Downloading and installing
WinAero Librarian is available for Windows 7 and 8. Once you download the archive from WinAero’s web site and unzip it, you’ll see that it contains Windows 7 and Windows 8 versions. This allows you to open only the version you need and run its program to get started.
There is also a folder for Cool Libraries Icons within the archive; this can be used as a way to change the default library icons from WinAero Librarian. Wherever you decide to house the WinAero Librarian folder, store this icons folder in it, to be used later.
Creating a new library
WinAero Librarian utilizes a simple user interface.
In order to create a new library, click the “Star Icon.”
Name your new library anything you want, then click “OK.”
Clicking “Change Icon” will let you pick a new icon to represent the library. This is where the new folder of icons comes in handy.
If you click on “Browse,” you can navigate to where you stored the icon folder and choose a more exciting icon for the library. If you want to change the type of library you’ve created, click “Library type.”
You can choose from a drop-down menu what type of library you’re creating or just leave the library as a generic one. For the most part, it no longer matters in Windows what type of library you create because you can link multiple locations to it. From the New library window, you can click “Add” to add folders and locations to the library for easy access. There is no limit to what you link to your library.
Modifying existing libraries
If you right-click on any library from WinAero Librarian, you can click on “Change” to modify it.
For the default Windows libraries that it ships with, you cannot change the names, but you can change the icons, type and what folders link to it.
You can also delete the default libraries as you see fit by right-clicking the one you want to remove from Windows.
Other features of WinAero Librarian
WinAero Librarian also allows you to view the old-fashioned library locations where you can add or remove folders as necessary.
The only difference in using this versus Librarian’s interface is that with WinAero, Windows will show you whether or not a folder is public. This can be useful when working with a shared library. Another useful feature of WinAero comes through viewing your libraries as a XML file.
If you need to import/export library structure from one Windows PC to another, you can use this information to do just that with WinAero Librarian. Save the Notepad file as something unique, then transfer that file to another Windows PC using WinAero Librarian. Open up the XML file associated with the library you want to mimic the same settings. Copy and paste the Notepad file contents into it, then Save the XML file.
Conclusion
Windows always seems to give users the bare minimum when it comes to customizing the operating system. However, using tools like WinAero Librarian will give you more control over your Windows libraries.
