Context Menu - Add View and Print File Directory

How to Add View and Print File Directory to the Context Menu in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8

information   Information
This will show you how to add View File Directory and Print File Directory in the context menu for all folders and drives. This will allow you to easily print or view a file and folder directory list when you right click on a folder and click on View File Directory or Print File Directory.

Note   Note
The file directory list will not include the files in a subfolder. It will only have the subfolder listed. You will need to right click on the subfolder to view or print it's file directory.

It may take a little bit to view or print the file directory of a drive if the drive is very large with a lot of files on it.


EXAMPLE: Folder Context Menu Before and After View and Print File Directory is Added
Context_Menu_Before.jpgContext_Menu_After.jpg




OPTION ONE
Add or Remove "Print File Directory" to the Context Menu

1. Click on the Download button below to download the file below.​
Print_File_Directory.zip
download

2. Click on Save and save the ZIP file to the Desktop.​
3. Right click on the downloaded Print_File_Directory.zip and click on Open.​
4. Click on Allow in the UAC prompt.​
5. Extract (drag and drop) the Add_Print_Directory.reg, Remove_Print_Directory.reg, and printdir.bat files to the desktop.​
6. Right click on the extracted .bat file, click on Properties, click on the General tab, and unblock it.​
NOTE: If you do not see a Unblock button, then the file is already unblocked.​
7. To Add "Print File Directory" to the Context Menu
A) Right click on the extracted and unblocked printdir.bat file and click on Copy.​
B) In Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\Windows and right click on a empty area and click on Paste. (See screenshot below)​
C) Click on Continue in the Destination Folder Access Denied prompt, and on Continue in the UAC prompt.​
Windows.jpg

D) Right click on the extracted Add_Print_Directory.reg file and click on Merge.​
E) Click on Run, Continue (UAC), Yes, and then OK when prompted.​
F) Go to step 9.​

8. To Remove "Print File Directory" from the Context Menu
A) In Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\Windows and right click on printdir.bat and click on Delete. (See screenshot below step 7C)​
B) Click on Continue in the Destination Folder Access Denied prompt, and on Continue in the UAC prompt.​
C) Right click on the extracted Remove_Print_Directory.reg file, and click on Merge.​
D) Click on Run, Continue (UAC), Yes, and then OK when prompted.​

9. Your done, you can now delete the downloaded ZIP and other extracted files on the Desktop if you like.​
10. When you click on Print File Directory, a file directory list for the selected folder will be sent to the printer.​




OPTION TWO
Add or Remove "View File Directory" to the Context Menu

1. Click on the Download button below to download the file below.​
View_File_Directory.zip
download

2. Click on Save and save the ZIP file to the Desktop.​
3. Right click on the downloaded View_File_Directory.zip and click on Open.​
4. Click on Allow for UAC prompt.​
5. Extract (drag and drop) the Add_View_Directory.reg, Remove_View_Directory.reg, and viewdir.bat files to the desktop.​
6. Right click on the extracted .bat file, click on Properties, click on the General tab, and unblock it.​
NOTE: If you do not see a Unblock button, then the file is already unblocked.​
7. To Add "View File Directory" to the Context Menu
A) Right click on the extracted viewdir.bat file and click on Copy.​
B) In Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\Windows and right click on a empty area and click Paste. (See screenshot below)​
C) Click on Continue in the Destination Folder Access Denied prompt, and on Continue in the UAC prompt.​
Windows.jpg

D) Right click on the extracted Add_View_Directory.reg and click on Merge.​
E) Click on Run, Continue (UAC), Yes, and then OK when prompted.​
F) Go to step 9.​

8. To Remove "View File Directory" from the Context Menu
A) In Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\Windows and right click on viewdir.bat and click on Delete. (See screenshot below step 7C)​
B) Click on Continue in the Destination Folder Access Denied prompt, and on Continue in the UAC prompt.​
C) Right click on the downloaded Remove_View_Directory.reg file and click on Merge.​
E) Click on Run, Continue (UAC), Yes, and then OK when prompted.​

8. Your done, you can delete the ZIP and other extracted files on the Desktop if you want to.​
9. This is an example of what you see when you click on View File Directory. (See screenshot below)​
view-results.jpg

That's it,
Shawn


 

Attachments

  • Print_File_Directory.zip
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  • View_File_Directory.zip
    840 bytes · Views: 2,568
  • thumb_Print_Folder.png
    thumb_Print_Folder.png
    11 KB · Views: 342
Last edited:
I tried both methods mentioned above, when i try to activate either one i get a error message "application not found" I installed everything as to speck abov. I have the file list i'm trying to print on an external hard drive name "M" does this afect to program from printing properly? Its just a list of my music files Im trying to print.
 

My Computer

Hello Duke, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Double check to make sure that you unblocked and moved the extracted .bat file from the downloaded ZIP file into your C:\Windows folder.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Hello,
I've done everything that's listed, but when I click "View File Directory" on a hard drive, only an empty cmd window pops out, and nothing else, even though it works fine with folders in hard drives, etc.
Any suggestions?

John.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI P35 Platinum Combo
    Memory
    4GB DDR2 @ 800Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Geforce 9800GT
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek HD 7.1 Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Philips 244E 24' and LG Flatron L1953TR 19'
    Screen Resolution
    3200x1200
    Hard Drives
    2xSeagate 500GB
    External Apacer 500GB
    External Seagate 1 TB
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wave
Hello John, and welcome to Vista Forums.

It would be normal for a empty command window to show until the report is finished collecting and opens Notepad to view the file directory list. The more files you have one the HDD, the longer it will take until it's finished. If you let it sit, then it should finish. If not, please let me know. :)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
It did pop out eventually.
I was a little confused because when I tryed to reach the same result through the cmd it made a .txt file instantly, so I thought it should do the same thing here.
Thank you!!
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI P35 Platinum Combo
    Memory
    4GB DDR2 @ 800Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Geforce 9800GT
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek HD 7.1 Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Philips 244E 24' and LG Flatron L1953TR 19'
    Screen Resolution
    3200x1200
    Hard Drives
    2xSeagate 500GB
    External Apacer 500GB
    External Seagate 1 TB
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wave
You're welcome.

Yeah, for just on a folder or file, it would be just about instantly. It's just that a drive may take longer depending on how many files it contains.

If you did this manually in a command prompt for the same drive and it was instant, then I'm not sure why there would be a difference in time since the context menu from here runs it the same way.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
I installed everything as described and the option appears in the context menu to View File Directory. However, when I select it in the context menu, I get an error message showing the directory path and the message: "Application not found." When I open the "Run..." dialog box on the Start Menu and manually type in the line

dir %1 /s /o:gn > "%temp%\Listing"

I get an error message saying "Windows cannot find 'dir'. However, I can run the batch file by itself just fine and if I open an MS-DOS Command prompt window and type in each line then it also works.

Is there perhaps something wrong with the install of Windows that it cannot find the 'dir' command from the "Run..." dialog box?

Using: Windows 7 Professional.
 

My Computer

Hello Thursten4Moore, and welcome to Vista Forums.

The command cannot be ran separately. It's designed to only work in the context menu instead.

Double check to make sure that you copied the unblocked viewdir.bat file into your C:\Windows folder.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
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