How to open folder in single pane when using the "Winkey + E" combination?
Published: Sep 23, 2005Updated : June 12, 2006
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Introduction
When you press the WinKey + E keys, My Computer window opens with the folder pane enabled (Explorer view). If you wish to turn off the Folder pane view when you use the WinKey + E combination, you may use the registry edit discussed in this article.
Modifying the DDE string
- Click Start, Run and type Regedit.exe
- Navigate to the following location:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shell \ explore \ ddeexec
- Backup the key by exporting to a file
- Double-click (default) and set its data to:
[ViewFolder("%l", %I, %S)]
- Close Regedit
How to revert back the setting ?
To undo the above procedure, set the (default) to the following:
[ExploreFolder("%l", %I, %S)]
Known issue
The above setting causes a minor issue when you open a folder using one of these two methods:
- When you right-click the My Documents or My Pictures icon in Start Menu and choose Explore, it executes open instead (single pane view)
- When you right-click a "folder shortcut" and choose Explore, it executes open instead (single pane view)
