Open windows at shutdown restart at reboot 1

[w2kproham]

Back at w2k pro before sp1, when you had a window open and shut down the computer and rebooted it, the window would reappear. With w2k pro sp4 that does not occur automatically. Does anyone know how to reactivate/activate this "feature"?

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[bcastner]

Around the time IE6 was released, Microsoft fixed the bug where any Explorer folders you had open when logging out from (or shutting down, or restarting) Windows would be re-opened automatically at the next login.

"What bug", you say? "That wasn't a bug, it was a feature!"

Whether it was a bug or not may be a matter of perspective, but you would certainly not be alone in thinking the previous functionality was useful. If you prefer that Explorer remembers and preserves open directory windows, there is a way to restore the old behaviour.

Using your favorite registry editor, locate the following key:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Under this key, create a REG_DWORD value PersistBrowsers and set it to 1.

An even easier way is to create "explorer-persistance.reg" and run it to import the value into your registry. If you want to go back to the default folder-forgetting desktop, simply edit this .reg file and set PersistBrowsers to zero.

Copy/paste the below and save as explorer-persistance.reg :

----- Begin copy/paste below this line
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"PersistBrowsers"=dword:00000001

----- End copy/paste above this line.

 

[w2kproham]

Thank you so much for such a speedy response! Your solution works very well. I make the desktop a window so I can start programs when there are several application windows active without minimizing all windows.

This problem has "bugged" me for some time so I really appreciate the solution!

 

[bcastner]

You are very welcome.

Bill Castner