How do I disable zip folders in Windows 7?

I have not being posting any tutorial for a long long time, in fact I forgot which one was it the last one. :P Anyway you still can find it here.

Okay back to today's topic, if you are using Windows 7 (any version), you do notice that the zip files (and cab files) are being listed as a folder in Windows Explorer. Although some find it useful, I find it very annoying, because it make the folders tree looks clustered, just simply annoying. So if you want to disable it, here is what you can do.



Note: back up your registry first.

Okay here we go (You can delete directly for Windows Vista and do a reboot without the steps below):
The following two (2) keys need to be deleted fromthe registry:
For zip files delete the regkey
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E88DCCE0-B7B3-11d1-A9F0-00AA0060FA31}
For cab files delete
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0CD7A5C0-9F37-11CE-AE65-08002B2E1262}

When you try to delete them, you will almost certainly get an "access denied" or "failed" type of message. Before you can delete them, you need to change the permissions/ownership of these two keys. Here is how to do it:

01 - open regedit from the RUN console

02 - navigate to the first key that needs to be deleted (HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E88DCCE0- B7B3-11d1-A9F0-00AA0060FA31})

03 - right click on the key and select "Permissions"

04 - click on "Advanced"

05 - click on the "Ownership" tab

06 - in the "change owner to" section, highlight your username

07 - check the box for "replace owner on subcontainers and objects"

08 - click on "Apply"

09 - Click "OK"

10 - Under "Security" tab, highlight your username and check the box for "Allow Full Control" (located mid-menu in the "Permissions For Administrators" section)

11 - click "Apply" and "OK"

12 - you can now delete the registry key. MAKE SURE YOU ARE ON THE CORRECT KEY!

13 - repeat the process for the 2nd key.

14 - reboot (changes will NOT take effect until you reboot

15 - VOILA! NO MORE ZIP FOLDERS! woohoo!

16 - thanks to the original solvers of this problem, whomever they may be.



Have a nice week ahead!

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Source: social.technet.microsoft.com