Fix Folder View Memory Loss

Windows XP forgets my folder view settings. Is there a fix?

How to fix this annoying problem:

By default, Windows XP will remember the view settings for the 400 most recently used folders. After that, XP will begin overwriting the data of the oldest folder, and its view setting will be lost. The information is stored in the registry by two keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell

and

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam

These keys can be modified to make XP remember more folder settings.

1. Open Windows Explorer and go to Tools--Folder Options--View--Advanced Settings. Ensure that "Remember each folder's view settings" is checked.
2. Open Regedit and go to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell. Right-click on "Shell", then follow to New--Key--DWORD Value. Name this item "BagMRU Size" (without quotation marks, but with a space between BagMRU and Size). Double-click BagMRU Size, give it a Decimal value of 2000, then click OK.
3. Now go to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam. Create another BagMRU Size DWORD Value for "ShellNoRoam". Again, give it a Decimal value of 2000, then click OK.
4. You will have two "BagMRU Size" values equal to 0x000007d0 (2000).
5. Close the registry and reboot.

Windows XP will now remember 2000 folder view settings instead of 400

You could also try higher values if you are a power user, I use 8000 instead of 2000.

Always remember to back up your registry.  You should only consider editing the registry if you are comfortable with it.