NOTE - 9/18 This is fixed in Service Pack 2 for Windows XP, which sets the value for BagMRU Size to 5000.


Windows Doesn't Remember Folder Settings

Many users are complaining that Windows doesn't seem to remember their specific folder settings. After a while, it seems that Windows switches back to the default (of large icons).

By default, Windows is designed to remember some 400 different folder settings. Windows will start to re-use these stored settings on a 'Most Recently Used' basis, once the 400 folder limit has been exceeded.

Not every user will see over 400 different folders on their system, but some users might run into this annoying limitation.

To increase the number of folder settings Windows remembers:

   1. Start the Registry Editor
   2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Shell \
   3. Right-click an empty space in the right pane and select New > DWORD Value
   4. Name the new value BagMRU Size
   5. Double-click the BagMRU Size value, and set the Base to Decimal
   6. Now in the Value data field enter the number of folders for which Windows should remember the settings (I'd suggest 1,000 or more)
   7. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ ShellNoRoam \
   8. Repeat steps 3-6
   9. Close the registry editor 

If you prefer to remove all the settings Windows has saved so far, delete the following registry keys:

    * HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Shell \ BagMRU
    * HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Shell \ Bags
    * HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ ShellNoRoam \ BagMRU
    * HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ ShellNoRoam \ Bags 

Restart Windows.