Vista Preview Pane

Where, oh where did my preview pane go?

QUESTION:
I have a Vista computer and I used to have a preview pane in Explorer that showed the document without opening the program (for example, if you highlight a Word document, it shows up in the pane on the right). Somehow I've lost that. I read you can enable it with the Organize choice but I can't find a way to do it, that choice isn't in the list. Can you help? Thanks. - Rob S.

ANSWER:
The Preview Pane is an incredibly handy feature in Vista. If you click Organize | Layout, you should see a list of choices that include the Menu Bar, Search Pane, Navigation Pane, Preview Pane and Details Pane. If the last two aren't on the list, that usually is because you've enabled Windows Classic Folders. Do this:

1. Click Organize and select Folders and Search Options.
2. Click the General tab.
3. Under Tasks, you will probably see that "Use Windows Classic Folders" is selected. Instead, select "Show preview and filters."
4. Click OK.

Now when you go back to Organize | Layout, the Preview and Details panes should be in the list so you can select them