Windows Forum / Windows Vista / File Management / May 2008
Duplicate Documents Folder inside of Home Folder
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Valek Hawke - 18 Mar 2007 22:25 GMT I changed the location of the default Documents folder to a separate HDD. I accepted the prompt about merging the two locations or whatnot; However, when I open up my Home folder (C:\Users\Brian) there are two documents folders displayed. The Shell folder (I believe) which points to the above path, and the one that was apparently created when I changed the location to D:\ . Can I hide, or get rid of the folder that is not being used? Will doing so like recreate the disaster at Cherynobyl only in the Northeast US?
This really is nothing more than a nuisance as I can tell at a glance which one is which, and the Documents folder in the favorites section points to the correct location, but I guess it's more of an OCD type thing. In my mind there should be only ONE Documents folder.
Thank You All So Much for your help...
 Signature UNTIL it blows up I think I can fix it. IF it blows up I didn''''''''t touch it!
Keith Miller MVP - 19 Mar 2007 02:45 GMT If the properties dialog for the folder just has five tabs, its nothing special & can be deleted.
However, be aware of the normally hidden junctions (i.e. My Documents). These appear with the shortcut arrow icon overlay but are file system junctions rather than .lnk files. These exist for compatibility with older programs & MAY not be needed by the software you run, but it's a good idea to keep them around. For example: on a fresh install of Vista, The 'C:\Users\Username' folder will contain both the 'Documents' folder & a junction named 'My Documents' that points to the 'Documents' folder. If you move the 'Documents' folder via the 'Location' tab in its Properties dialog, the 'My Documents' link is now broken -- it points to a non-existent folder. So, after moving the 'Documents' folder, you should open a Command prompt window to your Username folder & execute the following commands: (assuming that 'Documents' has been pointed at the folder 'D:\Docs')
rd "My Documents" mklink /j "My Documents" "D:\Docs" attrib +h +s "My Documents" /L
 Signature Good Luck,
Keith Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
>I changed the location of the default Documents folder to a separate HDD. I > accepted the prompt about merging the two locations or whatnot; However, [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Thank You All So Much for your help... Valek Hawke - 19 Mar 2007 03:13 GMT Keith,
Thank you so much for the reply, however when I open Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Users\%Username% I do not see a My Documents Folder. Now, that may be because that while I have the option to show hidden files and folders unchecked, I have the option to Hide Protected Operating System Files checked. I don't really know. The location in that Documents folder still points to C:\Users\%Username% and it only has 5 tabs so I'm not really sure what's going on. As I mentioned earlier though, when I open up the link to my Personal folder, either through Windows Explorer, on my Desktop, or in any other folder there are two Documents folders. One points to D:\Documents (that is the one I use) and the other one which I am believing is the "original" one created from the clean install of Vista points to C:\Users\Brian and has 5 Tabs whereas the Documents folder that points to my D:\Documents has 6 Tabs.
 Signature UNTIL it blows up I think I can fix it. IF it blows up I didn''''''''t touch it!
> If the properties dialog for the folder just has five tabs, its nothing > special & can be deleted. [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > > > > Thank You All So Much for your help... Keith Miller MVP - 19 Mar 2007 19:03 GMT Response Inline:
> Keith, > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > unchecked, I have the option to Hide Protected Operating System Files > checked. I don't really know. That would be the reason -- the junction is flagged as both hidden and system.
> The location in that Documents folder still > points to C:\Users\%Username% and it only has 5 tabs so I'm not really > sure > what's going on. There is a 'Location:' field on the general tab of all folders -- that displays the path to the parent folder. Only the User Shell Folders have a sixth TAB labeled 'Location.
> As I mentioned earlier though, when I open up the link to my > Personal folder, either through Windows Explorer, on my Desktop, or in any [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > my > D:\Documents has 6 Tabs. You can safely delete the one with 5 tabs.
 Signature Good Luck,
Keith Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
> UNTIL it blows up I think I can fix it. IF it blows up I didn''''''''t > touch [quoted text clipped - 52 lines] >> > >> > Thank You All So Much for your help... Doubleface - 28 Mar 2007 01:57 GMT Hi,
I have the exact same problem, but still can't solve it. I installed Vista RC1 into C:\ partition, but I want to store my personal files on D:\ partition so when I reinstall Windows I wouldn't have to copy all of them.
So I created D:\Doubleface folder and all those Pictures, Music, ... folders within. Then I changed the location of all those folders from c:\Users\Doubleface\... to D:\Doubleface\... and merged them. At first, everything looked allright except that the Doubleface icon on the desktop still pinpointed to C:\Users\Doubleface.
Later, duplicate folders started popping up in C:\Users\Doubleface. What the reason for that?! Should I just delete them and thats it or am I doing sth wrong? :( because some of those folders delete, but contacts (with 5 tabs, the fake one) won't delete. I also see .gtk-bookmarks and ntuser.dat files , which is very annoying..
so, is there some clean and easy solution to all this mess?
> I changed the location of the default Documents folder to a separate HDD. I > accepted the prompt about merging the two locations or whatnot; However, when [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Thank You All So Much for your help... Keith Miller MVP - 28 Mar 2007 05:59 GMT On a fresh install, the content of 'C:\Users\UserName' and 'Desktop\UserName' appear identical -- user shell folders and, if you're showing hidden/system files, various NTUSER.DAT files & compatibility junction points. However, if you opt to relocate some of the shell folders via the 'Move' button on the 'Location' tab, and accept the option to move all contents so that the original folder is deleted, you will notice that the shell folders still appear under 'Desktop\UserName' but not 'C:\Users\UserName'.
The reason for this is that 'Desktop\UserName' is a namespace folder designed to show the contents of 'C:\Users\UserName' AND the user shell folders, regardless of their location.
The easiest way to avoid seeing NTUSER.DAT and other clutter is to not show hidden/system files -- but you probably already knew that and, like me, prefer seeing everything that's there. You can clean up the look of 'Desktop\UserName' so that it only shows shell folders and not the contents of 'C:\Users\UserName' by doing the following:
Start Search -> regedit<Enter>
Navigate to:
"HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\UsersFiles\NameSpace\DelegateFolders"
Export this key so you have a way to undo this modification, then delete the 'DelegateFolders' key.
As for the duplicate Documents folder, in the Start Search box on the Start menu, type:
shell:personal
click in the Breadcrumbs bar to see the actual path of the folder that Vista thinks is your Documents folder. If it's your 'D:\Doubleface\Documents' folder, great -- you should be able to delete C:\users\doubleface\Documents without problem. If 'C:\...\Documents' opens, use the 'Move' button on the 'Location' tab to point it at 'D:\...\Documents', accept the option to move all files as the will also delete the 'C:\...\Documents' folder.
I think the inability to delete the five tab Contacts folder is probalbly just a permissions issue -- search Help & Support for 'take ownership'.
 Signature Good Luck,
Keith Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
> Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] >> >> Thank You All So Much for your help... Doubleface - 28 Mar 2007 22:08 GMT Thanks for the reply, now everything is clear :)
> On a fresh install, the content of 'C:\Users\UserName' and > 'Desktop\UserName' appear identical -- user shell folders and, if you're [quoted text clipped - 83 lines] > >> > >> Thank You All So Much for your help... jowe - 29 May 2008 16:45 GMT Ok, I moved my users ducuments, music and pictures to my NAS, but I cannot create a link to the networkdrive, not even if I mount it as Z:. Is this working as designed? TIA, Jos.
 Signature jowe
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