registry

Pin Recent folders (Recent Places) to Explorer Navigation Pane in Windows 10/11

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The Recent Places shell folder that appeared under the Favorites area in the navigation pane in the earlier Windows OS is not shown in Windows 10 and 11. Windows 10/11’s Quick access (which replaces Favorites) shows the “Frequently” used folders rather than the “Recently” opened folders.

The Recent Places shell folder still exists in Windows 10 and 11. Recent Places, now known as Recent folders, is handy in Explorer and Common File Open/Save dialog boxes in various applications. Today’s post shows you how to do the following things:

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Windows Photo Viewer Opens Multiple Windows When Multiple Files are Selected

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windows photo viewer multiple windowsYou may be wondering why Windows Photo Viewer, which previously opened images in a single window instance when multiple files were selected and previewed, is now opening up separate windows or instances–one for each image file selected.

The Windows Photo Viewer multiple instances problem usually seen in Windows 10 or 1 is not due to any design change, and no functionality is broken. It’s a simple file type association setting and fixing it that can straighten things up.

Selecting multiple files in a folder, right-clicking, and selecting preview should open a single Windows Photo Viewer window, and the user can cycle through the chosen set of images using the arrow keys. This is the expected behavior, and that’s how Windows Photo Viewer worked in the earlier OS.

You don’t have to read the next section if you’re not looking for an explanation for this problem. Proceed straight to the Solution part.
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Remove Quick access and User Folders from File Explorer in Windows 10/11

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Quick access, introduced in Windows 10, replaces the Favorites feature present in the earlier versions of Windows. It lets you pin your favorite folders, and it also lists frequently accessed folders.

In addition, File Explorer in Windows 10/11 by default displays the special user folders at the top, as well as in the navigation pane pinned under This PC. The shell folders namely 3D Objects, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, and Videos show up above the fold. These folder icons clutter the view, and push the disk drives category down below, which some users dislike.

This article tells you how to remove Quick access and also hide the special user folders from This PC view — both from the right pane as well as from the navigation pane.

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How to Sort the Registry Editor Favorites Menu?

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The Favorites menu in the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) is very useful especially if you’re someone who loves playing with the Registry Editor all the time. If you’ve noticed, the favorites menu in Regedit doesn’t have an option to sort the entries alphabetically. If you have many entries in the favorites menu, finding an item from … Read more

Hidden “Snapshots” Sound Event for Print Scrn key (Fun Tip!)

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It’s a nice feeling when you come across a hidden setting in Windows, be it a small tweak or a big usability feature. One such little feature is the Snapshot (screenshot) Sound Event that I’m going to write about today. In Windows, you can set a .wav file to play every time you use the Print Screen key for taking screenshots. Doesn’t that lovely camera shutter sound come to mind when talking about screenshots?Read more

Open .URL files (Internet Shortcut) with any Browser via Right-click menu

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Double-clicking a .url file (Website shortcut) always launches it using the default browser. But, there are situations where you need to open different website shortcuts in various browsers. Adding browser choices to the right-click menu for .url files allows you to choose a non-default web browser from the list and launch the website in it.

One way to make this possible is by adding the Open with context menu option, which does not exist by default for internet shortcut files. Apart from Open with, there are other ways to launch a website shortcut using a non-default web browser.Read more

Setting the Photos Screensaver As Logon Screensaver in Windows Vista and Windows 7

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The Photos screensaver that comes in-built in Windows Vista and higher, can be used as the logon screensaver as well. The logon screensaver kicks off after the specified wait time in the logon screen when no user is logged on. There are instructions all over the web on how to apply the screensaver settings to the logon desktop in Windows 2000 and XP systems. The steps meant for Windows XP don’t work in the latest Operating Systems, and if you apply those steps for Windows Vista/7 and higher, all you get is a blank screen in the logon desktop after the wait time.

For Windows Vista and higher, implementation of the logon screensaver setting is slightly different. This post guides you through the process.Read more

How to Prevent “Shortcut” Suffix Added for New Shortcuts in Windows 7 and Above

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Few days back we covered how to change the new folder naming template in Windows 10. Likewise you can change the naming template for shortcuts as well. We’ve written how to do prevent "shortcut" suffix from being added for new shortcuts in Windows Vista few years back. That registry edit for Windows Vista does not work in Windows 7 and higher. Here is a tip that comes courtesy of a poster at SuperUser, to remove the annoying "- Shortcut" suffix for newly created shortcuts in Windows 7/8/10 systems.Read more