Windows Explorer: nagivation pane amnesia

I hope someone can help me find a solution to a long-standing nuisance.

I customarily work with two open instances of Windows Explorer. One contains shortcuts for all of the applications I use regularly. It has no navigation pane. I use the other for routine file operations. It has a navigation pane.

When I restarted the system under Windows XP, Windows Explorer took care of itself. Windows XP simply remembered how its windows were set when I shut the machine down and reopened them in the same state when I restarted it.

Windows 7 doesn't do this. Furthermore, it seems to remember how the last W.E. window I opened was configured, and configures the next one the same way -- which is wrong 100% of the time. Each time I start the system I must:

1. Open a new Windows Explorer window.
2. Point it to the shortcut directory.
3. Close the navigation pane.
4. Open another Windows Explorer window.
5. OPEN the navigation pane.

Does anyone know how to make Windows Explorer behave as it did in Windows XP?