Exploring the View Options

Windows Explorer's view boasts a large number of customization options that you need to be familiar with. To see these options, you have two choices:

• In Windows Explorer, select Organize, Folder and Search Options (or Tools, Folder Options if you have the menu bar displayed).
• Click Start, type folder, and then press Enter to select the Folder Options item in the search results.

Either way, the view options can be found, appropriately enough, on the View tab of the Folder Options dialog box.

Here's a complete list of the various items in the Advanced Settings list:

• Always Show Icons, Never Thumbnails-Activate this check box to prevent Windows Explorer from displaying file thumbnails. This can speed up the display of some folders that are heavy on pictures and other "thumbnail-able" file types.
• Always Show Menus-As you saw earlier, you activate this check box to display the menu bar full time in Windows Explorer.
• Display File Icon on Thumbnails-When this check box is activated, Windows Explorer superimposes the file type icon on the lower-right corner of each file's thumbnail. This is usually a good idea because the extra icon allows you to figure out the file type at a glance. However, if you find the icon getting in the way of the thumbnail image, deactivate this setting.
• Display File Size Information in Folder Tips-When this setting is activated and you hover your mouse pointer over a folder icon, Windows Explorer calculates the size of the files and subfolders within the folder, and displays the size in a pop-up banner. This is useful information, but if you find that your system takes too long to calculate the file size, consider deactivating this setting.
  NOTE If you activate the Display File Size Information in Folder Tips setting, you must also activate the Show Pop-Up Description for Folder and Desktop Items setting, described later.
• Display the Full Path in the Title Bar-Activate this setting to place the full pathname of the current folder in the Windows Explorer title bar. The full pathname includes the drive, the names of the parent folders, and the name of the current folder. Note that this only applies to Classic folders, which you activate by clicking the Use Windows Classic Folders option in the General pane.
• Hidden Files and Folders-Windows 7 hides certain types of files by default. This makes sense for novice users because they could accidentally delete or rename an important file. However, it's a pain for more advanced users who might require access to these files. You can use these options to tell Windows Explorer which files to display:
• Do Not Show Hidden Files, Folders, or Drives-Activate this option to avoid displaying objects that have the hidden attribute set.
• Show Hidden Files, Folders, and Drives-Activate this option to display the hidden files.
  NOTE Files are hidden from view by having their Hidden attribute activated. You can work with this attribute directly by right-clicking a visible file, clicking Properties, and then toggling the Hidden setting on and off.
• Hide Extensions for Known File Types-As you saw earlier, you deactivate this setting to display file extensions.
• Hide Protected Operating System Files-This setting is activated by default, and it tells Windows 7 to hide files that have the System attribute activated. This is not usually a problem because you rarely have to do anything with the Windows system files. However, if you do need to see one of these files, deactivate this setting. When Windows 7 asks whether you're sure, click Yes.
• Launch Folder Windows in a Separate Process-Activating this setting tells Windows 7 to create a new thread in memory for each folder you open. This makes Windows Explorer more stable because a problem with one thread won't crash the others. However, this also means that Windows Explorer requires far greater amounts of system resources and memory. Activate this option only if your system has plenty of resources and memory.
• Show Drive Letters-If you deactivate this check box, Windows Explorer hides the drive letters in the Computer folder and in the address bar when you open a drive.
  NOTE If you hide drive letters, Windows Explorer displays drive names such as Local Disk. This isn't particularly useful, so consider renaming your drives. Right-click the drive and then click Rename. Note that you must enter administrator credentials to perform this operation.
• Show Encrypted or Compressed NTFS Files in Color-When this setting is activated, Windows Explorer shows the names of encrypted files in a green font and the names of compressed files in a blue font. This is a useful way to distinguish these from regular files, but you can deactivate it if you prefer to view all your files in a single color. Note that this only applies to files on NTFS partitions because only NTFS supports file encryption and compression.
• Show Pop-Up Description for Folder and Desktop Items-Some icons display a pop-up banner when you point the mouse at them. For example, the default desktop icons display a pop-up banner that describes each icon. Use this setting to turn these pop-ups on and off.
• Show Preview Handlers in Preview Pane-When this check box is activated, Windows Explorer includes controls for previewing certain types of files in the Reading pane. For example, when you display a video file in the Reading pane, Windows Explorer includes playback controls such as Play, Pause, and Stop.
• Use Check Boxes to Select Items-Activate this check box to add check boxes beside each folder and file. You can then select objects by activating their check boxes.
• Use Sharing Wizard-When this check box is activated, Windows 7 uses a simplified file and folder sharing method called the Sharing Wizard. Power users will want to disable the Sharing Wizard.
• When Typing into List View-These options determine Windows Explorer's behavior when you open a folder and begin typing:
• Automatically Type into the Search Box-Activate this option to have your typing appear in the Search box.
• Select the Typed Item in the View-Activate this option to jump to the first item in the folder with a name that begins with the letter you type.