Windows 7: Get rid of the libraries?

I ran a regedit mod that lets you disable use of Libraries. Now in start menu, I no longer have a link to music or videos.

Is it possible to reinable those links, but to work more of the way the vista links worked?



I know I can edit
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders
and

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

but I cannot make sense of which ones to modify after applying the mod.

To be honest, I hate libraries and wish I could uninstall them. We all have preferences and I have this one. :/

How to disable libraries;

Libraries Folder - Add or Remove from Navigation Pane

You can add links to the folders where your music and videos are stored. The default folder for music is

Library - Include a Folder

\username\My Music

\username\My Videos

If you disable libraries then you have to keep your folders organised as you can then no longer add files to "libarires" which are virtual folders and can contain content from anywhere.

Regards....Mike Connor

So why do you hate Libraries?

I love libraries, I just think they are better utilised for storing books.

Adding all these default virtual folders/links to a single user desktop system is merely confusing, time wasting, and unproductive for many users.

If you have your system sorted out properly you simply don't need libraries.

This is reflected in the absolutely huge number of users looking for ways to disable and remove them. They just want to click on a folder of their choice, they don't want to drill down through what to them is merely a load of useless bloat in order to find a file. Nor do they wish to learn all the complicated rigmarole associated with such things.

There are doubtless plenty of users who like libraries, and that is fine, the problem arises when one is not given the choice.

People do not want to be told how to set up or do things or be forced into using a system that does not work for them.

Regards....Mike Connor

Ho Hum... Why not get rid of the file structure altogether and just have one big folder.

The Libraries in Windows have nothing at all to do with file structure.

These are file structures;

http://www.google.com/images?q=file+...w=1563&bih=870

This reflects how the files are actually organised. Libraries rely on virtual links which have nothing at all to do with the physical file structure or its heirachy.

Using a single folder is not a problem with the right software.

Change is not always progress.........

Regards....Mike Connor

I am aware that libraries are nothing to do with the file structure they are a tool to help in grouping and organizing folders. I find them very useful. I just find it incredible that some people automatically reject anything new and hark back to the good old days of XP.

kado, there is nothing you can do. It is very difficult to get people to accept change, even if it is for the better. We see this every day - especially in politics.

I love the libraries. I have "included" all kinds of folders (even some on external disks). Makes it so much easier to stay organized. It is also handy for creating your own libraries to amend the given structure.

Me to. I even find them useful for looking at the same folders in different groupings. There is no reason, for instance, that you could have one pictures library grouped by folder and another by tags or date. The possibilities are endless about the only thing you can't do is have one library inside another.

What was the motivation to devote X thousands of MS development hours to libraries?

I think that is a rhetorical question.

Many people have folders named "stuff" in which you can find pot roast recipes AND a picture of Goldilocks AND the secrets of the neutron bomb, among hundreds of other files.

These people need help and libraries is the MS solution. Better than expecting them to put those 3 disparate things in separate folders. At least, that's what I think libraries are for--I lost interest in them after 20 minutes.

At the other extreme are people like me: 10,032 folders on my data drive, so says the trusty D:\>dir /s. I kid you not.

To each his own?