Stop Windows Explorer From Automatically Expanding Folders Trees In XP

I recently installed a wireless network in my home and have three Windows XP PC's on my network. Now that I can share files and folders between computers, I'm starting to use Windows Explorer more often. But it's starting to annoy me because when ever I click on a folder in the left pane of Windows Explorer, it expands the folder and also shows it's contents in the right window pane. I just want to be able to navigate down the tree with out any folders expanding.

Is there a setting to disable explorer from always expanding a folder when I click on it (especially since the folder contents are shown anyway in the right pane)?

I can understand your annoyance with this feature in Windows Explorer. It doesn't seem to make much sense if you click on a folder, that has sub-folders under it in the left navigation pane, only to have it expand AND show the folder contents in the right pane.

What's more annoying, if you are trying to find something quickly and you start clicking on several folders in the left pane, you have to wait while each folder expands and closes.

Fortunately there is an easy fix to disable the folder list from expanding.

Disable Automatic Folder Expansion Using Control Panel

To disable auto expanding from the Control Panel in XP - click on Start \ Run \ Control Panel then double click on Folder Options.

Select the View tab and under the Advanced Settings: section, uncheck Display Simple folder view in Explorers folder list and click OK.

Disable Automatic Folder Expansion Using Registry

If you prefer to use the registry to make the same change, Click on Start \ Run and enter regedit in the run box.

NOTE: Follow the below steps exactly as specified and do not make any changes other than specified while in the Registry. Always create a System Restore point or backup of your Computer before making changes in the registry.

- Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\FriendlyTree

- In the right pane, double click on FriendlyTree and change the Value data: number from 1 to 0 and click OK.

- Exit the registry

After making the change, automatic expansion of sub folders will be disabled. Expanding a folder can now be done by double clicking the folder or clicking on the plus icon.