How can I edit the default Places bar quick links in Windows XP's and Windows 2000's Open and Save common dialog boxes?

John Savill

April 15, 2002

2 Min Read
ITPro Today logo in a gray background | ITPro Today

A. You can modify the five default quick links in the Open and Save common dialog boxes by performing the following steps:

  1. Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).

  2. Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciescomdlg32 subkey. (If this subkey doesn't exist, select New, Key from the Edit menu to create it.)

  3. From the Edit menu, select New, Key.

  4. Enter a name of Placesbar and press Enter.

  5. Navigate to the new registry subkey. You can create five entries (Place0, Place1, Place2, Place3, and Place4). Make each entry either a string value (REG_SZ) entry (for a named folder) or a DWORD value (REG_DWORD) entry (for a special folder, such as My Documents or My Network Places).

  6. To create a new entry, go to the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value or New, String Value (as appropriate), enter a name of Placen (e.g., Place0, Place4), and press Enter.

  7. Double-click the entry and set its REG_SZ "Value data" to a path and folder name or its REG_DWORD "Value data" to a numeric ID (the table below shows a partial list of these numeric IDs--the shlobj.h file, which is part of the platform software development kit (SDK), defines the full list of special numeric IDs).

  8. Close the registry editor.

For example, the registry file below sets shortcuts to My Documents, the CD burning folder, and three named folders.

 Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion Policiescomdlg32Placesbar] "Place0"=dword:00000005 "Place1"=dword:0000003b "Place2"="d:\temp" "Place3"="d:\documents" "Place4"="g:\windows" 

This change will not affect applications within the Microsoft Office suite but will affect applications, such as Notepad and Paint, that use the Open and Save common dialog boxes. Each new entry you add will replace one of the default quick links.

0

Desktop

1

Internet Explorer

2

Start MenuPrograms

3

My ComputerControl Panel

4

My ComputerPrinters

5

My Documents

6

Favorites

7

Start MenuProgramsStartup

8

Recent

9

SendTo

a

Recycle Bin

b

Start Menu

c

logical "My Documents" desktop icon

d

"My Music" folder

e

"My Videos" folder

10

Desktop

11

My Computer

12

Network Neighborhood (My Network Places)

13

ethood

14

WindowsFonts

16

All UsersStart Menu

17

All UsersStart MenuPrograms

18

All UsersStartup

19

All UsersDesktop

1a

Application Data

1b

PrintHood

1c

Local SettingsApplicaiton Data (nonroaming)0x001d // nonlocalized startup

1e

Nonlocalized common startup

1f

Common favorites

20

Internet Cache

21

Cookies

22

History

23

All UsersApplication Data

24

GetWindowsDirectory()

25

GetSystemDirectory()

26

C:Program Files

27

C:Program FilesMy Pictures

28

USERPROFILE

29

x86 system directory on RISC

2a

x86 C:Program Files on RISC

2b

C:Program FilesCommon

2c

x86 Program FilesCommon on RISC

2d

All UsersTemplates

2e

All UsersDocuments

2f

All UsersStart MenuProgramsAdministrative Tools

30

Start MenuProgramsAdministrative Tools

31

Network and Dial-up Connections

35

All UsersMy Music

36

All UsersMy Pictures

37

All UsersMy Video

38

Resource Directory

39

Localized Resource Directory

3a

Links to All Users OEM specific apps

3b

USERPROFILELocal SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftCD Burning

About the Author

Sign up for the ITPro Today newsletter
Stay on top of the IT universe with commentary, news analysis, how-to's, and tips delivered to your inbox daily.

You May Also Like