File Management in Windows XP

File management is a necessary evil associated with computers. It's really not all that much different than rummaging through a heap of papers on your desk except you don't get paper cuts. In either situation, a bit of organization and using the tools available can make the task easier.

Use Full Screen View and AutoHide

Since the majority of file management takes place in Windows Explorer, why not minimize the amount of scrolling that is inevitable by increasing the viewable area in which you have to work? Simply pressing the F11 key will substantially increase the visible area. By default, the Explorer toolbar at the top with the standard buttons will remain visible. If you want to reclaim that area as well, right click the toolbar and select Auto-Hide. Click anywhere in the main window and the toolbar will disappear. To make it reappear, move the mouse to the top of the window. Pressing F11 again will return Windows Explorer to normal view.

Use Show In Groups

Most users are familiar with the ability to display folders and files using Tile, Icon, List, Thumbnail, and Detail views. They can be easily changed using the View menu or the Views toolbar button. Many users are not aware there is another view called Show in Groups. Right click in the main Explorer pane, select Arrange Icons By and one of the options will be Show In Groups. ( Note: The Show in Groups option will not be available if List View is selected. Some say this is by design, others say it's an XP bug) Once Show in Groups has been selected the files will be sorted by alphabetical headings.

Add Sort Options to Details View

When Explorer is set to use Details view the right pane contains a series of details listed across the top of the right pane. The default details are Name, Size, Type, and Date Modified. Any one of the columns may be clicked to set it as the default to be used in the sort order. The small arrowhead following the detail name indicates whether the sort is in ascending or descending order. For most users the four default columns are more than sufficient, but if you want additional or different options they are available. Click View > Choose Details... and the Choose Details Property Sheet will open. In addition to the four (4) defaults there are twenty-eight (28) other details that can be added or substituted. Add whatever you want, but if you go for all of them it may take you a month of horizontal scrolling to see them all.

Rename Multiple Files

One of the most tedious tasks imaginable is renaming a series of files one by one. I'm not proud to admit it, but before I discovered file renaming utilities I used to sit and perform this task on digital photo files. XP makes the task a lot easier with a built-in group file rename function. Simply select the files you want to rename and right click on the first file in the group then click Rename. Type the new filename in the following format;   filename (1).ext

• Let's say you had a group of related text files you wanted to sequentially name based on creation date. Order the files by creation date then select the group of files using Click+Shift+Click. Right click the first file in the group and click Rename. Enter a filename ( Ex: My New Novel (1).doc ). Each file would be sequentially renamed in the order My New Novel (1).doc, My New Novel (2).doc, etc.

• The files you select to rename do not have to be contiguous. They can be selected using Click+Ctrl+Click rather than Click+Shift+Click, but they will be renamed in sequential order, not the order you selected the files. The only caveat is to be sure you right click the first file in the series before right clicking and selecting Rename.

• When entering the filename for the series, the character entered in the parenthesis for the first file does not have to be a number and the filename will appear using whatever character you entered -- but the rest of the files will have numbers in the parenthesis starting with (1).

Force My Computer Desktop Icon To Open In Windows Explorer Mode

Many users find My Computer on the desktop to be a convenient starting point for file operations. Clicking My Computer opens to a Task Pane view, which while gaining wider acceptance, has yet to come close to overtaking the more widely accepted and preferred Explorer view. To set the default so My Computer opens in Explorer view:

Launch My Computer > Tools > Folder Options... > File Types tab
Select the icon for (NONE) Folder and click the Advanced button
In the Actions List, select Explorer and click Set Default
Click OK and Close

"Move This Folder" and "Copy This Folder" Commands

In the previous section I mentioned Task Pane view and that it hasn't achieved wide spread acceptance, but it does have some very nice benefits. Two of them are the "Move this Folder" and the "Copy this Folder" commands. Open Explorer and look at the left pane. If you see a hierarchical tree listing of the system drives, you aren't in Task Pane view. Click the Folders button to change to Task Pane view. It's easily recognizable by the brightly colored background and three windows labeled File and Folder Tasks, Other Places, and Details. Depending on what is selected in the right pane there may be a fourth window labeled System Tasks. 

