Tips & Tricks

A Better way to Find Stuff

This tip is for advanced users. It requires the editing of your registry. If you try this tip, you do so at your own risk. If you completely mess up your computer, don't even ask for my help. You've been warned :-)

OK, when I'm using the Find or Search feature of Windows, I like right-clicking the Start button, Find or Search (depending on the version of Windows I'm using).

Normally when I do this, I end up in the "Windows/Start/" folder, not on Drive C. Here's a way to modify your registry so that Find points to the location *you* want it to.

OK, here's the tip:

1. Click the Start button, Run.

2. Type regedit in to the run box

3. Navigate to:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\find\ddeexec

4. Once there, right-click the Default key and select "Modify" from the menu.

5. On the Value Data line, replace both instances of "%I" with the drive or folder of your choice. For example, I wanted my Find to look in my C: drive by default, so this is the line I have:

[FindFolder("C:\", C:\)]

Click OK and you're done.

Now, exit out of the registry editor and right-click your Start button, select Find. Your "Look in" location should be whatever path you set. If you decide you don't like this, you can always change it back to the "%I" thingy.

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