Windows XP Hacks, 2nd Edition

Chapter 3. Windows Explorer

Hacks 21-31

You use Windows Explorer every day, probably many times a day, without giving it much thought. You open it, view some files, delete others, drag a few around to different folders, and then you’re back on your way.

But Explorer can make your life easier in many ways. For example, you can use it to hide files by encrypting them, give yourself more hard-disk space by compressing files, and easily find the files you want by using the indexing service and its query language. And there are ways to hack Explorer to make it much easier to use—for example, by customizing its right-click context menu. In this chapter, I’ll show you how to do all that, and more.

Generate Folder and File Listings for Printing or Editing

Longtime PC users and former Mac users alike are often shocked when they realize there’s no easy, built-in option to print a list of files in a folder. This hack creates a context-menu right-click option to create such a list, which you can then edit, copy, paste, and—most usefully—print.

How many times have you been browsing through directories in Windows Explorer and wished you could generate a text file or printout listing the files and folders? It seems like such a simple request that it’s amazing the option isn’t available. You don’t believe me? Right-click a folder and see for yourself if there is an option to list or print the structure. There isn’t, but there is a workaround that doesn’t require any third-party software. Here’s ...