Shortcuts in folder list in Explorer (XP SP2)

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How do you create a shortcut to a folder and have it appear in the folder list on the Explorer bar, rather than as a file? I have about 30 gb of pictures and have put the ‘My Pictures’ folder on my D drive and I would like to have a shortcut to it appear as a folder in ‘My Documents’ on the C drive, just as the folder itself would appear if it were actually in ‘My Documents’.

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1. Right-click Start button (in the lower left corner of your screen) and from pop-up menu choose Explore.
2. Windows Explorer window will be open and Start Menu folder will be selected. Navigate to ‘s Documents (several folders up on the left pane) and select (click) it.
3. Right-click anywhere on empty space on the right pane and from pop-up menu (or, even easier, from File menu on the menu bar) choose New | Shortcut.
4. On the first dialog of the “Create a new shortcut” wizard type a command like this:

explorer.exe /root,D:Pictures

(blank space after exe and no space between root, and D:), presuming Pictures is the folder you want the shortcut to be created to (put the real name of your folder there).
5. On the next dialog of the wizard choose appropriate name for it (say, Photos).
6. If you want to change your new shortcut icon, right-click it and from pop-up menu choose Properties, then Change Icon button in the Properties window (make sure Shortcut tab is selected).
TIP: if you want more icons to choose, on Change Icon window click Browse button and navigate to WindowsSystem32shell32.dll (this is icon library). Click Open button.

I hope it will help you.

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That doesn’t work. See screenshot. The shortcut is still in the file list, not the folder list.

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Have you done a view | refresh?

Joe

--Joe

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It’s early in the AM and I’m not sure my reading comprehension is turned on yet. Is the topic of this thread anything near what you want?

Edited later: Sorry for the possible dupe Stuart, I think your suggestion is a more concise wording of what’s in the post I referenced. As I said, I’ve only had one cup of coffee so far and I’m not fully awake yet.

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I wouldn’t expect you to be able to. By definition, a shortcut is a file, not a folder, therefore it will be listed amongst the files.

For ease of navigation, I name files/shortcuts I want to get to on a regular basis with a ‘0’ (zero) prefix. This forces them to the top of the file list.
Thus, I might have
0-Documents
0-Music
0-Pictures

I also have a great aversion to naming anything ‘My whatever‘ – and object strongly to be forced to accept this as a default by MS.

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There is a way to do this, but I don’t think it is documented anywhere, or supported.

Right click the folder you want and drag it to the Start menu, when this opens drag the shortcut onto the all programs menu and let go of the mouse button. Choose “Create shortcut here” from the menu.

This will create a special shortcut that behaves the way you want, you can then move this shortcut to anywhere else you want to use it.

StuartR

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A neat trick – thanks!

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Thanks, Stuart. Back from long July 4 weekend and that worked like a champ.

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