Windows XP [Electronic resources] : Visual Quickstart Guide, Second Edition

Chris Fehily

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Viewing Files and Folders in Different Ways

Explorer lets you view the contents of a folder several ways. You can vary the size of icons, change the details displayed, or view miniature previews of graphics and files, for example. Each view has advantages.

To change the view of a folder's items:

• In Windows Explorer, select a folder; then choose a view from the View menu (Figure 5.9 ):

Figure 5.9. The View menu is available from the menu bar or the toolbar.

Filmstrip (new in XP) creates a slide show of image files, with the selected file shown as a larger image above the others (Figure 5.10 ).

Figure 5.10. In Filmstrip view, use the first pair of buttons below the larger image to run forward or backward through the other images in the folder. Use the second pair of buttons to rotate the current picture.

Thumbnails displays large icons for easy identification (Figure 5.11 ).

Figure 5.11. Thumbnails view is good for viewing photos, but it's also useful if you want a large icon to click.

Tiles (new in XP) displays large, colorful icons with three lines of text that describe each file (Figure 5.12 ).

Figure 5.12. In Tiles view, the information that appears depends on the file type.

Icons displays items the way icons are shown on the desktop (Figure 5.13 ).

Figure 5.13. Icons view sorts items across rows.

List lists the names of files and folders, preceded by small icons (Figure 5.14 ).

Figure 5.14. List view is the most compact display, showing the most files per windowbut it's also the most difficult to select files from.

Details displays a columnar list of files, folders, and their properties (Figure 5.15 ).

Figure 5.15. The column headings in Details view list the properties displayed for each file.

Restoring the Old Windows Look" in Chapter 4.

In Filmstrip or Thumbnails view, right-click a picture to rotate it or set it as your desktop background via the shortcut menu. Double-click a picture to preview it in Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.

You can view pictures as a filmstrip in any My Pictures subfolder or any folder customized as a pictures folder. See "Customizing a Folder" later in this chapter.

To make all your folders use the same view, set up one folder the way you want it; then choose Tools > Folder Options > View tab > Apply to All Folders button. You still can apply distinct views to individual folders afterward. (To return all folders to their default views, click Reset All Folders in the same dialog box.)

Windows remembers each folder's view when revisited (but forgets the view of seldom-visited folders). To make Windows always forget folder views between visits, choose Tools > Folder Options > View tab > Advanced Settings list > uncheck Remember Each Folder's View Settings. Use Tweak UI's Explorer > Customizations option to set the number of folders to remember. (See the "Tweak UI" sidebar in "Using the Start Menu" in Chapter 2.)