· 1. Make sure REMEMBER EACH FOLDER’S VIEW SETTINGS is checked.
Control PanelAppearance and PersonalizationFolder OptionsVIEW tab
2. Create a .reg file copy-paste the content in “Red” in a notepad (I call mine CLEANUP.REG)
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareClassesLocal SettingsSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsShellBagMRU]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareClassesLocal SettingsSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsShellBags]
The ‘-‘ in front of the key name tells REGEDIT to delete the key when you install the .reg file.
Save the file as C:Users<username>DocumentsCleanup.reg
3. Create a batch file and put these lines in a notepad and Save As CLEANUP.CMD
REGEDIT /s C:Users<username>DocumentsCleanup.reg
REGEDIT /s C:Users<username>DocumentsBagMRU.reg
REGEDIT /s C:Users<username>DocumentsBags.reg
where <username> is your logon ID.
4. Using the Registry Editor (Regedit), delete the keys
[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareClassesLocalSettingsSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsShellBagMRU]
and
[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareClassesLocalSettingsSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsShellBags]
This is where your current layouts are stored.
5. Now, configure EVERY window you’d like to retain settings for. I configure my Start menu (RIGHT CLICK,/OPEN), my trash folder, and all folders I use repeatedly. Arrange the columns/icons and windows settings to your preference.
6. When you have all your windows the way you want them, go into Registry
Editor again and EXPORT the keys
[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareClassesLocal SettingsSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsShellBagMRU]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareClassesLocal SettingsSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsShellBags]
to your C:Users<username>Documents folder.
7. To reset, just run your batch file CLEANUP.CMD and it will refresh your folders to the preferences you saved in step 6.
If you later want to add a new folder to your cleanup, just run CLEANUP, navigate to that folder, configure it, and do step 6 again.
