"Single-click to open an item" choice in Folder Options is grayed out
Published: June 15, 2004Updated : April 06, 2007
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Symptom
When you open the Folder Options applet in Control Panel, the options Single-click to open an item (point to select) and Show Common tasks in folders may be grayed out.
Resolution
This happens if the Turn on classic shell policy is enabled. For standalone Windows XP systems, follow the steps below to remove the Turn on classic shell policy setting.
- Click Start, Run and type regedit.exe
- Navigate to the following branch:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
- Backup the key by exporting it to a file
- Double-click ClassicShell value (if found) and set its Value data to 0
- Repeat the same in the following branch:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
- Restart for the changes to take effect.
If you are using Windows XP Professional Edition, you may also use the Group Policy Editor to configure this setting:
- Click Start, Run and type gpedit.msc
- Go to the following branch:
User Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows components | Windows Explorer
- Double-click Turn on classic shell and set it to Not Configured
- Exit the Group Policy Editor
