Windows 7: Open Windows Explorer As My Computer (Drive View)

You might have noticed that whenever you launch the Windows Explorer in Windows 7, it opens the libraries section. Many users want it to open in Drive View (i.e, Computer) by default. Lets see what small changes are required to open the Windows Explorer in the Drive View. 😉

There are two steps involved in this process.

Update the Start Menu shortcut
Update the Taskbar shortcut

Update The Start Menu Shortcut

Click Start, type Windows Explorer, right click it’s icon and choose the Properties option.

Now in the Windows Explorer Properties window, go to the Shortcut tab and change the Target to:

%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe ,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}

, and then hit the Apply button.

Update The Taskbar Shortcut

Right-click the Windows Explorer icon on the task bar, then right-click on the Windows Explorer option and select Properties.

Now change the Target to:

%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe ,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}

Note that the target above is both same for Start Menu shortcut and Taskbar shortcut.

Click the Apply button and you are done with the configurations, now the Windows Explorer will lead you directly to Computer.

Update: If you want to revert back to old changes, simply enter the default values, i.e %windir%\explorer.exe and you are done. The better solution is to use the hotkey Win+E to open My Computers(in Drive View).