Show full folder paths in both panes in Windows Explorer

In Windows 7, we found one default setting in Windows Explorer to be especially disconcerting (and frankly, illogical): When you click on a given folder in the right viewing pane in Windows Explorer (or, as you might think of it, My Computer), the folders in the left-hand pane do not automatically “follow along” and drill down to show you the file path. So, for example, if you’re trying to get to Folder C (through Folder A and then Folder B), all you see in the left pane is a closed Folder A, with Folder C open on the right. Folder B is nowhere to be found, except in the “breadcrumb trail” file-path sequence in the navigation bar at the top of the screen. For example, see the mismatch here; we're deep in subfolders of the "Mac" folder, but they're not showing up in the left column:
 

 
This can be a royal pain for those who work on company networks with heavily nested folder structures or even on complex home networks. Luckily, there’s an easy fix. In Windows Explorer, just go to the drop-down arrow next to the Organize tab at the top and choose Folder and search options. In the General tab, check Show all folders and Automatically expand to current folder:
 

 
Now Windows Explorer should behave more like it did in Vista and XP.

Bring up a command prompt, pointing to any folder

Slowly, as each new version of Windows debuted, it seemed the venerable Command Prompt kept getting shuffled closer and closer to the exits, resigned to submenus or deep into obscure context menus and kept breathing only with the help of add-on software like Microsoft’s Power Toys. If you’ve still got a space in your heart for the stark prompt, though, you’ll be pleased to know that it’s at least holding its own in Windows 7.

Without installing any special software, you can launch a Command Prompt from any folder, and the prompt will emerge automatically pointing at that folder. (This was possible in Vista, too.) All you need to do: Find the folder in Windows Explorer or on the Windows Desktop, hold down the Shift key, and right-click the folder. In the context menu that unfolds, select the option Open command window here. (This option only appears when the Shift key is included in the action sequence.) You’ll get that comforting old monochrome window ready for your “DIR” command:
 

 
This isn’t the only way to launch a prompt, of course. You can still find the familiar Command Prompt launcher option in the Start menu, under All Programs > Accessories, which you can pin to the taskbar if you’re a real command-line aficion. (To pin it, right-click Command Prompt in the Start menu, left-click on Pin to taskbar.) And if you really use the prompt enough to make a desktop shortcut worthwhile, too, navigate in Windows Explorer to C:\Windows\System32, find the file cmd.exe, right-click on it, choose Send To from the pop-up menu, and select the Desktop (create shortcut) option to make a discrete icon happen.