Small but Annoying Problem

[ejnallstars]

Is there anyway to change the default a program uses when trying to save or open a file?

e.g. when using save as it always defaults to My Docs. but I never save there.

or

e.g. when trying to insert a picture in word it defaults to looking in My pics.

Any help would be appreciated.

[EzyStvy]

Relocate My Documents and other *special* folders


In order to keep your system partition lean and safeguard your documents, it's a good idea to relocate the folder. You can also relocate Favorites and others for safe-keeping - even use a removable drive.

First, download Tweak UI for Win9x/ME/2000 or Tweak UI for WinXP. For this application, the older version 1.33 will work in Windows 2000.

Create your new folder in the location that you desire. You can name it whatever you like. Now open Tweak UI and find the "Special Folders" section. Select the My Documents folder and then "Change location". Click Yes on the warning and browse to your new folder.

Now copy all of the contents of the old My Documents folder to the new folder. Restart the PC. Test the folder. If it's OK, you can safely delete the old one.

Done.





http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p.../powertoys.asp

[Dan]

ES-
while this is good sound advice and a good explanation, it doesn't answer the question. I don't know the answer but would like to be able to do just what ejnallstars is trying to:
change the default folder to save in. I collect graphics images of all kinds. When I download several, one right after the other, the same folder will come up each time to load the files into...but this is not changing default. I hope some one can suggest a tweak here....

[Trick000]

there's different ways for different programs. Some programs you'd probably have to get into registry to do that but most programs willl give you an opportunity to configure. For MS Word just go to Tools>Options>File Locations then change the entry under Documents.

[ejnallstars]

Thanks Trick000

I can see how this would work in Word but have you any ideas how I can save pics from IE to a default of my E drive.

I realise this is not life or death but when doing a lot of work it can be frustrating.

Thanks everyone again.

[Trick000]

I don't use IE. I use firebird and with this browser, it defaults to the last directory I saved an image in.

[Dan]

IE6 does the same thing......

[Trick000]

it only does it for Save Target As.. not Save Picture As... at least not in my version of IE 6

[Trick000]

it only does it for Save Target As.. not Save Picture As... at least not in my version of IE 6

[ejnallstars]

Hi Dan

It does until the first time you shut down your system and then it defaults back to My Docs.

It is changing this default that I would like to be able to do.

[Dan]

Hi ejnallstars
you're right, once you reboot it changes back to default.
I'm hoping that some one will be able to help us change the default, too...a lot of programs have settings to change this....it's changing it within windows that I would like to be able to do....

[GaryRouth]

Hi all

I haven't found a Registry tweak yet that fits just yet . . . but if I have a little time later on, I'll look again.

In the meantime: there might be a compromise solution to the saving pictures dilemma. Seems like you could use TweakUI (for your verison of Windows - as EzyStvy mentions) - but since you want to change only the default location for pictures, just make the change for C:\My Documents\My Pictures, but leave C:\My Documents where it is. I don't have TweakUI on any of the machines here at work, so I'm not sure of the details. But take a look and see if you can make a default for images to E:\My Documents\My Pictures while leaving most documents to C:\My Documents.

Wish I had a Win9x machine handy to try it.
. . . Gary

[p.s. ---if TweakUI is able to make such a change, seems like there Should Be a Registry tweak somewhere able to do the same thing - since that is what TweakUI does. ]

[Trick000]

oops how did that double post? oh well..
ok here's the registry procedure. I did this on a winxp Pro machine but it should work for win9x. Run regedit then go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER>Software>Microsoft>Current Version>Explorer>Shell Folders. Double click on the My Pictures entry and put in whichever drive/directory you want to put it in.

Next go down to HKEY_CURRENT_USER>Software>Microsoft>Current Version>Explorer>User Shell Folders. If the My Pictures entry isn't there then create a String value, name it My Pictures and edit it's data to your desired drive/directory.

Some notes... if you use predefined string variables like %userprofile% or %systemroot% then you should create an Expandable String Value instead of a regular String Value

[ejnallstars]

Sorry Guys

Is now a good time to tell you I am using Win98SE??

My apologies and hope I have not wasted too much of your time.

Still looking for a solution though if anyone is still speaking to me.

Please.

[Dan]

The following is a reply to a letter that I sent to the auther of a great little tweaking program called "tweak revisted" (be sure to visit the site listed below) to try to find a solution for this problem. I hope this helps:

There are 2 significant Registry keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell
Folders

and

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User
Shell Folders

The "User Shell Folders" key seems to be an override to the regular
SF key. Though I noticed that when I make a change in USF it appears
in SF.
I'd say go for the USF key. If the values "My Pictures" and "Personal"
don't exist then create them as string values. (Run Regedit.exe, open
to USF key, right-click in right-side window, click New -> String Value)
Enter the path to where you want those folders to be. Then reboot.

In my tests, I started with a personal folder "C:\Save Folder" that has a
full moon icon. (I had renamed "My Documents" earlier and changed the
default icon.)
I changed the Registry setting to a folder "D:\pers". My Desktop icon then
switched by
itself to refer to D:\pers (although the shortcut itself is not renamed).
The D:\pers folder
displayed the full moon icon. Wordpad also began offering to save files
to D:\pers. Notepad, oddly, began offering to save files to "Save Folder"
but
sent them to D:\pers. That abberation seems to be because I've renamed
My Documents. Notepad checks
HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103},
a My Documents key, for the name of the folder but still conforms to the
User Shell Folders spec for the folder path.

So, to make a long story short, yes you can change the system folder
locations.
In:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User
Shell Folders\
Change (or add) the values of "Personal" and "My Pictures" to point to
another existing folder.

Many programs have been designed to save to wherever you've requested
in the past. I've trained OE and Mozilla, for instance, to offer the Desktop
as
the default saving spot. But for the programs that default to My Documents
(or My Pictures) changing those Registry settings should do it.

Joe'Software
www.jsware.net