Do you find it annoying to use the 'My Computer' shortcut as a file explorer-style application because the folder view is hidden by default?  Or do you find it annoying that Windows Explorer never starts with the proper directory in focus?  Well, stop being annoyed, because you can customize the shortcut to Windows Explorer to resolve all of these annoyances.

The following command line argument / switches are available for Windows Explorer (explorer.exe):

• /n

• Opens a new single-pane Window for the default selection.  This is usually the root of the drive on which Windows is installed.

• /e

• Starts Windows Explorer using its default view.

• /e, <object>

• Starts Windows Explorer using its default view with the focus on the specified folder.

• /root, <object>

• Opens a window view of the specified object.

• /select, <object>

• Opens a window view with the specified folder, file or program selected.

Right click a shortcut to Windows Explorer, and select 'Properties'.  Go to the 'Shortcut' tab, and take a look at the 'Target:' edit box.  Add the desired switches at the end of this command line.

Example

I personally like Windows Explorer to start in its default view (the double-pane view which shows the folder list, and the file list), with the C:\ drive as the default focus.  I can accomplish this by changing my Windows Explorer shortcut to have the following command line:

%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e,C:\

Please note that I do not use the /root switch, as this would not allow me to navigate higher up than the C:\ drive.  Thus, I would not have access to any other drive with this instance of the program!  However, this switch would be useful if you never required access to another drive, as it saves some screen real estate.  You can always create more than one shortcut to Windows Explorer, as well; each with their own settings.

Side Effects

One negative side effect of using a shortcut to Windows Explorer to access a directory, rather than merely using a shortcut to the directory, is that the Windows Explorer shortcuts will not appear within an open / save filebox.  Why?  As discussed in our forums, the shortcut to Windows Explorer is a shortcut to a program.  The filebox code is only supposed to show the files that match the currently selected file type (such as *.doc), as well as directories for easier navigation.  It is not supposed to show files of other types (such as *.bmp).  The filebox also shows shortcuts to these types of files, if they match the file type selected.  Therefore, a shortcut to a directory would be shown, and, in this particular case, a shortcut to a *.doc file would be shown.  However, a shortcut to an executable file (*.exe) would not be shown.  Since this is what the shortcut to Windows Explorer is, it will not appear.  Besides, even if it did appear (it will if you select *.* to show all files), and the filebox allowed you to run it (it doesn't, it thinks you are selecting the filename of the shortcut for open / save), it would just open a new Windows Explorer program anyway - since it's a program, not a directory.

About the Author:  I am Jason Doucette of Xona Games, an award-winning, team-of-two indie studio concentrating on "intense retro" games (Xbox LIVE, PSN, WiiWare, and Windows PC). We've released Decimation X (XBLIG), a 1-4 player shmup, #1 best selling and #1 top rated XBLIG in Japan. We're working on Duality ZF (XBLA), a groundbreaking 1-4 player shmup, which placed #1 in Canada and #5 in the world in Microsoft's Dream Build Play 2010 contest. It features dual play, the ability to control two fighters at once, and a massively upgradable 32-stage spread/laser weapon system. 4 player dual play allows up to eight fighters at once.  Many of these features are never before seen shoot'em up firsts. Both games feature beautiful electronic Imphenzia soundtracks.  Help spread the word with our official dualityzf.com and decimationx.com websites.

P.S. Watch out for Score Rush (official website scorerush.com), another 1-4 player shmup. Coming soon to XBLIG.

*Shmup also known as: shoot'em up, 2D shooter, scrolling shooter, space shooter, spaceship shooter, retro shooter, etc.