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In XP, to ensure a folder opened in a new window, I held down CTRL when I opened (by mouse or keyboard) the folder.

This action is so ingrained to me, I pretty much don't even realise I'm doing it at a conscious level.

Unfortunately, this action apparently hasn't made it to Vista. Is there a new way to do this, or am I just missing something obvious?

EDIT Looks like not possible in Vista, but returned in Win7. Answer selected as it mentioned a keyboard alternative in Ctrl+N.

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I always thought holding Shift would do that. –  Јοеу Mar 28 '10 at 23:46
Only if you have multiple folders selected, and all but the first folder will –  lagerdalek Mar 29 '10 at 0:02
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2 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

You can enable it to always open in a new window, but don't know if you want that.

open in a new window

Or you can use CTRL + N to open a new Window or right click the folder you want to open in a new window and select "Open".

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Not exactly the required functionality, but thanks nonetheless –  lagerdalek Mar 28 '10 at 23:07
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I realize it's probably not the most useful answer, but in case you're considering upgrading, the "hold down CTRL while opening a folder to open it in a new window"-feature is back in Windows 7.

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brilliant, glad to hear it. I have an upgrade at home, but haven't had the time to install it –  lagerdalek Mar 28 '10 at 23:27
+1 since I didn't know this about Windows 7. I was almost trained to use CTRL+N since moving to Vista, now I can go back to CTRL+Click heaven. Thanks! :-) –  Chris W. Rea Mar 29 '10 at 0:22
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