Print - How can I edit the default Places bar quick links in Windows XP's and Windows 2000's Open and Save common dialog boxes?

A. You can modify the five default quick links in the Open and Save common dialog boxes by performing the following steps:

Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\comdlg32 subkey. (If this subkey doesn't exist, select New, Key from the Edit menu to create it.)
From the Edit menu, select New, Key.
Enter a name of Placesbar and press Enter.
Navigate to the new registry subkey. You can create five entries (Place0, Place1, Place2, Place3, and Place4). Make each entry either a string value (REG_SZ) entry (for a named folder) or a DWORD value (REG_DWORD) entry (for a special folder, such as My Documents or My Network Places).
To create a new entry, go to the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value or New, String Value (as appropriate), enter a name of Placen (e.g., Place0, Place4), and press Enter.
Double-click the entry and set its REG_SZ "Value data" to a path and folder name or its REG_DWORD "Value data" to a numeric ID (the table below shows a partial list of these numeric IDs--the shlobj.h file, which is part of the platform software development kit (SDK), defines the full list of special numeric IDs).
Close the registry editor.

For example, the registry file below sets shortcuts to My Documents, the CD burning folder, and three named folders.

 Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion Policies\comdlg32\Placesbar]
 "Place0"=dword:00000005
 "Place1"=dword:0000003b
 "Place2"="d:\\temp"
 "Place3"="d:\\documents"
 "Place4"="g:\\windows"

This change will not affect applications within the Microsoft Office suite but will affect applications, such as Notepad and Paint, that use the Open and Save common dialog boxes. Each new entry you add will replace one of the default quick links.

0	Desktop
1	Internet Explorer
2	Start Menu\Programs
3	My Computer\Control Panel
4	My Computer\Printers
5	My Documents
6	<user name>\Favorites
7	Start Menu\Programs\Startup
8	<user name>\Recent
9	<user name>\SendTo
a	<desktop>\Recycle Bin
b	<user name>\Start Menu
c	logical "My Documents" desktop icon
d	"My Music" folder
e	"My Videos" folder
10	<user name>\Desktop
11	My Computer
12	Network Neighborhood (My Network Places)
13	<user name>\nethood
14	Windows\Fonts
16	All Users\Start Menu
17	All Users\Start Menu\Programs
18	All Users\Startup
19	All Users\Desktop
1a	<user name>\Application Data
1b	<user name>\PrintHood
1c	<user name>\Local Settings\Applicaiton Data (nonroaming)0x001d // nonlocalized startup
1e	Nonlocalized common startup
1f	Common favorites
20	Internet Cache
21	Cookies
22	History
23	All Users\Application Data
24	GetWindowsDirectory()
25	GetSystemDirectory()
26	C:\Program Files
27	C:\Program Files\My Pictures
28	USERPROFILE
29	x86 system directory on RISC
2a	x86 C:\Program Files on RISC
2b	C:\Program Files\Common
2c	x86 Program Files\Common on RISC
2d	All Users\Templates
2e	All Users\Documents
2f	All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools
30	<user name>\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools
31	Network and Dial-up Connections
35	All Users\My Music
36	All Users\My Pictures
37	All Users\My Video
38	Resource Directory
39	Localized Resource Directory
3a	Links to All Users OEM specific apps
3b	USERPROFILE\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\CD Burning

This made no difference for me. I am using WinXP Pro. The folders on the bar are the same as before. Do I need to reboot?

Worked like a charm on my XP Pro and no, I didn't need to reboot or even close my sessions of IE to see the results. Make sure you're in the correct key and don't do the "\\" when you're entering the path you want. It does it automatically when you export it and edit it. When you're putting it into RedEdit, just enter the path normally.

This tip worked flawlessly for me with Windows 2000. I suspect some users are having problems because they are copy'n'pasting the sample registry file as a template. There's a typo in the path of the sample, between the words "CurrentVersion" and "Policies." A slash (\) was mistakenly entered as a space ( ), thus setting the values in the wrong place.

Is it possible to reduce the icon size? I found out that this is possible in Office but haven't found out how to do it in for the Windows common dialog.

The there is a type mistake in the example registry file above - there should be a slash between CurrentVersion and Policies so the key reads: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion Policies\comdlg32\Placesbar] Worked first time for me on WX Pro Dansih version.

Sorry, I copied the mistake it should read: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\comdlg32\Placesbar]

In Office, it's much easier. Just open a Save As dialog box, explore to the directory you want to put in there and click on the folder. Then go to the top of the dialog box and there should be a "Tools" selection. Under that, do "Add to My Places" and there it will be.

if youre dumb, you shouldnt be doing this in the first place, hence you should be able to make it work. RegEdit was not made for dumb people, if it was, it would probably be placed on your desktop when you first install windows. if you ever do anything wrong in the registry, chances are great that you either have to reinstall windows, or (if your lucky) boot into safe mode and hope to god you made a backup before you started messing with it. in conclusion, if you cannot do this properly, do not do it at all, the chances are FAR too great you are gonna mess something up.

Just to let anyone know. there are editors for both Office (2000-2003) and Windows at http://www.thezjooj.com under their downloads section. The tools there are even easier than using the Microsoft Dialog way. Plus the Places Bar Editors there have save-able lists so the places can be backed up and can I can have unlimited amounts of lists to load too. Easy to use, easy to install. Made for dummies like me :) Oh yeah, the names are called Opie 2.0 Places Editor for Office and Winplae for Windows. I think the windows version is only for 2000 and xp. best to all. David

It works fine, but not for FTP's. Any idea how to make it work with a Webfolder or FTP? I'm working on a cheap server for a small company... so instead of buying a Windows 2003 Server license for ~600$ then I'm going to buy WinXP Pro for ~170$ and FTP software for 35$ - It lets me control acces rigths and virtual folders just as well as Active Directory and a Distrubuted File System. Just need to make the FTP the default place/or easy avaiable for the uses wich need to save files on it. If you have any idea how to map the FTP with a drive letter then I would really like to know. I found a way by installing the NetBEUI protocol and add " #PRE" in the system32/drivers/etc/lmhosts.sam, but since the protocol is'nt officially supported by WindowsXP I believe in there are some security issues. Any help?

Can I customize the text under the icon or the icons themselves in the Places bar? The text defaults to the folder name but I have two icons pointing to same-named folders on different drives. How can I distinguish between them? Thanks.

Most easy way: 1) Use Tweak UI, download it from http://www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation/downloads/PowerToys/Networking/NTTweakUI.asp 2) or use the third software such as Lightning Bar on http://lbar.leafpicker.com

Quoting "Anonymous User Feb 06 2005" maybe "dumb" people such as yourself shouldn't be posting anything. For those who aren't aware of how dangerous editing the registry can be. There is a windows based service built into windows to help you customize those Save As Links "Common Open File Dialog" Check out this site "http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/07/28/how-to-set-custom-shortcuts-in-the-windows-xp-save-as-dialog-box/" encase this URL gets stripped just google "Windows XP how to set custom save as" later