Edit regarding the bounty: I'll accept a working answer that is either command line or programmatically opening explorer, since I'm launching these windows from a program I wrote.
I need to open Windows Explorer in Windows 7 from the command line with the following configuration:
- Root path set to
c:\dev - Navigation pane visible (on the left; I believe it's called the folders pane in XP?)
In windows XP, the following command accomplished the task:
explorer.exe /e,/root,c:\dev
In Windows 7 the same command opens Explorer but the Favorites, Libraries, Homegroup, Computer, and Network links are visible in the navigation pane. How can I make them go away for just this window I'm opening? It's not an acceptable solution to require changing a Windows setting that affects other Explorer windows.
Edit: Here's a picture of the problem. Normally I want the links I outlined in the red box, but for a specific rooted folder they just get in the way.
Best Answer
I don't really think you can. All the extra stuff in the left-pane is a standard part of the Win7 explorer. Any portions of it that you can turn off are turned off globally for all explorer instances in that user's profile. I don't think there has ever been a supported way to turn off explorer features on a per-instance basis.
You might be able to get down and dirty with window handles and Win32 APIs to tweak or hide the widgets that you don't want seen once you've opened your instance. But I can't really give you any pointers where to begin with that.