Windows Vista - Folder Types

the only way I can help you is this procedure:
1. create new user
2. export settings from new user (only apperance)
3. import settins to your own account

it works, but it's quite hard to call it a real solution

Vista is set up to "remember" 5000 folders. That being said, deleting the
following two keys in the registry, will give you a clean slate, and reset
your folders to the defaults, when, for example, the Windows
folder starts using a Music Details template, which can't be changed using
Customize, because that tab isn't available in the Windows folder's
Properties. (All remembered folder settings in Windows
Explorer for view state, window position, sort order, column information,
folder type, toolbar toggles, and search result views will be lost, just so
you know what to expect; but any corruption, which indeed does happen, will
also be deleted). The keys in Vista are:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local
Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU

(right-click on the key BagMRU, in the left pane, and choose delete)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local
Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags

(right-click on the key Bags, in the left pane, and choose delete)

Log off and log back on to Windows to re-create the keys (done
automatically), and start anew.

"Hikari" <Hikari@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:88A24E76-3090-4178-8692-B1F3F8279CE8@microsoft.com...
> the only way I can help you is this procedure:
> 1. create new user
> 2. export settings from new user (only apperance)
> 3. import settins to your own account
>
> it works, but it's quite hard to call it a real solution

[nicodeamis]

Hey guys. After 15 minutes of googling "annoying windows vista folder types root drive" and variants, reading this entire thread and several others just like it only to find there was no viable solution listed, I became a little perturbed. (I realize someone posted a reg fix, but that didn't work, and it seemed crummy, anyway. Sorry, guy.) Anyway, the point is, I found this guys blog where he had the same problem and he explains in great detail how to fix it.

Not only that, but he has a command script that you can download that automates the whole thing. It's a pretty simple script. It removes all the data from some registry key and then writes some changes to it. Presumably this is the registry key that contains all the information for the 'remembered folder types'

Anyway, what this does is it changes ALL folders on all your drives to the folder type "All types" and it turns off windows vista's "automatically decide what kind of files are in the folder" crap. So now you can manually choose what each folder is. The biggest relief was when the root of the system drive looked normal again. I nearly cried with happiness. Anyway, my hat comes off to this guy, Kristan Kenney. Here is the link to the fix:



Also, in case his site goes tits up for some reason, I have attached his automated fix of this problem. It is 1086 bytes uncompressed, 694 bytes compressed. I'm sure he won't mind that I have attached it. Everyone should have this. Also, this code does nothing malicious. You may review it at your leisure and see the two REG commands it does. I have tested it %100 and I love it.

Enjoy, everyone!

Edit: Sorry dean-dean, I didn't notice your post since I read this last night at 2 AM and posted this today without re-reading everything. dean-dean's post is exactly the same fix as the one I mention. The automated script makes it a little handy-dandier, though. Sorry once again, Dean.

deleting those entries fixed the problem on my computer but a week later it
started happening again and now after deleting those entries and
rebooting/logging the folder type associates are all wrong straight away,
getting very annoying when every folder thinks it's a "videos and pictures"
folder

"dean-dean" wrote:

> Vista is set up to "remember" 5000 folders. That being said, deleting the
> following two keys in the registry, will give you a clean slate, and reset
> your folders to the defaults, when, for example, the Windows
> folder starts using a Music Details template, which can't be changed using
> Customize, because that tab isn't available in the Windows folder's
> Properties. (All remembered folder settings in Windows
> Explorer for view state, window position, sort order, column information,
> folder type, toolbar toggles, and search result views will be lost, just so
> you know what to expect; but any corruption, which indeed does happen, will
> also be deleted). The keys in Vista are:
>
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local
> Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU
>
> (right-click on the key BagMRU, in the left pane, and choose delete)
>
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local
> Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags
>
> (right-click on the key Bags, in the left pane, and choose delete)
>
> Log off and log back on to Windows to re-create the keys (done
> automatically), and start anew.
>
> "Hikari" <Hikari@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:88A24E76-3090-4178-8692-B1F3F8279CE8@microsoft.com...
> > the only way I can help you is this procedure:
> > 1. create new user
> > 2. export settings from new user (only apperance)
> > 3. import settins to your own account
> >
> > it works, but it's quite hard to call it a real solution
>
>

I've seen your response in several threads regarding the 5000 folder setting
in Windows Vista but you never mention whether or not this setting can be
changed. I seem to recall seeing a similar post relating to Windows XP and a
registry setting that could be changed to increase the limit. Is there such
a setting in Windows Vista? Could all the corrupting issues being discussed
in all these threads be related to systems with more than 5000 folders? 5000
folders is not a hard number to reach these days.

