Create a Special Folder In Windows Explorer

How can you create a folder like My Documents—one that will appear as a system folder in XP?

Here’s how to create a custom folder in My Computer, one that can’t be deleted or renamed.

*Step 1:
In the Registry Editor, navigate to
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID. Create a new
key with a Globally Unique Identifier
(GUID). The GUID is a 128-bit identifier that
is usually generated by Windows. This can
be a random number that is used to
uniquely identify COM objects. Create a key
using this random GUID:
{FD4DF9E0-E3DE-11CE-BFCFABCD1DE12345}

*Step 2:
Set the value of the “(Default)” setting for
this key to the name of the folder, say “My
Personal Data”. Create a new sub-key under
the main key and call it “DefaultIcon”. That
is, create a key called:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FD4DF9E0-E3DE-11CE-BFCF ABCD1DE12345}\DefaultIcon
Set the value of “(DefaultIcon)”to the
filename and path of the icon file you want
to use for the folder, for example,
“C:\Topsec.ico”, without the quotes.
If you don’t specify a path to an icon
file, Windows will use its default folder icon
instead.

*Step 3:
Create another sub-key under the main key
called “InprocServer32”, that is, create the
key called
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FD4DF9E0-
E3DE-11CE-BFCFABCD1DE12345}\
InprocServer32
Set the “(default)” setting here to
“shell32.dll”. Create another string value
called ThreadingModel and set its value to
“Apartment”. There’s one more: create
another sub-key called
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FD4DF9E0-
E3DE-11CE-BFCFABCD1DE12345}\
Shell\Open MyFolder\Command
Set the “(Default)” value here to the
command that should be executed when
the folder is clicked. In this case, it would
be “explorer /root,c:\My Personal Data”.

*Step 4:
There’s more keys to be created:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FD4DF9E0-
E3DE-11CE-BFCF-ABCD1DE12345}\ShellEx\
PropertySheetHandlers\{FD4DF9EO-E3DE-
11CE-BFCF-ABCD1DE12345} and
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FD4DF9E0-
E3DE-11CE-BFCFABCD1DE12345}\
ShellFolder. Under this
key, create a new binary value called
“Attributes” with the value “00 00 00 00”.

*Step 5:
To place the folder in My Computer, add the
original key to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
MyComputer\Namespace\

So the key value will be

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
MyComputer\Namespace\{FD4DF9E0-
E3DE-11CE-BFCF-ABCD1DE12345}

Now go to My Computer, and you’ll see a new custom folder!