Quick “Print Directory” in Vista

This article addresses adding “Print Directory Listing” to the right-click contextual menu of folders in Windows Explorer in Windows Vista. Information for this tip was obtained from Microsoft Knowledgebase articles 321379 and 322756. If you are using Windows XP and want to add this same functionality, please see this article instead.

Let's get started.

1. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories

2. Right-click Notepad and select “Run as Administrator”

3. If User Access Control is engaged, click Continue.

4. Paste in the following text:

@echo off

dir %1 /-p /o:gn > "%temp%\Listing"

start /w notepad /p "%temp%\Listing"

del "%temp%\Listing"

exit

5. Click File, Save As, and enter the following text in the Save As field:

%windir%\Printdir.bat

6. Click Save, and then exit Notepad.

As a precaution, since we’ll be editing the Windows Registry, let’s back up the current configuration of the computer by setting a Restore Point. This is a simple operation.

1. Press the Windows key and type in “systempropertiesprotection”

2. If User Access Control is engaged, click Continue.

3. Click Create.

4. Enter a meaningful name for your restore point.

5. Click Create again and watch as it creates the restore point.

6. Click OK to close the System Properties dialog.

Now we're ready to make the changes in the Registry to add our new command to the folder right-click menu.

1. Start the Registry editor by clicking Start, Run and entering “regedit”

2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell

3. Right-click “shell” and select New, then Key.

4. Type in

Print Directory Listing

and press Enter.

5. Right-click Print Directory Listing and select New, then Key

6. Type in

Command

and press Enter.

7. With the high-light on Command, double-click Default on the right side.

8. In the “Value” data field, enter

Printdir.bat

9. Click OK.

10. Exit the Registry Editor

And that completes the process. Try right-clicking a folder in Windows Explorer, and you should have “Print Directory Listing” in the menu. Select that and a command-prompt box should pop up momentarily followed by Vista's print spooler dialog.

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