some classes he should take."

well feel free to do so ccox@adobe.com -I'm sure many users would appreciate .psd thumbnail support within the explorer view without having to use other applications instead :/

PaoloM
Hypermediocrity

In reply to BHpaddock

#Dec 2nd, 2008 @ 8:52 PM

Heh. Chris Cox. The memories... Smiley

BHpaddock

In reply to Koogle

#Dec 3rd, 2008 @ 10:33 AM

I don't use Photoshop so I don't even know what the Bridge thing you're talking about is.

But implementing a thumbnail handler is pretty darn easy. Just implement IThumbnailProvider and one of the intialization interfaces like IInitializeWithStream. If you get initialized with the stream then it isn't even possible that you accidentally lock the file and forget to release it...

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb774614.aspx

AndyC

In reply to BHpaddock

#Dec 3rd, 2008 @ 12:39 PM

Photoshop is so horribly baked around the old Mac Os API's it's hardly a surprise that nobody is entirely sure where the memory leaks are. A friend who used to work for Adobe once described viewing the code to me as a "disturbing experience"