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WinXPTutor's XP Resources

Windows XP Tips, Illustrations and registry edits

ToolTips do not display complete information about files that are located on a network share

When you move your mouse pointer over a file that is located on a network share, the information that is displayed in the ToolTip may not be complete. For example, when the file is located on the local computer, the ToolTip may display the following categories:

  • File type

  • Author

  • Title

  • Subject

  • Date modified

  • Size

InfoTip in (Fig 1), locally stored document contains more details than the one in (Fig 2), network share.

When the same file is viewed from a remote computer, the ToolTip displays only the file type, the file size, and the date modified categories. Microsoft article KB830411 says that this problem is fixed in Windows XP Service Pack 2, but that does not help in my case. Here is the workaround I followed, and working flawlessly.

RESOLUTION

  • Start Regedit.exe and navigate to the following location:

    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*
     
  • Backup the key by exporting it as a REG file. See here for more information.
     
  • In the right-pane, double-click QuickTip and set it's value to the following:

    prop:Type;DocAuthor;DocTitle;DocSubject;DocComments;Write;Size

  • Close Regedit and restart Windows.

Note that the default value for QuickTip is prop:Type;Size;Write (Fetches only the Document type, size and last modified date & time)