The Art and Zen of Windows Explorer

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BobH
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The Art and Zen of Windows Explorer

Post by BobH »

Is there a way to force Win 7 HPE to show the entire path name for highlighted (or otherwise selected) files? One of the niggling things about Win 7 is that I cannot simply look up and see a clear path name but must instead view the surrogate names that are chosen by some vague and (to me) mysterious algorithm.

Sometimes it seems that I can get the OS to divulge that data by clicking a button to the right of the path name, but that doesn't always work (and I've been too non-observant to determine when that condition obtains).

Anyone?

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DaveA
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Re: The Art and Zen of Windows Explorer

Post by DaveA »

I do NOT recall ever seeing the selected file name included in the path pane.
Last edited by DaveA on 10 Aug 2014, 01:58, edited 1 time in total.
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HansV
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Re: The Art and Zen of Windows Explorer

Post by HansV »

You should always be able to see the full path in the address bar by clicking to the right of the folder name, except when you're in one of the so-called Libraries such as Downloads or Music - they are merely aliases, not "real" folders.

If you use the Windows Classic theme instead of the default Aero theme, you can display the full path in the title bar of Windows Explorer: go to Tools > Folder and Search options, activate the View tab, and tick the check box "Display the full path in the title bar (Classic theme only)", then click OK.

There are third-party utilities that expand on this:
AeroBar
ShellFolderFix
Classic Explorer feature of Classic Shell
The latter two have lots of other features too.
Best wishes,
Hans

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Rudi
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Re: The Art and Zen of Windows Explorer

Post by Rudi »

BobH wrote:Is there a way to force Win 7 HPE to show the entire path name for highlighted (or otherwise selected) files?
Here is a graphic of what Hans has mentioned. Click in the address bar, to the right of the breadcrumb buttons and it switches to the conventional path...
1.jpg
2.jpg
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BobH
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Re: The Art and Zen of Windows Explorer

Post by BobH »

Thank you, Gentlemen!

I think I found and fixed the problem.

I used CP to get me to Folder Options where I found that the 'display complete path name' was not checked. After checking it, I still was not able to see the full path name; but I discovered that there is a folder icon at the beginning of the path display area (no breadcrumbs, Rudi) which when clicked changed the display to a complete path name beginning with the drive letter.

Thank you again! That is most helpful!

:cheers: :chocciebar: :thankyou:
Bob's yer Uncle
(1/2)(1+√5)
Intel Core i5, 3570K, 3.40 GHz, 16 GB RAM, ECS Z77 H2-A3 Mobo, Windows 10 >HPE 64-bit, MS Office 2016