Windows Explorer Default Open Location in Vista when using Start->RightClick
I'm running Vista. I normally right-click on the bottom left-hand Start button and select "Explore" from the pop-up context menu to start Windows File Explorer. Currently the initial location displayed is...
C:\Users\Admin.VISTA-IMAGE\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu
I've searched for existing answers here and on the Net generally, but all I can find is stuff about how to change that initial default location if I invoke Explorer from Start -> All Programs -> Accessories. Which does actually work, if I start Explorer that way - but I don't, so it's no real help.
Is there any way to customise Vista's initial folder/location when using Start -> RightClick -> Explore?
33 Answers
By right-clicking the Start button, you are specifically asking Vista to explore the Start Menu folders, so it opens to your Start Menu folder
I understand that. But even though it might be a logical "default" for the action, surely that doesn't preclude the possibility of a custom override? I don't really want to know about other ways to invoke Explorer - I want to be able to customise [sic] the method I do use.
Yes it does preclude the possibility of an override. The problem is that you are thinking of the Start Menu as a way to access programs. This is to be expected because Microsoft has specifically made an effort to convey that message since they introduced the Start button in Windows 95 (I don’t have 95 on me at the moment to add it, but when you installed 95, the first thing it did was to show an animated arrow to point at the Start button that says start here).
While the Start Menu does indeed contain shortcuts to programs and such, right-clicking it performs a different, non-typical action (that’s why it’s relegated to a right-click instead of a left-click). The Explore function in the context-menu is not a general-purpose shortcut to Windows Explorer and was never meant to be; the label for the command probably caused you to misunderstand its purpose and thus misuse it. Rather, it is a function that opens an Explorer window to the folder that you right-clicked on. It is no different than using the Open or Open All Users commands other than in whether the Explorer window has the navigation tree active by default or not.
Under the hood, the Start Menu is basically just a folder that contains a bunch of shortcuts. Therefore, when you right-click the Start button/menu, you are essentially right-clicking on the Start Menu folder. So it makes sense that when you click the Explore command, it opens Windows Explorer in the Start Menu folder.
While you can change where the Start Menu items are stored, but that is not what you want (you would still be opening a window to the folder where Start menu’s contents are stored, albeit in a different location).
You’ll just have to use another/better method to open Explorer. There are plenty to choose from:
- You can enter the directory path directly into the Start Menu search field or Run dialog
- You can create a shortcut to the folder(s) you use most
- You can go through My Computer
- Press ⊞ Win+E
- etc.
You can try different methods to find a good one that suits you. You might have to get used to the new method for a little while, but if it’s the right one for you, the effort will pay off (and will likely be easier than right-clicking the Start orb anyway).
Probably the quickest and easiest way is to put a link right there in the taskbar so that you can have one-click access to it. If you were using Windows 7, you could simply pin a folder to the taskbar, but in Vista (as with XP), you can do pretty much the same thing with the QuickLaunch bar, and not only is the icon a little smaller, you get better control of which folder it opens as well:
Open a folder (pick one you use frequently)
Drag it’s icon from its address-bar:
to the Quick Launch bar:
Tada!
You could do this by changing some tiny harmless registry keys. (If you don't like it you could simply revert them back, without any problems. So if you go directly where I tell you to go, you don't need to worry). I checked this on Windows 7, and it could be applied there too.
First you need to run Registry Editor. Press Win+R on your keyboard and then enter the text "regedit" in the 'Open:' textbox, and hit enter. In Registry Editor find the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell FoldersIn this key, find the value "Start Menu" and change it to your desired folder (the folder that you want opened). Enter the address to your destination folder in full format, like this, for example:
C:\XYZ\WWW\BlahBlahBlahThen find the following key in your registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell FoldersAgain find the value "Start Menu", and change it to your desired folder.
Note: this might be a little different on vista, because I didn't get a chance to test it on vista itself. Either way, if what I mentioned above does not work, which is very unlikely, try to find the values which are pointing to your "C:\Users\Admin.VISTA-IMAGE\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu" in someway, and try changing them (but be extremely careful).
Don't forget to restart your system. Or you could simply restart explorer.exe . Please let me know if it works.
6You can modify the above registry settings, but there is another bit of trickery that makes it work better.
- Pick where you want it to start. I pick
c:\001-I-hate-windows. This way it starts at the top of the c: drive. Then, create a 'directory link' or mount point of this directory that points to Start Menu. From
c:\mklink /J 001-I-hate-windows c:\users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start MenuRight click start -> explore and you have what you want.
