ShellFolderFix - Manage folder window positions/size

This is an app to make win7 explorer folder windows remember their size and position. It has a couple of additional features too, and hopefully some more later on. It does NOT manage window size/positions of regular applications, if you want that, other apps like Window Manager do it. Allthough I haven't tried it, in theory it should work to run Window Manager simultaneously, if it's configured to ignore folder windows (found as "CabinetWClass"). I'd strongly recommend configuring WM to ignore them, or disable WM, before running ShellFolderFix, to avoid any potential "fighting" between the two apps.


Packages available are non-installer versions (.zip) and a unified installer for both 32- and 64-bit systems (ShellFolderFixSetup.exe). When using the installer to upgrade from a previous version, it's good practice to exit any currently running ShellFolderFix before starting the installer, to reduce chances of needing a reboot.

Mini-FAQ

Q: Should I download the installer (ShellFolderFixSetup.exe) or an installer-less package (.zip)?
A: If you're asking this question then the answer is, download the installer . The installer-less versions are only intended for those that know how to use them and explicitly don't want an installer.
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Q: Do I have to uninstall the old version first, when upgrading to a new one?
A: No, just running the new installer should work fine. However it would be a good idea to exit ShellFolderFix if you have it running, before starting the installer. This increases the chances to avoid having to reboot after installation.
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Q: My view layout and view mode settings are not properly restored for folders, is something wrong?
A: No, it works as it should. Currently ShellFolderFix does not affect view layout/mode, even though I'd like to add support for it in future if possible. Only window position and size are affected/restored.

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Upgrade strongly suggested for anyone using a version older than 1.0.9


Current release 1.1.5:

Changes:

• added option to prompt user if currently open windows should be closed when restoring a workspace (the default behavior is to always close windows)
• added option to maintain a "last used" workspace, a workspace that is saved each time the database is saved
• added option to not save database (except windows restored on startup), iow folders are not remembered between sessions
• added option to keep a ".BAK" files of the databases (db / workspace db / desktop icon db)
• updated the small app icon, typically used as tray icon, to a more crisp one rather than the old blurry excessively downsized version
• fixed bug where some windows occasionally ended up with small size in the top left corner of the desktop, after app startup if "Temporarily use window as is" was set

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ShellFolderFix Installer - View attachment ShellFolderFixSetup.zip (1.73 MB)


Archives without installer:

ShellFolderFix 64-bit - View attachment ShellFolderFix64.zip (1.13 MB)
ShellFolderFix 32-bit - View attachment ShellFolderFix32.zip (927.8 KB)

Truly excellent work mate, I think you will wake thousands of people happy with this.

TY, its nearly 5am and I'm reluctantly on win 7 right now and its bores me to hell tbh LOL.

I will try this later but right now an older build of "windowmanager" is doing its job correctly.

This is not my final set up so I do not mind messing about with it.

Edit : Ok brains kinda dead at 5am but whats does you App actually do if it does not sort the Folder Positions and I thought this was supposed to be instead of peeps buying "windowmanager" and possibly evetually doing a better job that it does as it does not do Content Layouts.

I know its the 1st build but what exactly am I going to gain using it over "windowmanager" ?

Not sure what exactly you mean by "sort the Folder Positions"? It does keep track the folder positions and sizes, when it works as it should . If you're running the 32-bit version then perhaps that's the problem, as I haven't been able to try it. Or maybe if WM was running, it was interfering.

I'd rather say what it does different than WM, instead of "better". Since it's also a matter of personal preference, what is better and what not. I'll try to list a couple of things (maybe WM can do some of them, I'm not familiar enough):

- correctly restores minimized/maximized states of folders when you log in (/ start windows)
- workspaces, allows you to save "presets" of your open folders (can be useful if you work on different projects and are used to have a set of folders open specifically for each project), or just restore a common folder setup in case windows messes it up
- tracks folders by folder name, and not window title. Which makes functionality completely independent of the windows setting to display full path in window title or not
- is able to track folder changes when navigating to different folders inside a single window. This feature also allows you to have search results display with a different window size/pos. Nice if you have smaller folder windows but want to automatically see search results in a big window, without it affecting the original folder's settings. (There are configuration options for how you want these things to work).
- costs you 0

Hey tweaker. Nice app I love it. I tried the installer and at the moment it seems to work as intended.
Though if I could suggest something to add to it's functionality to make it more like xp's default behavior.
As you might of noticed windows7 has a very primitive window size remembering that only works for 2 folders max.
When I resize a window with your app running in the background, it helps windows7 remember the size and position of that window forever and that is cool but when I open a new window that hasn't been resized using your app, that new window is going to have the same size as the previous one that I resized.
In xp the windows that weren't resized manually before, always opened up in a standard default medium size and they didn't retain the size of the previous resized windows.
For example I open a folder with a few icons in it and I resize that window to a very small size and next if I open a folder with lots of icons in it, it's going to be very small if I didn't previously resized it with your app running. Is there anything that can be done to disable windows 7's native window size remembering and only use the one provided by your app?

tweaker, look at my post.

It was 5am and I stated I had not ran it yet.

I am on 64bit but going by your initial description and my brain not working at 5am it looks like it will not help me.

"windowmanager" does help 99% anyhow.

I may be misinterpreting your description though.

@ MrDeviance, AFAICS Win 7 only knows 1 Folder Size.

That's the whole issue for me.

Brand new install of Win 7 will open all windows Medium (as you put it), ok I then open "My Comp" and drag it edge to edge of my Monitor (not using Maximise Button), and then close it.

