This is not a direct solution to your problem but it may help. What you could do is create a shortcut to the folder you wish to Explorer to start in. Use this shortcut instead of the Explorer shortcut and you will start from the right place. You can also have more than one, for instance I have on for each drive including floppy and CD's, as well as any network connections I need. You can even place a shortcut in your Start Up folder, so that explorer will open at the correct folder when the machine boots (if you want).
As to the answer to your question, the answer may lie deep within the registry. If you create a shortcut to C
WINDOWS\REGEDIT.EXE you can open the registry editor, but beware the registry is a can of worms to the uninitiated (such as myself). If the shortcut option metioned above works for you I would stick to that.