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if I do run (Winkey + R) and type "C:\", explorer shows up in "C:\".

I'd like to know how to do the same for the My Computer folder in Windows Vista / 7.

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6 Answers

up vote 28 down vote accepted

You could just press WIN+E and skip the run prompt all together.

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I'd agree with this one – hyperperforator Jan 4 '11 at 10:45
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up vote 13 down vote

The closest I can think of is typing the below into the run dialog;

...

But I believe that only brings up your home folder.

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Yes, this only brings up the user's home folder. – SgtOJ Jan 4 '11 at 10:29
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It brings up "my computer" for me! Where did you hear of that one? try adding more dots if it doesn't work. e.g. start run (dot) <ENTER> gets to %userprofile%, then .. would go up one level, and ... up 2 levels which should be c:\ but if for some reason it wasn't (why?!) then you could add more dots (adding to what I just wrote) it brings up "my computer" in XP. I can't comment on windows vista – barlop Jan 4 '11 at 10:32
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. always means the current directory, and .. its parent. Three or more dots has no special meaning; however, since Windows API normally strips off the trailing dots from a filename (foo.bar. automatically becomes foo.bar), some programs treat ... the same way as .., and others strip off all dots resulting in empty path. – grawity Jan 4 '11 at 13:38
@grawity +1 seems about right- I see "cd ..." in cmd is just nothing But start run ... Does start "my computer" in xp. Whereas start run .. does not. start run ..\..\..\..\ just goes to C:\ (which is understandable) and doesn't start "my computer". So I guess perhaps ... is just a start run thing. I'd not seen ... listed in the few start run shortcut lists i've seen. – barlop Jan 4 '11 at 14:18
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In XP it opens My Computer but in Win7 it opens my home folder. – glenneroo Jan 20 '11 at 6:43
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up vote 13 down vote

The easiest way is to type shell:mycomputerfolder or Win+E

Here is a list of other locations.

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up vote 11 down vote

Try :

explorer.exe /e,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
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It'd be useful to know how you worked that one out – barlop Jan 4 '11 at 10:29
@barlop: Google is my friend. – harrymc Jan 4 '11 at 10:53
@harrymc if you found it via google then the exact link would've been useful in your answer. But i'll have a look – barlop Jan 4 '11 at 11:32
@harrymc you may have hit on something that is generically useful.. in launching anything obscure. And all one needs is the GUID.. just have to find the GUID somehow. Only thing is it's a bit inefficient, as it is. – barlop Jan 4 '11 at 11:33
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@barlop: There are hundreds of class-names describing places, as Explorer is the main user interface for Windows. The one above comes from HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} (look at the sub-keys). For the grand-daddy of them all, use Explorer to create a folder called ControlPanel.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}, then look inside. – harrymc Jan 4 '11 at 11:45
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up vote 0 down vote

I wanted this too, but I've just gotten in the habit of opening the C: drive through the Run dialog then pressing backspace to go up a folder into My Computer.

It's not really the "right" answer but it gets me there in just one additional keystroke so I'm happy with it. Much better than memorizing any GUIDs, anyway.

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up vote 0 down vote

Try this:

%windir%\system32\runas.exe /noprofile /user:domain\username explorer

It works for all other command line options as far as I know.

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... starts Explorer with "Libraries" open, not "My Computer" under Windows 7. – Jonas Heidelberg Aug 31 '11 at 19:52
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