Customize Places Bar

If you have Windows ME/2000/XP/2003, you've probably noticed that in all system applications, the Open dialog box has a new UI element. Along the left side, you have a vertical toolbar with buttons pointing to frequently used folders. This toolbar is called the Places Bar. By default, the Places Bar contains links to History, My Documents, Desktop, My Computer, and My Network Places. You can change these links.

Method 1 - Registry Editor (regedit.exe or regedt32.exe)

Open Registry Editor and navigate to:  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\comdlg32\Placesbar
You won't see this subkey in the registry editor. By default the Placesbar key is not present. You can to create this subkey, the OS recognizes and supports it.
Inside the "PlacesBar" key, you must create 5 entries: Place0, Place1, Place2, Place3, Place4.  Place0 corresponds to the first entry, Place1 corresponds to the second entry, and so on. You can't create more than five entries because any more will be ignored. You can use a string (REG_SZ) to identify the target folder for a PlaceX entry. You must specify the folder's full pathname. You can also use a numeric index (REG_DWORD) to specify the target folder if it's a system folder.
It's possible to use these 'dword' values to address standard folders:
00 - Desktop 01 - Internet Explorer 02 - Start Menu\Programs 03 - My Computer\Control Panel 04 - My Computer\Printers 05 - My Documents 06 - Favorites 07 - Start Menu\Programs\Startup 08 - \Recent 09 - \SendTo 0a - \Recycle Bin 0b - \Start Menu 0c - - logical "My Documents" desktop icon 0d - My Music 0e - My Videos 10 - \Desktop 11 - My Computer 12 - My Network Places 13 - \NetHood 14 - WINDOWS\Fonts 15 - Templates 16 - All Users\Start Menu 17 - All Users\Programs 18 - All Users\Start Menu 19 - All Users\Desktop 1a - \Application Data 1b - \PrintHood 1c - \Local Settings\Application Data	1d - - Nonlocalized startup 1e - - Nonlocalized common startup 1f - Favorites 20 - Temporary Internet Files 21 - Cookies 22 - History 23 - All Users\Application Data 24 - WINDOWS directory 25 - System32 directory 26 - Program files 27 - My Pictures 28 - USERPROFILE 29 - - x86 system directory on RISC 2a - - x86 C:\Program Files on RISC 2b - C:\Program Files\Common 2c - - x86 Program Files\Common on RISC 2d - All Users\Templates 2e - All Users\Documents 2f - All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools 30 - - \Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools 31 - Network and Dial-up Connections 35 - All Users\My Music 36 - All Users\My Pictures 37 - All Users\My Video 38 - Resource Directory 39 - Localized Resource Directory 3a - Links to All Users OEM specific apps 3b - USERPROFILE\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\CD Burning

Example:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\comdlg32\Placesbar]

"Place0"=dword:00000011 ; My Computer
"Place1"=dword:00000005 ; My Documents
"Place2"="D:\Music"
"Place3"="C:\Sites"
"Place4"="C:\Temp"

If you want to go back to the default Places Bar, you simply delete the Placesbar subkey.

Method 2 - Group Policy editor

1. Type GPEDIT.MSC in the Start, Run

2. Navigate to this location:

User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Explorer -> Common Open File Dialog

3. Double-click Items displayed in Places Bar and add your places.

Method 3 - PlacesBar Constructor

Is the easiest method. Just run PlacesBar Constructor. It presents a lists of folders to put in your PlacesBar.