Customizing a window's folder options

Windows 7 enables you to customize many aspects of a folder's appearance and behavior in an open window by using the controls in the Folder Options dialog box. To open this dialog box, click the Organize button (the first button on a window's toolbar) and then choose Folder and Search Options from its drop-down menu.

If the Classic menus are displayed in the Explorer window, you can also open the Folder Options dialog box by choosing Tools → Folder Options. If they aren't displayed, press Alt+TO.

The Folder Options dialog box contains three tabs:

• General controls whether Explorer windows open in the same or a new window, as well as how you select items in an open window and how you select and open folders and files. It also contains Navigation pane options that determine whether or subfolders are automatically displayed in the pane (Show All Folders) or whether they automatically expand to show the folders above the one currently selected in the pane (Automatically Expand to Current Folder).
• View controls how files and folders appear in an open window.
• Search controls how searches are conducted in Explorer windows and whether the searches use non-indexed locations for searching the contents of files (which makes them very much faster to find) or just their filenames.