XP-Style Windows Explorer

Discussion in 'Windows 7' started by ByteMaster, Nov 22, 2009.

  1. ByteMaster

    ByteMaster MDL Novice

    Apr 13, 2009
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    Does anyone know if it's possible to set the Windows Explorer to XP-style behaviour? Note: I don't want to go to classic mode as I like Aero, and I'd rather not have to resort to Windows Commander et al.

    (1) there's no "level up" where you click and you go up one level in the directory tree.

    (2) the pane on the left apparently doesn't give a frig where you are. I'd like to go in a folder and have the left side open up to there, just like in XP.

    Users that upgraded from XP will know what I mean, apparently this weird behaviour was introduced in Vista.

    Thanks!
     
  2. pezzonovante

    pezzonovante MDL Member

    Jul 29, 2009
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    Windows Explorer in Vista/7 is much more efficient than that of XP:

    1. Yes, there is no "level up" button in Windows 7's explorer. But there is a better alternative called the "breadcrumb bar". It saves you plenty of clicks.

    2. You can see where you are by just taking a glance at the breadcrumb bar. So there's no need to look at the left pane. However, you can still use the navigation pane to do things the old way.
     
  3. hoopster

    hoopster MDL Novice

    Feb 23, 2008
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    This is one of the reasons I use Directory Opus. I used it even on XP. It is a much better disk/folder/file manager than Windows Explorer. There are other alternatives as well, DOpus is just my preferred replacement.
     
  4. El_Heffe

    El_Heffe MDL Member

    Jul 16, 2007
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    What the heck is the "breadcrumb bar"???

    Overall, Win 7 is great but Explorer in Vista and Win 7 totally blows compared to XP
     
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  5. pezzonovante

    pezzonovante MDL Member

    Jul 29, 2009
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    Breadcrumb bar is basically the address bar on the top with names of each folder. You can click on the folder names to open that particular folder.
     
  6. WinFLP

    WinFLP MDL Senior Member

    Nov 18, 2009
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    1) Use "breadcrumbs" or press ALT+ {Up Arrow} to go to parent directory.

    2) Go to Tools-folder options (if menu bar not visible, press ALT) Under navigation pane check the boxes.
     
  7. ByteMaster

    ByteMaster MDL Novice

    Apr 13, 2009
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    Thank you WinFLP! These two tips are great and solve all my issues!