Windows XP Tips & Tricks
Start Menu Shortcut Open Behavior: There's Two Different Types of Shortcuts to a Folder
Place a shortcut to a folder in the start menu it will open the folder 1 of 2 ways
- As an explorer window
- As a start menu expanding list
You can control this behavior by how you create the shortcut. To make the shortcut open an explorer window right click on the START button and choose OPEN from the shell menu. Once the explorer window for the start menu opens right click on white space within the window and choose NEW, SHORTCUT from the shell menu. Enter the path to the folder you want a shortcut. This creates a shortcut type that will not expand to the right like the programs menu in the start menu, but rather just opens an explorer window to the path.
To create a folder shortcut that opens an expanding menu drag the directory you want a shortcut to over the START button while holding down the CONTROL & SHIFT keys. Keep holding the keys and dragging until the start menu opens, then make sure you deposit the new shortcut above the divider line on the start menu above "Programs." This type of shortcut creates an expanding menu instead of opening a window when clicked.
Resizing Pictures Via Right Click
In Windows XP you can right click on an image or group of images and select "Resize Pictures" from the shell menu IF you have Microsoft PowerToys Utilities installed.
Changing Thumbnail Size in Explorer
In the XP file explorer you can elect to view thumbnail representations of images of common graphic types as opposed to icons. The default size can be changed with a simple registry edit.
regedit
navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
Create a new DWORD value
Smallest:
- Hex – 20
- Decimal – 32
Windows Default:
- Hex – 64
- Decimal – 100
Largest:
- Hex – 100
- Decimal – 256
