and don't feel shy about testing out tools and giving me your thoughts.
-mouser
FWIW, I briefly looked at Folder View. It crashed/hung my system so badly I had to promptly remove it again. This might be an issue with this particular machine. It's a Win2000 at work, and partially crippled by the IT Dept. on grounds of "security." No direct access to CMD.EXE, for example, and some programs can't even "see" the C: drive because IT Dept. expect you to save everything directly on the server.
I've partially got round the need for a folder box extender by using <ahem> Total Commander. TC has built-in "macros." I have one attached to a button. With the cursor on a file, or a directory, I click the button, and it sends the full UNC path+name to the clipboard. If whatever program I'm using has a standard dialog box, I can paste it in and go straight to the file.
Neither Agent Ransack nor Bulk Rename Utility (BRU) seem to have standard dialog boxes, just dropdown lists of visible drives to pick from. That means that, combined with the "invisible C: drive" problem noted above, I can't use either of them.
(Later) I should have added a link etc. for Folder View, which I originally heard of on Nudone's blog. Quoting him:
Folder View http://www.folderview.com/folderview/ is freeware, and enhances Explorer in several useful ways to help find often-used folders easier. It's very configurable, and I've found it quite useful once I got used to it.