Inconvenient "read-only" finder mode It's always bothered me that certain directories on OS X will open like this:



And others will open like this:



To my understanding this has to do with the permissions of the directory in question, but I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to have all directories open complete with the favorites bar and horizontal toolbar items, independent of write-ability.

I ask this because I used to (up until my most recent format) be able to double click on "Macintosh HD" and then navigate anywhere, either from root or from the sidebar shortcuts. For whatever reason Macintosh HD has been opening in restricted view as of my latest install.
The properties for any Finder window are stored in the .DS_Store file located at the root of the directory. It should have nothing to do with the permissions of the file, unless the active user account is not a member of the wheel group (very unlikely).

You should be able to change the view configuration of the Macintosh HD window and have those settings stick. If not, there is the chance that the .DS_Store file has become corrupt somehow; deleting the file and letting it rebuild should solve the problem. In Terminal:

sudo rm /.DS_Store

Re-open the window and set the view to your liking.