Folder Properties -> Customize -> General Items for Root Directory?

Hi.

For some reason, Windows 7 has decided that files in my root directory C: are music files.

They're not.

In every other folder, I can click on Properties, then choose Customize, then choose "Optimize This Folder For..." and choose the type I want - Documents, Photos, Music, General Items. You know the drill. If I click on Properties when I'm in the root C: drive, I get a pie chart showing me how much space I have left and lots of other choices, none of which let me view my files as "General Items."

I don't want to sort my files in my c: directory by artist. There are no artists. Stop being helpful, Windows 7, and thinking I want it this way. I want it to be General Items.

How do I do that? I've been searching the web for two days and, as always, I find lots of people asking the same question and no one answering it. Do YOU know the answer? I bet you do. And thanks for letting me know what it is.

- Norton L

You can customise the headings/columns in Windows Explorer to show the normal arrangement of Name, Date Modified, Type and Size. Follow this tutorial provided by MS. How to Change Column Settings in Windows Explorer

Thanks, Jack, but I already know how to do this, and it doesn't really answer my question. Anyone else?

Hi

I can't customize my C:\ root directory as to style in the normal way either.
I can do it for all my other drives so it must be protected some how.

With me it isn't a big issue since I have over 100 applications installed and only ended up with 2 files in my C:\ root directory.
I never actually noticed that before.

Anyway give this a try...

1. Open a Explorer window that you want to change the folder type template for.

NOTE: To change the root directory (Computer or Local Disk C: ) template, open the Usersfolder in Local Disk C: . The changes in Users will be applied to the root directory as well.

Be sure to also do the Apply to All Folder Type Templates section below, or it will not apply to the Computer or Local Disk C: location.

I can't really tell when I do it myself since I only have two files in it.

Mike

Yeah this didn't work for me either. I changed my User Folder to General Items and that changed that particular folder but the root directory remained the same.

This happened to me once before and there's a change you can make in the registry to set it to general items. I've searched for it on Google but, as always happens to me nowadays, I found a bunch of pages and forums with people asking this question and other people not answering it. This page will now be another one in the long list of pages for other people in the future. Unless someone does actually know the answer to this question. I hold out some hope.

Could you get us a picture of what is happening using the snipping tool and attach using the paperclip?

Originally Posted by Saltgrass

Could you get us a picture of what is happening using the snipping tool and attach using the paperclip?

Here's what I'm looking at - my C drive. Notice the columns - title, contributing artists, album; and the button for "Play All." As Jack said earlier, I can right click on the column bar and customize the columns to be general items - date modified, etc. But the folder still "thinks" it's a Music folder; the "Play All" button up above remains. It's a shell customization that Windows 7 automatically switched to in an attempt to be helpful and it's not helpful.

If you go to folder options - View Tab and uncheck the "Hide protected operating system files", do you show a desktop.ini file in the c:\ directory?

No, no desktop.ini file in the c:\ directory.
For completists, the files now not hidden are:
autoexec.bat
bootmgr
BOOTSECT.BAk
config.sys
IO.SYS
MSDOS.SYS
pagefile.sys

I am sure we all have different files/folders in the root directory due to some type of install.

But I do not show an autoexec.bat or config.sys or IO.sys or msdos.sys. Do you remember where these came from, an XP install or earlier? If you edit the Autoexec.bat (do not double click it) can you tell what it is supposed to do?