Vista - Save File dialog default folder location

Anyone cracked this one yet?

Seems to depend on the application.

Hi sfnch and welcome to the Vista forums!

Never tried as in Vista it works exactly as i want
Why would you tweak this function?

Why would I tweak this function? Well, that's a tough one... maybe a good starting place would be to save the onset of carpal tunnel syndrome brought on by about 3 to 400 excess mouse clicks per week...

I'm in Firefox right now. Go to:

1. File
2. Save Page As
3. Browse Folders
4. scroll to top of folder tree away from the useless 'last used folder' from maybe 3 weeks ago
5. close that partition
6. Computer
7. Required partition
8. Required folder...
9. Save
10. plus enlarging the dialog window makes at least 10 clicks to save a file to a top level folder.

If I can get rid of numbers 4. and 5. then I can save 200 files a week with 400 less mouse clicks.

If I can get rid of number 3. with a decent sized default 'Save' window I'm beginning to laugh...

Well, i do not know FF too much, i run IE8 and Maxthon(IE7 based), but in almost all apps i use, i save in one location ("save as" redirects to the last location) so it makes 3 clicks, same thing for downloads.
Anyway, i'll have a look to see what i can do.

Wow. Many Thanks Sid.

..although the meat of the problem is the Vista Save and Open dialogs throughout all applications. I bet a new piece of software.

The Vista Save and Open dialog - you can *easily* customize that - notice in the top left hand corner where you have those folders listed usually something like Documents, Computer, etc.? Drag your favorite folders there. Now, when you go to save they are in that list - but if the box is too small then you may have to click the more button to show the folder, especially if you use *many* different directories.

Another alternative for Fx users, though, is to use the Down Them All add-on. The newest version allows you to save different folders to save to, and it integrates into Fx's download dialog box - see my pic:



Using this you'd be much more in control of your downloads, and allow DTA to use multiple threads to download stuff, making for an overall better experience.

Using this method, you'd have 4 clicks to grab a download, provided that you already have a directory set for it, and if you don't then I think it is a total of 6 clicks (to define a new path to save to you use the DownThemAll! click instead, click OK, then click on the folder icon in the new box, find your directory, click Save).

Let me know if you need more help on either of these methods to help you save time.

Also, note - DTA is a Fx specific extension - it will not work for IE or any of the browsers based on IE, nor Opera.

Many Thanks, John.

However, the first suggestion of dragging my favorite folders to the top of the list - I don't think re-arranging my computer habits and partitions of 15 years is going to sit very well. I'm thinking Microsoft designs for any eventuality and I might as well be one of them...

Great suggestion of the Down Them All add on, although downloads isn't a primary concern in all this. Open and Save Dialogs is the concern. Some kind of global Dialog setting that can be accessed that will point the user to a default area of his choice that is not necessarily the same area that Microsoft insists on. For ALL Open & Save dialogs.

I think $1 ought to go to the first workable Registry hack.