Windows File Explorer Undesirable View Change Behavior

If you want this for your script, I think you should reverse-engineer the structure encoded in the binary values found under Streams\Defaults.

You could then wrte a function that acted as an "enhanced' version of A2F. that creates the value under Streams\Defaults but is more selective in its deletion of the GUID-named subkeys of Bags. Then you could skip saved views for This PC and the Phone sub-folders beneath it

KeithM said:

If you want this for your script, I think you should reverse-engineer the structure encoded in the binary values found under Streams\Defaults.

You could then wrte a function that acted as an "enhanced' version of A2F. that creates the value under Streams\Defaults but is more selective in its deletion of the GUID-named subkeys of Bags. Then you could skip saved views for This PC and the Phone sub-folders beneath it

Interesting idea, but a lot of work for a small subset of users who connect phones and tablets and also care about the default folder view for those devices. The resetting of This PC is an easy way to demonstrate the issue, but isn't a big deal for that folder, as it's just one view.

I just played around with the idea of an option to lock down the Generic view. This could be useful for those who use the option to have phones display in the Generic view and want to protect themselves from using A2F on a Generic (General Items) folder.

This is achieved by making this key read-only:

HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell\{5c4f28b5-f869-4e84-8e60-f11db97c5cc7}

It works (i.e. A2F has no effect on Generic folders), but it leaves the machine in a non-standard state. It may be best to just educate such users to avoid using A2F on Generic folders and, if they forget, just run WinSetView again to reset their phone view to the Generic view.

I suppose I could add an option (or maybe a separate script) that just reinstates that key. That way a user wouldn't have to do a full view reset just to get the phone view back to Details (or whatever they set for Generic).

LesFerch said:

...I just played around with the idea of an option to lock down the Generic view. This could be useful for those who use the option to have phones display in the Generic view and want to protect themselves from using A2F on a Generic (General Items) folder.

This is achieved by making this key read-only:

HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell\{5c4f28b5-f869-4e84-8e60-f11db97c5cc7}

It works (i.e. A2F has no effect on Generic folders), but it leaves the machine in a non-standard state. It may be best to just educate such users to avoid using A2F on Generic folders and, if they forget, just run WinSetView again to reset their phone view to the Generic view.

I don't think that's a good idea. If you add a Deny:Delete permission for the user associated with HKCU on the key:
HKCU:\...\AllFolders\Shell\{5C4F28B5-F869-4E84-8E60-F11DB97C5CC7}
and the user then executes A2F on a Genric folder, there is some effect --- the binary template under Streams\Defaults is updated and, more importantly, existing saved views using the FolderType are deleted, including This PC and, I assume, the Phone folders. So when you next view This PC or any other Generic folder, it's the AllFolders entry that controls the view. Saved views have been lost and the expected view is not applied. So it's kind of worse than "no effect".

But I have modified key permissions, denying myself SetValue and/or Delete permissions to ovrride default behavior for other settings, and it can be a very effective and relatively simple solution at times. I think it could be useful here if you reconsider your avoidance of the BagMRU/Bags keys.

You could have the option to "lock down" saved views for This PC, the root Desktop, or any other folder that has a view saved under Bags by adding a Deny:Delete entry to the permissions for the GUID-named subkey of the associated Property Bag key. That would protect them from the mass-deletion performed by A2F.

Furthermore, in thinking more about the Phone folders issue (and remember, I'm limited to thought experiments in this regard), several things come to mind.

1. Have you tested creating a desktop.ini file in the root folder on the phone to apply a FolderType other than Generic? Or does the folder offter the Customize tab?
2. If neither of those is an option, try the AccountPictueres trick from earlier, but this time, adding the Inherit subkey to to the Propety Bag of the phone. If that works as we would hope, that template would be applied to the view of any subfolder on the phone on initial viewing and subsequently saved.
   
   If that works, then denying delete permssions on the phone's Property Bag subkeys (<GUID> and Inherit) would lock down the phone views as well!

KeithM said:

1. Have you tested creating a desktop.ini file in the root folder on the phone to apply a FolderType other than Generic? Or does the folder offter the Customize tab?
2. If neither of those is an option, try the AccountPictueres trick from earlier, but this time, adding the Inherit subkey to to the Propety Bag of the phone. If that works as we would hope, that template would be applied to the view of any subfolder on the phone on initial viewing and subsequently saved.

No Customize this folder on phones (makes sense with GUID same as Generic).
Tried Desktop.ini on the root - appears to be ignored.
Tried Inherit on the property bag of the phone - no luck with this.

Without a unique GUID there's not a whole lot of options. I think it's as good as it's gonna get. Users will just have to run WinSetView again if their phone reverts to Tiles (AFAIK this only happens if they use A2F on a Generic folder).

P.S. Just curious... no smartphone or no phone whatsoever?