As long as Windows sees it as the Downloads folder, its location shouldn't matter. WinSetView does nothing with the folders directly. It just sets the default views in the registry for each folder type (each folder type is identified by a GUID). But send me the registry file or script you use to redirect your Downloads folder and I'll try it on a test machine.
No need. It is working as expected. I've been doing computer support for 30 years. Was simply thanking you for making the tool that runs PowerShell to fix some settings so one does not need to manually go do it.
Cheers
Hi Les, I have a question.
(first of all, cool app. I haven't tried it yet, since I've already somehow, in the complicated way, made all my folders set to use Details setting. Don't remember how I did it; it's in my Windows Installation notes.)
But my question is this:
Is it possible for your app to force the view settings to remain exactly the same, whenever searching inside a folder?
Example:
Here's what my Folder View Settings are for this folder:
Now I press CTRL+F (to search), and do a search for, let's say: word (...I mean, I could search for "bird", but I know that bird is the word)
I completely dislike the view settings, for pretty much every single search I try to do, because of the very narrow Name column, and how all the other columns are pretty much equi-distant like all the other columns.
Is it possible that whenever making a search, in any folder, that the search results would show in the exact view settings of the current folder that I am searching in?
(I manually re-adjusted the sizes of the columns, removed the columns here that are not shown in the initial picture, added the columns that were in the first picture, etc, to show you how I want the search results to look like. By the way, I removed the "Folder" column, because I don't really care if other results are shown from sub-folders, etc):
(Why doesn't Microsoft have the design of search results to look more... appealing? Or even readable, with a longer name column???)
For each major folder type, there is a corresponding Search Results folder type. Those can all be set using WinSetView, so that you will always get your preferred layout for your search results, including your choice of columns, their arrangement, widths, sort options and so on.
By default, in WinSetView, the view options you choose for the parent type will be used to set the corresponding search results folder type, for example, here the Documents search results is set using the "Inherit" checkbox:
but you can uncheck "Inherit" and set the search results to have a different view:
So, the best approach is to set your default views for ALL folder types using WinSetView. Then you've got those preferences available to apply anytime with a single click if you want to set up a new computer, new user account, or just want to get back to your defaults.
Beware: In order for your preferred defaults to apply, WinSetView must clear the Bags registry key and restart Explorer. Once done, all folders (and file dialogs and search results) will revert to your new preferred defaults.
Note: The "Inherit" checkbox in WinSetView is just a function within its interface to make it more efficient to set up your preferences. It has nothing to do with how File Explorer behaves. That is, if you're looking for search results to dynamically match whatever view changes you make on the fly to the parent folder type in Explorer, that's not going to happen.
Okay thanks for the reply,
But here's the setup: So I use the "Backup & Restore Folder View Settings Tool", and have been backing up my folders' view types for every time I make a custom new view (such as having thumbnails in one folder). I have many different custom views for a bunch of folders that have been set up on my computer over time. Yet the default folder view type is like all folders, in Details view. I cannot reset all that. They custom folders have to stay in the custom way I set them.
Is there a way to add a new rule, to set all new searches within folders, to use the current default view setting that I have for every new folder?
(I could do some testing-and-trialing with no harm by using your app, because I have a recent backup of all the custom folders, and every folder which uses the folder layout from my pictures above. Yet do you know of a way that would just force Windows, from now on, to use the same layout for new searches using the same layout from the 1st or 3rd picture in my previous post?)
Here's the issue: File Explorer will create a BagMRU/Bags entry for any folder you have opened, including searches and open/save dialogs. It does not distinguish between ones where you've gone to the view menu and changed something from its default. So, sure, you can backup your current views, run WinSetView to change the defaults, and then restore your views from the backup, but then the new defaults are only going to apply to new folders and folders you've never opened. That may still be useful to you. No harm in trying.
Clarification: Using the folder view backup and restore, as described, a folder that you've opened, but never searched, will pick up the new search results view defaults.
Yes! This is exactly what I want!
There are folders, that I have set to show me in tiles or something (for the folder full of pictures of wallpaper for the computer) which I want to stay the same, yet for all the other folders that I never searched in, to use the new Search view settings.
So I tried the app, but am unable to get it exactly the way I want. It keeps over-extending the columns in search results (thank you so much for making your app create backups of the Registry).
So here's the details of what I want, can you please tell me exactly what to type/check/etc?
This is what I tried:
Only that one is checked.
In the Columns section, I tried multiple things, but am unable to get it correctly.
This is File Explorer's settings:
Name: 600
Size: 100
Type: 150
Date Modified: 160
Thanks!
Quote
