How-To Geek Forums Topic: Folderimage, using selected file

How-To Geek Forums Topic: Folderimage, using selected file http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ How-To Geek Forums Topic: Folderimage, using selected file en Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:30:22 +0000 SarahJames on "Folderimage, using selected file" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/folderimage-using-selected-file#post-25609 Wed, 21 May 2008 19:29:34 +0000 SarahJames 25609@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ I've made some nice icons for folders I mostly use, so I've put them on my Skydrive. Preview: <a href="http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc103/RareSarah/?action=view&current=Clip1-1.png"><img src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc103/RareSarah/Clip1-1.png"></a> Download: <a href='http://cid-77f24068d2c96cec.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Folder%20Icons.zip'>http://cid-77f24068d2c96cec.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Folder%20Icons.zip</a> That's just the icons <a href='http://cid-77f24068d2c96cec.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Folders%20ICL.zip'>http://cid-77f24068d2c96cec.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Folders%20ICL.zip</a> is an iconlibrary containing the folders. Anyone who likes them is free to use them;-) SarahJames on "Folderimage, using selected file" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/folderimage-using-selected-file#post-24379 Wed, 14 May 2008 22:20:43 +0000 SarahJames 24379@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ Wow - you really dug into this! First of all, I don't get any thumbs.db, except for when I had ACDSee installed, so I guess there are some apps that still use them, but Vista doesn't use them on it's own. Secondly, I found a desktop.ini like that in the folder 'pictures' and it runs like this: [.ShellClassInfo] LocalizedResourceName=Pictures InfoTip=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-12688 IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-113 IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll IconIndex=-236 [LocalizedFileNames] Sample Pictures.lnk=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21805 But the funny thing is I never use the picturesfolder. Everything is in my Documentsfolder and in there there is no desktop.ini, but I do have it set to viewing images and videos (not to all files), so I have large icons and they give a preview of one or more files inside the subfolders. Edit: I tested it to be sure, so I gave a folder a specific image to use as content for the icon, but there doesn't appear a desktop.ini. Not in the folder that contains the folder or in the subfolder itself. However, I think for burning purposes I can use the desktop.ini system by placing a hidden desktop.ini and an icon of my choice in the folder - that should work. Maybe not the same as a folder with a specific content, but I can always create an icon of a folder with that content myself (IcoFX is great - <a href='http://icofx.ro/'>http://icofx.ro/</a> ). I have about 10 folders in all in mind, so that's still within working range ;-) I won't do it that way on my downloaded apps folders - that would keep me busy for the next two years LOL However now you got me curious about the content of that ini file. When changing the icon on a file it also uses paths like %SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll instead of C:\Windows\System32\Shell32.dll When browsing for an icon I can use set paths like that and it works fine. Most systemicons are found in shell32.dll and imageres.dll Other than that I can't provide input. Goodnight! Sarah ScottW on "Folderimage, using selected file" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/folderimage-using-selected-file#post-24369 Wed, 14 May 2008 20:59:51 +0000 ScottW 24369@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ Continuing. The second problem you will probably run into when burning the files to disc is that Windows won't show the customized folder icons by default. On the hard drive, this is handled by another hidden desktop.ini file in the directory that contains the customized folders. This desktop.ini file has a lot of entries that I don't understand. Here's a sample from my system: <code> [.ShellClassInfo] LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21779 InfoTip=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-12688 IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-113 IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll IconIndex=-236 [LocalizedFileNames] Sample Pictures.lnk=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21805 </code> The problem now is that while you can copy this file as is to the disc, it's not certain that the files specified will all be present on the viewing system. If it's running Vista or XP it would probably work. However, it may or may not work in other Windows, I'm not sure. I would need to find a guide to the desktop.ini file to understand what all these entries mean. It might then be possible to optimize the number of systems that would show the customized folders. ScottW on "Folderimage, using selected file" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/folderimage-using-selected-file#post-24366 Wed, 14 May 2008 20:46:31 +0000 ScottW 24366@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ To get your customized folder icons to show up on a burned disc, the key is the desktop.ini file. This is a hidden file that should be found in any folder with a customized picture. In it, there is a line for "Logo" that points to the image. Normally, this path name is fully qualified, including the drive letter and path. That's not good when moving the disc to different systems as the image won't always be in the same path. However, I just did an experiment and modified the desktop.ini file to use a *relative* path name and it worked. Here is what the desktop.ini inside of the folder looks like: <code> [ViewState] Mode= Vid= FolderType=Pictures Logo=StartButtonVistaOrb.png </code> Copy the hidden desktop.ini file to the disc and the custom image specified for the folder will be known to Windows. But that's only the first step. ScottW on "Folderimage, using selected file" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/folderimage-using-selected-file#post-24365 Wed, 14 May 2008 20:39:05 +0000 ScottW 24365@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ Sarah: to answer your question, thumbnails are not stored in the folder they represent. Vista keeps them in a thumbnail cache in your %APPDATA% path. That's what you are deleting when you clear the thumbnails with Disk Cleanup. Despite this new style in Vista, I still sometimes see the old style "thumbs.db" file in a picture folder. SarahJames on "Folderimage, using selected file" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/folderimage-using-selected-file#post-24350 Wed, 14 May 2008 18:02:50 +0000 SarahJames 24350@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ CD for personal use, but I use it not only on my own computer, but elsewhere too. Lighthouse on "Folderimage, using selected file" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/folderimage-using-selected-file#post-24349 Wed, 14 May 2008 17:42:10 +0000 Lighthouse 24349@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ Is this CD just for backup purposes, or to use on the go? SarahJames on "Folderimage, using selected file" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/folderimage-using-selected-file#post-24348 Wed, 14 May 2008 17:26:07 +0000 SarahJames 24348@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ Hi Coates, I use that on my USB stick, is lovely:) But it is not what I meant in this case. I want to keep the foldericon the way it shows up in Vista after I have chosen a file to represent the contents of that folder. I don't think it can be done, but maybe someone has a bright solution;-) Sarah. coates719 on "Folderimage, using selected file" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/folderimage-using-selected-file#post-24346 Wed, 14 May 2008 17:14:44 +0000 coates719 24346@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ If you include an autorun file and icon on your CD it will show up on any computer you put the CD into. Look here for details: <a href='http://lifehacker.com/software/usb-drive/assign-a-custom-icon-to-your-flash-drive-188852.php'>http://lifehacker.com/software/usb-drive/assign-a-custom-icon-to-your-flash-drive-188852.php</a> <a href='http://lifehacker.com/375320/label-a-flash-drive-with-your-name-and-number'>http://lifehacker.com/375320/label-a-flash-drive-with-your-name-and-number</a> I'm not sure if you'll be able to use the Vista folder preview though. SarahJames on "Folderimage, using selected file" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/folderimage-using-selected-file#post-24339 Wed, 14 May 2008 16:57:13 +0000 SarahJames 24339@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ More questions about the visual part of Vista;-) When you use big icons, you get a preview of what is inside. If there is several files inside you mostly get this: <a href="http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc103/RareSarah/?action=view&current=DefaultMultiplefilePreview.png"><img src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc103/RareSarah/DefaultMultiplefilePreview.png"></a> But wonderful Vista, you can change what file is used to provide the preview, for example like this: <a href="http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc103/RareSarah/?action=view&current=EditedMultpilefilePreview.png"><img src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc103/RareSarah/EditedMultpilefilePreview.png"></a> I love that! But – I want to keep this kind of preview when I burn files to a data cd. I figured I need to select an image that is in (one of) the folder(s) that I intend to burn to the CD. But then I found out, that when I delete thumbnails with Diskcleanup on Drive C (to update the preview and see my changes;-D) the thumbnails on my external drive D also get cleaned up and there is no option to clean up the thumbnails when I choose Drive D to clear. I take it that means thumbnails are not stored in the folder they’re used for. That would mean the preview would not end up on my CD when I simple select all the folders I want to burn. Is there a way to solve this? Sarah.