We as users have been using drag and drop for so long that old habits are hard to break, especially when shuffling folders and files around the system. These two commands and the task pane have become so convenient I hardly use drag and drop anymore for file organization. They are especially useful on a system with multiple drives where expanded file trees can stretch over quite a distance. Granted, there are many file manager shells that can be purchased that give you split screen capabilities, but I actually find this method more convenient. The commands in the Task Pane are dynamic and change based on what is selected in the right pane. If you find the Task Pane so annoying you can't tolerate its presence (in spite of being able to toggle it on and quickly with the Folders button), you can add the "Move this Folder" and the "Copy this Folder" commands to the toolbar via the Customize Toolbar dialog box.

Creating New Folders from the Quick Launch Toolbar

Anal retentive? Well, that was more of a personal statement than a question, but if it fits you also you're probably constantly creating folders to organize items on the computer. I get tired of right clicking this and that to create new folders, but there is a quick way around the clicks. In Explorer, navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch and create a new folder. Leave the name New Folder. Look on the Quick Launch toolbar and you'll see the folder just created. From now on when you need a new folder, hold down Ctrl and drag and drop the New Folder icon wherever you want to place the new folder. The original New Folder icon will remain in Quick Launch, ready to create as many new folders as your hard drive will hold.

Create Quick Launch Icons to Switch Between Basic Search and Search Companion

 The new XP Search Companion has some interesting features, but I grew up on the old, reliable Basic Search tool and I still prefer it in some instances, 'some' being the operative word. If you prefer to do away with the XP Search Companion totally, see this tweak, but I've found switching between the two styles has some benefit as well. Unfortunately, there is no quick, easy way to make the switch without editing the registry. You can make the switch into a quick, three click process that allows you to switch between the two choices as often as you like.

Open regedit.exe using the Run (WinKey+R) dialog box.
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CabinetState
Right click in the right pane and select New > String Value
Name the new string Use Search Asst and press enter
Double click the string name and enter no (lower case) in the Value Data: line. Click OK

In the left window pane, right click on the key Cabinet State and select Export
The Export Registry dialog box will open. Name the file Disable Search Companion.
Ensure the radio button in the Export Range section is set to Selected Branch and click Save
Close the Registry Editor

Navigate to where you saved the file Disable Search Companion.reg
Open the file using Notepad (Do Not Double Click the File)
To open the file in Notepad, right click the file, select Open With and then select Notepad
Find the line "Use Search Asst"="no" and replace the word no with yes
Save the file using the name Enable Search Companion

Technically, that's all you have to do. Double click on the appropriate file to Enable or Disable as desired. I mentioned earlier it takes three (3) clicks. When you click either file it will present two verification boxes you have to accept for the change to be finalized. I prefer to take this tweak one step farther and dress it up a bit. I move the two .reg files into a folder named Search Selection and move it to the C:\Windows directory. Right click each file, drag to the Quick Launch bar and select Create Shortcut.

Arrange the Windows Explorer Toolbar to Your Liking

I don't believe anyone will argue with the fact the Explorer Toolbar (at the top of the screen) is useful, but I think having it stretch over three rows is overkill. With some judicious pruning, moving, and resizing of components you can fit all the essentials on a single row. Select View > Toolbars > Customize and prune down the buttons to what is essential to the way you work. While you're there, change the size of the icons to small, and as often as we see those icons I imagine you can do without the text labels identifying them. I don't know about you, but I count XP icons when I can't sleep rather than Serta sheep. You can also move the Address Bar onto the same row to save more screen real estate.

While no single idea listed here will revolutionize file management, exploring some of them just might make things a bit easier or at least give you a new perspective on how to accomplish some pretty mundane tasks.