"dean-dean" wrote:

> Vista is set up to "remember" 5000 folders. That being said, deleting the
> following two keys in the registry, will give you a clean slate, and reset
> your folders to the defaults, when, for example, the Windows
> folder starts using a Music Details template, which can't be changed using
> Customize, because that tab isn't available in the Windows folder's
> Properties. (All remembered folder settings in Windows
> Explorer for view state, window position, sort order, column information,
> folder type, toolbar toggles, and search result views will be lost, just so
> you know what to expect; but any corruption, which indeed does happen, will
> also be deleted). The keys in Vista are:
>
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local
> Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU
>
> (right-click on the key BagMRU, in the left pane, and choose delete)
>
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local
> Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags
>
> (right-click on the key Bags, in the left pane, and choose delete)
>
> Log off and log back on to Windows to re-create the keys (done
> automatically), and start anew.
>
> "Hikari" <Hikari@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:88A24E76-3090-4178-8692-B1F3F8279CE8@microsoft.com...
> > the only way I can help you is this procedure:
> > 1. create new user
> > 2. export settings from new user (only apperance)
> > 3. import settins to your own account
> >
> > it works, but it's quite hard to call it a real solution
>
>

The Registry keys in Vista are the same as in XP regarding the number of
folders remembered. They are:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell
and
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam

Each key has has a value Name "BagMRU Size". In each key the default value
Data for BagMRU Size is 5000 (the decimal value Data, that is, shown in
parenthesis), for both Vista and XP SP2 (see
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/813711 , regarding XP).

Whether or not increasing the value Data has any effect as to the system
remembering folders better is something I don't know, since I haven't tried
it, nor have I read any evidence that it helps or if Vista would even
support such an increase. On my computer, Vista has enough problems
remembering shell folders (Pictures, Music, etc.), which in numbers are a
small fraction of 5000. I can't see where increasing the number would help,
since this is a setting that is supposed to remember the most recently
accessed folders, dropping an instance of #5001, which, chronologically,
would have been a folder you accessed quite some time ago...

My thought is that the corruption issues are mainly caused by Vista trying
to "discover" what folder template a folder should have based on its
contents, and often not doing this well.

"Ron In Tulsa" <RonInTulsa@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:E4F394E5-8FF5-4020-96F3-C96757C9C1C8@microsoft.com...
> I've seen your response in several threads regarding the 5000 folder
> setting
> in Windows Vista but you never mention whether or not this setting can be
> changed. I seem to recall seeing a similar post relating to Windows XP
> and a
> registry setting that could be changed to increase the limit. Is there
> such
> a setting in Windows Vista? Could all the corrupting issues being
> discussed
> in all these threads be related to systems with more than 5000 folders?
> 5000
> folders is not a hard number to reach these days.
>
> "dean-dean" wrote:
>
>> Vista is set up to "remember" 5000 folders. That being said, deleting the
>> following two keys in the registry, will give you a clean slate, and
>> reset
>> your folders to the defaults, when, for example, the Windows
>> folder starts using a Music Details template, which can't be changed
>> using
>> Customize, because that tab isn't available in the Windows folder's
>> Properties. (All remembered folder settings in Windows
>> Explorer for view state, window position, sort order, column information,
>> folder type, toolbar toggles, and search result views will be lost, just
>> so
>> you know what to expect; but any corruption, which indeed does happen,
>> will
>> also be deleted). The keys in Vista are:
>>
>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local
>> Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU
>>
>> (right-click on the key BagMRU, in the left pane, and choose delete)
>>
>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local
>> Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags
>>
>> (right-click on the key Bags, in the left pane, and choose delete)
>>
>> Log off and log back on to Windows to re-create the keys (done
>> automatically), and start anew.
>>
>> "Hikari" <Hikari@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:88A24E76-3090-4178-8692-B1F3F8279CE8@microsoft.com...
>> > the only way I can help you is this procedure:
>> > 1. create new user
>> > 2. export settings from new user (only apperance)
>> > 3. import settins to your own account
>> >
>> > it works, but it's quite hard to call it a real solution
>>
>>