Windows Help Center

How to Add an Option to Print the Contents of a Folder

Would you like to be able to right click any folder in Explorer and print its contents? You can add this option to the context menu by following these steps:

First, you need to create a batch file called Printdir.bat. Open Notepad or another text editor and type (or cut and paste) this text:

@echo off

dir %1 /-p /o:gn > "%temp%\Listing"

start /w notepad /p "%temp%\Listing"

del "%temp%\Listing"

exit

Now, in the Save As dialog box, type "%windir%\Printdir.bat" (without the quotation marks) and click the Save button.

Click Start, Control Panel, Folder Options.

Click the File Types tab, and then click File Folder.

Click the Advanced button.

Click the New button.

In the Action box, type "Print Directory Listing" (without the quotation marks).

In the Application used to perform action box, type "Printdir.bat" (without the quotation marks).

Click OK in all three dialog boxes to close the dialog boxes.

You're not quite finished yet! Now you need to edit the Registry, so open your favorite Registry Editor.

Navigate to HKEY CLASSES ROOT\Directory\shell.

Right click on "default" and select Modify.

In the File Data box, type "none" (without the quotation marks).

Click OK and close the Registry Editor.

Now when you right click a folder, you'll see the option to Print Directory Listing. Selecting it will print the contents of the folder.

Who needs a stinking program to print a folder directory?

You can add an Internet URL address bar to your Windows XP taskbar. Doing so will let you type in URLs and launch Web pages without first launching a browser. It will also let you launch some native Windows XP applications in much the same way as you would via the Run menu (so you could type in calc to launch the calculator or mspaint to launch Microsoft Paint. Here's how you add the address bar:

1. Right-click on the taskbar, select Toolbars, and then click Address.

2. The word Address will appear on your taskbar.

3. Double click it to access it.

4. If that doesn't work, your taskbar is locked. You can unlock it by right-clicking on the taskbar again and uncheck Lock the Taskbar.

NOTE: You may also need to grab the vertical dotted lines beside the word Address and drag it to the left to make the Address window appear.

How To Access Your Folders From Your Taskbar

This is an easy way to get to the folders on your system without having to open a Windows Explorer Window every time you want to access files. I find it very useful to have this feature as it allows me to access my Folders and Drives immediately and saves me a lot of time.

This works in Windows XP:

1. Right Click an empty spot on your Taskbar (Between your Start Button and your System Tray).

2. Click Toolbars.

3. Click New Toolbar.

4. A Small Window will Open that allows you to pick the folder you wish to make a Toolbar. If you want to access your Desktop Without having to minimize all your windows. Just Pick Desktop. If you want to access ONLY your My Documents Folder, Select that. Any folder will work for this.

5. Click OK.

The New Tool bar will appear at the bottom of your screen next to your System Tray.

If you find this to be not useful, Repeat Steps 1 and 2 and then check click the Toolbar you created that has a check mark next to it. And it will disappear.