Chapter 8: Managing Files and Folders

Customizing a Folder

Windows gives you considerable power over the appearance of a folder in an Explorer window. You can select a new folder template for the folder, choose a picture to display on the folder's icon in Thumbnails view, or select a new icon entirely to represent the folder in any view.

These changes are made from the Customize tab of the folder's Properties dialog box, shown in Figure 8-8. To display this tab, do either of the following:

• Right-click the folder's icon and choose Properties from the shortcut menu, then click the Customize tab in the Properties dialog box.
• Open the folder and then choose View | Customize This Folder.

Figure 8-8: Customize a folder from the Customize tab of the folder's Properties dialog box.

Choosing a New Folder Template

The default template for a new folder is the document template. Windows XP also offers the option of two different templates for folders that contain images (the photo album and pictures templates) and three for folders that contain music files (the music, music album, and music artist templates).

A folder in photo album template is shown in Figure 8-9. Notice the virtual slide projector in the working area and the Photo Tasks box on the Task pane. The views and templates that Windows provides for graphic images are discussed in Chapter 18, while the three music templates are described in Chapter 19.

Figure 8-9: The photo album folder template

To change the template of a folder

1. Open the folder and then select View | Customize This Folder. The Properties dialog box appears with the Customize tab on top.
2. Choose the new template from the drop-down list in the What Kind Of Folder Do You Want? box on the Customize tab of the Properties dialog box.
3. Click OK.

Using a Picture as a Folder's Thumbnail Icon

The default icon for a folder in Thumbnails view is either a larger version of the ordinary yellow folder icon, or (if the folder contains image files) the first four image files from the folder arranged on the yellow folder icon like pictures pasted onto a manila folder. (You can change which four images are displayed by re-sorting the folder's contents.) You can make this icon more interesting and informative by choosing an appropriate image to be the folder's thumbnail icon. For example, if the folder contains music files from a particular album, Windows may download the album cover from the Internet and use that image as the folder's thumbnail icon.

The image on a folder's thumbnail icon doesn't have to be from an image file contained in the folder. The image can be stored anywhere on your computer or network.

To select a picture as a folder's thumbnail icon

1. Make sure that the image you want exists as a file somewhere on your computer or your network.
2. Open the folder whose thumbnail you want to change.
3. Select View | Customize This Folder to display the Customize tab of the folder's Properties dialog box.
4. Click the Choose Picture button. A Browse window appears.
5. Use the Browse window to find the image file you want to use, then the Open button in the Browse window. The Browse window disappears and the new image is displayed in the Properties dialog box.
6. Click the OK button in the Properties dialog box.

To restore the default thumbnail icon of a folder, follow the same steps, but click the Restore Default button in step 4 instead of the Choose Picture button.

Changing a Folder's Icon

If a folder has special content or you use it for some special purpose, you can remind yourself of that by giving it a special icon. To change a folder's icon

1. Open the folder and then select View | Customize This Folder. The folder's Properties dialog box appears with the Customize tab on top.
2. Click the Change Icon button on the Customize tab. The Change Icon box appears, as shown in Figure 8-10.
3. By default the Change Icon box shows the icons contained in the file C:\Windows\System32\shell.dll, where Windows stores its icons. If you want to look in another file or folder, click the Browse button and use the Browse window to select that file or folder.
4. Select an icon in the Change Icon box and Click OK to return to the Properties dialog box, then click OK to make the Properties dialog box disappear.

Figure 8-10: Windows knows hundreds of icons.