It will reopen that size now forever but I now open Recycle Bin (first time ever) and its the same size as "My Comp".

Ok I resize the Recycle Bin back down to a more Medium size and close it as its not needed any larger.

Reopen Recycle Bin its still the Medium size but when I open "My Comp" it is now also Medium size.

Is this not the same issue you have with Win 7 ?

P.S I know IE (WM if imported) WMP and a few more Apps will not count as folders so be fine either way.

MrDeviance said:

In xp the windows that weren't resized manually before, always opened up in a standard default medium size and they didn't retain the size of the previous resized windows.
For example I open a folder with a few icons in it and I resize that window to a very small size and next if I open a folder with lots of icons in it, it's going to be very small if I didn't previously resized it with your app running. Is there anything that can be done to disable windows 7's native window size remembering and only use the one provided by your app?

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I agree, if you take a quick peek in the readme you'll notice it's the first point under Known Issues, and that'll add that feature ASAP In fact I nearly did before this release, but then I decided to just get the first version out, because I was already a day later than promised.

helmutcheese said:

tweaker, look at my post.

It was 5am and I stated I had not ran it yet.

I am on 64bit but going by your initial description and my brain not working at 5am it looks like it will not help me.

"windowmanager" does help 99% anyhow.

I may be misinterpreting your description though.

Click to expand...

No problem. I answered at 6am but if WM does everything you need then great. This is more intended for those where WM leaves you with a feeling of "this is pretty good, but I wish it would...", ie. if you want any of the features that WM doesn't have. I think the most signifficant being that this one can update a single window as you navigate to a new location (or list search results), whereas I think WM will only affect the window when it's opened and then never touch it again.

As I mentioned in the other thread I'll also continue looking into more advanced stuff like remembering view settings, but I can't guarantee success on that.

I basically want it back the old way.

I know "windowsmanager" has limitations as I have read all the info on the website and inc "read me".

I'm pretty sure if you want to have a new sized window, "windowmanager" needs your input into its GUI for that specific window (cannot remember as its been months).

BTW when I put "WM" I mean Window Mail (imported back into Win 7).

The explanation you gave to MrDeviance answers my question, due to what he asks and your reply.

Seems like your next build will cater for my needs.

Great job! So far, it works well. However, it doesn't remember "snapped" positions. If you figure that out, my problems would be no more.

I'm not complaining, it works as long as I manually set positions, but it would be handy

Thanks!

jemcgarvey said:

Great job! So far, it works well. However, it doesn't remember "snapped" positions. If you figure that out, my problems would be no more.

I'm not complaining, it works as long as I manually set positions, but it would be handy

Thanks!

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I think the whole windows snap feature may be the reason they removed it in the first place, I don't think the 2 work well together.

Hmm Aero Snap can be a PIA esp if you are not trying to "snap" a window and it does but in Vista+3rd Party Aero Snap+Vistas fix for Folder+Positions (grabbed for Tuts here) works fine.

And Windows 7 Aero Snap + "windowmanager" works also.

jemcgarvey said:

it doesn't remember "snapped" positions. If you figure that out, my problems would be no more.

Click to expand...

Oops, snapping was among the first things I turned off so I didn't notice that. Unfortunately there does not seem to be any API access whatsoever, to the snapping functionality, provided by MS. I also quickly checked if couldn't find any hack for it, but no luck. So I can't detect nor restore a window's snapped state.

I'll look into saving the window size/pos as it is, see comment below on how WM does it. Not sure if that's good enough for you, but I'm afraid that's about all I can do.

helmutcheese said:

And Windows 7 Aero Snap + "windowmanager" works also.

Click to expand...

WM restores the window with the same pos/size as it previously was, but it doesn't restore the snapped state. Meaning if you drag a WM restored window it will not "unsnap" like a real snapped window does. I'll try to add the same functionality for the next version, it was an oversight on my part as I don't use snapping.

I'd appreciate it greatly. I bet others would as well, but you're probably right that most of the power users on here turn it off and manually customize all their positions.

The new version is up. It should fix the snapped windows, it also adds default window option, for unknown/new folders and a couple of other small fixes.

TY will try it later if I feel the need (sigh) to boot to Win 7 lol.

Thanks for all of your work Tweaker. You app works great for me. Is v1.0.1 the most recent release?


Thanks again

Glad to hear that it's working fine, yes that's the latest version.

Added a new cosmetic option, for Aero users. It's now possible to enable the window title of folders.

Wow Tweaker, this is turning into a real xpfier project from what I see here.
If you keep this up, you might actually become very popular with your app.
I was 100% happy with your app from v1.01 but now that I see how much cool stuff you can change I will dare and ask if you are able to add an option to your app to allow people to disable or enable the breadcrumbs feature under aero by default.
And another issue I would love fixed would be to have the ability to shrink the status bar from windows to a much lower size than permitted to get it to a size close to the xp one.



Another thing I would love to see added to the window is that old up one level button which can be added in vista with a third party app!

And my last issue with the w7 explorer is the lack of options to disable auto arrange icons in folders and lack of option to disable align to grid in folders.
Microsoft simply took out the ability to move the icons inside a folder to our liking and forced us to have them auto arranged and placed into an invisible grid which keeps them too far apart one from another taking waaaay to much space inside a window.

If you can fix even one of these issues here, your app is going to be so much better imo. I was thinking that you actually have what it takes to fix all of these problems into one app and finally kill the need to use all those extra third party apps that all happen to cost money and run all at once draining extra memory.
Good luck and Cheers and please excuse me for having the nerve to ask for so much more from you after you already put out such a cool app!