Since everything I see is explorer.exe, I labelled different parts of it in the screenshots at the bottom, to make it easy to understand.
TL;DR
- Can I make my own application open directories by default when I click a directory in "1" or "2"?
- With the change for the question above, can I still make double-clicking a directory in a manually-opened "3" open in the same "3", not with my application?
Longer version
There are some incontinences for me in "3". So I am trying to write a (simple) my own file listing application in C#. Now, what I want is that when I double click a directory on the desktop or clicking things like "Downloads" or "Personal Folder" (in "1" or "2"), my own application gets invoked (with the directory path as an argument), not "3".
I have searched the web and found a way to "replace the shell" HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Shell, but that completely replaced everything and the Start Menu/Taskbar were gone. Not that I do not have complaints about the Start Menu/Taskbar, but recreating Start Menu/Taskbar would be daunting, so I only want to replace "3" (or, if possible, "1" also.)
I thought that I could change the "Open" command that I see when I right-click a directory, but replacing the value of HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\open\command\(Default) from explorer.exe to another exe did not work. How can I do this?
But after making my application to open directories by default, if I manually open directories in "3" (because I cannot reproduce every feature of "3" and sometimes need to use it), when I double-click a directory in "3", is it possible to make it open in the same "3", not with my application?
Explorer.exeis the Windows Shell, with File Explorer being apart of the Windows Shell. There are File Explorer replacements (Xyplorer, TotalCommander, QDir, etc.), however all lack modern UI improvements and you will not find a consumer File Explorer replacement that fits aesthetically into Windows >8. There are also Windows Shell replacements with the same pitfalls as File Explorer replacementsExplorer.exe, however the modifiedExplorer.exewould need to reside outside of%WinDir%, else it will not match hashes and be seen as corrupt (never replace system files with custom modified ones), and if you go this route, you'll want to check out the MSFN Forum. You'll want to keep detailed notes about what you customize, as you'll regularly need to check if%WinDir%\explorer.exehas been updated and re-edit as necessary. Keep a read-only text file with the modifiedExplorer.exeSHA256 hash and verify it daily.Explorer.exesounds very complicated and will probably cause a lot of problems in the future. I don't know... writing the whole thing (Start menu, Taskbar) myself seems too much of a work. If there is no easy way to replace "3" only, I would have to resort to launch the application manually instead of double clicking a directory in "1" or "2".Explorer.exe" I was referring to File Explorer specifically, as while both have the same name, File Explorer is it's own entity (it's both apart of, and separate from, the Windows Shell (I forgot to add the last bit in my prior comment). Check out the MSFN forum, as I know of at least one user on there who's modfied File Explorer, adding in a feature that was in Windows 7, but removed from Windows 8 and 10. MSFN is all about in-depth customizing of Windows.