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Windows 7 LGPE Part V, Longer Document List & Adding more options to Open Dialog Boxes

January 1, 2010

With the Windows 7 Local Group Policy Editor (LGPE), we have seen just how much you can alter your operating system (OS) in some interesting ways. In Part V there are even more changes to look into. The policies which are covered in this section apply to changes in areas of your system which can actually be useful to many people – at least they expand your options somewhat and make the OS more flexible.

The first one we will study is one which expands the memory of your OS. Well, not exactly that, but it will save a longer list of documents in your Recent Document list. It opens up the list to an almost unlimited length. This way you can keep several shortcuts to the documents you use available right off of your Start menu. If you write a great deal and you also have to go back and forth between many objects and/or documents, this should be seriously investigated. To do change this policy, just follow the procedure below.

• Open the LGPE and go to User Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Windows Explorer and double-click on Maximum Number Of Recent Documents
• Enable this
• There will be a spin-box which lets you adjust the Maximum Number Of Recent Documents to exactly the number you want to be available
• Click OK and you will put the policy into effect

Now that is a most useful change to make to any version of Windows. This is especially true if you work in some large company; the paperwork in such an institution is an enormous burden and to have quicker access to what you need is always good. Even people who just run several applications during the day will have a desire for this policy change.

How about adding even more options to the Save As and Open dialog boxes in Windows 7? Would it not be nice to have more places to open and/or save documents on your computer – a more direct route to where you normally store your documents? This policy edit will allow you to specify exactly what you want displayed in same area as the normal Recent Places, Desktop, Libraries, My Computer, and Network. If there are several standard places you save your documents – as in special named folders, secure network drives, etc. – you can have them be available in the area which Microsoft calls the Places Bar. This is simply creates your own custom save spots into the same space as the standard ‘places’ on the left side of the Save As and Open dialog boxes. This is done with the following process.

• Open the LGPE, as you know all too well by now, and go to User Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Windows Explorer | Common Open File Dialog and double-click on Items Displayed In Places Bar
• Enable this
• There will be Item 1 through Item 5 text boxes here; type the path to your personal drive save spots into these text boxes, starting with Item 1. Only use what you need and leave the others blank. You can use either local folders or persistent network connections.
• Click OK and the policy goes into effect

How can that not be helpful? Most everyone has various locations they use to store certain files in order to find everything easier. In fact, it is said that we store a mental map of our computer file and folder configuration in your mind. So, make your life easier and put these new Places into position and make good use of them.

The changes seen here are all made with the help of a great snap-in provided by Microsoft for Windows 7, the Local Group Policy Editor. And, it is hoped that you will find something here which you can use on your Windows 7 computer. So Part VI will be mostly useful for computers with Windows 7 Home or Windows 7 Home Premium installed – not the higher versions. Each of these changes can also be made by making edits directly to the Registry, which is very useful since there is no Local Group Policy Editor in the above-mentioned versions, and that will be addressed there.

Filed under: Guides, Tips, Windows 7 Tweaks

Tags: desktop, edit, lgpe, libraries, local group policy editor, modify, my computer, operating system, os, recent documents, save as, tweak, widows 7 explorer, windows 7, windows 7 home premium, windows components