Vista - are "Folder options" available in file>open windows?

OK, this is my first post here, & I've never joined a Windows forum, or one for people who build their own computers, although I am somewhat familiar with forums, so let me try to give enough info to see if I can clarify my first question & add a few related ones.

I just upgrades a Dell Precision 690 desktop to Vista Ultimate 64, because for some of the work I do in Photoshop CS4, I felt I would benefit from having access to over 3gigs of Ram. The Dell has 2 Intel Xeon 3 gig processors & the compatibility in place to run a 64bit OS, so I bought Vista Ultimate 64, and upgraded to 8 gigs of Ram. That all works fine & I set up several 66 meg files for large format printing the other day, so I'm pleased with the upgrade from that standpoint.

I just need to get used to some pesky details that slow me down & haven't figured them out from searching. I did make my way to the "local group policy editor" and "enable folder options" so this is now giving me my preferred view (details) whenever I open Windows Explorer.

There are 2 related issues I want to ask about. When I open Windows explorer, it opens as a small window & I like to maximize it. It also opens with the folder named after my user name expanded, and the "Computer" folder collapsed. I never store anything in the folder named after my user name, & I store everything in a mapped network drive, that is mapped to show up below the "computer" folder.

QUESTION ONE:
Can I set my default view of Windows Explorer to always open up to a full screen size, and always have the folders expanded, or collapsed according to a default preference ideally... or at least to my last view?

I'm sure I've given way more background than needed, but I may start checking in here more, as I have XP Pro on 8 computers in my sign business & I've become pretty used to things being a certain way. Now these little changes are going to take some getting used to, but this forum can probably speed up the process quite a bit.

The other related issue has to do with viewing my files & folders from various File>Open windows from various programs, and having multiple columns of folders or files spread across from left to right. I am used to looking down the left side for my file of folder, & changing to the "details" view in these windows gives me the view I like, but if I have to bore down through several folder levels, the "details' view has to be requested every time, or I have to accept the multiple columns.

QUESTION TWO:
Can I set a default "folder Options" type of setting for these File>open windows, so that they retain my poreference of the "Details" view, or at least retain the last view used?

Thanks for any help out there. I've been using Vista for a week, & I've clicked that view settings icon several hurndred times more than I care to ever click it again

Hello Islandsign, and welcome to Vista Forums.

You can use METHOD TWO in the tutorial below to customize and reset the folder view settings so Vista will remember your folder view settings afterwards. When you make a change, close the window. When you open that same window, it should be the same as when you last closed it.

Windows Explorer Folder View settings

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Shawn,
thanks...
I went to method 2, and followed the first 7 steps...

...then I tried to follow step 8, but it said proceed to the "Wrapping it up" step #25 below.

Well, first of all, the blue text "Wrapping it up" is not at step #25. it's at # 28.

I looked at #25, and don't even know how to access that regedit window. I tried running a search, but found nothing...


...so, I went to #28, and followed the instructions, and restarted... and now I have no "Folder Options"

The reset folder views tutorial does not affect Folder Options. Double check with the tutorial below to see if you may have disabled Folder Options by mistake while you were in Group Policy.

Folder Options - Enable or Disable

nope:

hello??

did that registry edit you had me download possibly mess up my folder options??

What else might it have done?

How do I undo that?

You have that setting enabled in Group Policy. When it is enabled, it disables Folder Options. You will need to set it to Not Configured to get Folder Options back instead.

ok, well, that was counter-intuitive to my thinking, but now that I've went full circle...

The "enabled" has been switched back like it was before the research I did on this site resulted in my thinking it should have been "enabled" (before this post)

& the result is my windows explorer folder options now work the way they did last week, and the way they always worked in XP, and this brings me back to my original 2 questions... BOTH questions in the first post remain unanswered & BOTH represent a huge inconvenience in my daily workflow, leading to all this time invested here...

Can you address either of the 2 original questions Shawn?

My first screenshot shows what I would like my windows explorer window to look like. The "Folder Options" IS working, as far as the "details" view being remembered, BUT, I would like to be able to launch it in FULLSCREEN mode everytime, instead of a smaller box coming up erverytime, PLUS I wish I could have my directory tree expanded where I want it, and not where I don't, by default. As it is now, I have 5 clicks everytime I open this window, before I can use it. It would be nice to have some control & save tens of thousands of clicks over the years I expect to use this OS.

I'll also add a second screenshot, showing a windows explorer window in the background, properly displaying my "details view", but an Adobe Illustrator "File Open" window, showing a list view in 2 columns. I have the choice to set my "view" as "Details", but every single time I ever go to open a file, it defaults to a "list" view, not a "Details" view. Maybe that is an Adobe question, maybe it is a Vista question.
(the second screenshot also includes the "Folder Options" window in front of the other two, with all the checks and unchecks from "Method 2" above... but they were already that way & I guess that whole goosechase was not really addressing my issues, so who knows what I did to my registry now )

I'm happy to hear that you got Folder Options back now.

Unfortunately, the smaller windows from the File menu bar item will not be remembered in Vista. Only the main Window Explorer windows will be remember as they were when last closed instead.

so, a little progress is finally made...

the answer to question 2 seems to be that Vista has managed to screw up the functionality of my "file menu bar" compared to the last 5 years of ease of use in XP... butwhile Vista can manage to get in there and screw it up... no resolution for this screwup exists within Vista. Bummer...

So, lets look at QUESTION ONE!!

I've been trying to ask this question for 2 days as well. Can anyone please answer it?

After using METHOD TWO below and you set a folder view in a folder in a Windows Explorer window and close it, that same folder location should open the same way as when you last closed it. It does not affect the folder tree in the Navigation Pane though.

Windows Explorer Folder View settings