Redirecting/relocating folders from the Personal Folder creates new folders. Why?

[snowshed]

Sounds like a simple question, but so far I've not found an answer. And posted questions elsewhere go unanswered. Even in Microsoft's forums. :-(

This is what's happening:

1. Open the Personal Folder by clicking on the User's Name.
2. Rt. clicking a folder, and select properties.
3. Choose a new location for that folder, I do it by manually change the path, not by locating the desired location using the mouse.
4. For some folders, after the location is changed, and all data is moved, Windows will create a new folder in the original location with a similar name.

For instance... If I relocate the My Documents folder and its contents, Windows immediately creates a new folder in the original location with the name Documents. This folder apparently cannot be relocated, and there is no location tab in the Properties for the folder.

So, the questions are:

A. Why are the new folders created?
B. What are the new folders used for?


Thanks.

 

[TrainableMan]

Libraries folder information is stored in the registry and are merely pointers which are in fact updated with each user that logs on. That is why if you log on as Snowshed then Libraries\Documents\My Documents points to the physical location C:\Users\Snowshed\My Documents but if I was set up with an account and were to log on to your computer then when I access Libraries\Documents\My Documents it points to the physical location C:\Users\TrainableMan\My Documents.

So are you merely changing pointers under libraries or are you actually moving folders?

I can't know exactly where you are and what choices you are making so I cannot offer an explanation to your results. But if you really do need to move user folders, such as putting them on another drive partition, then I suggest you read over this thread >>HERE<< and try the methods discussed there so that folders and their pointers get moved properly.

 

[snowshed]

Hi, TrainableMan, thanks for the reply.

First, we need to be very careful to make sure we are talking on the same page. Otherwise, with this subject, we could easily end up talking about different things.

Libraries folder information is stored in the registry and are merely pointers which are in fact is updated with each user that logs on. That is why if you log on as Snowshed then Libraries\Documents\My Documents points to the physical location C:\Users\Snowshed\My Documents but if I was set up with an account and were to log on to your computer then when I access Libraries\Documents\My Documents it points to the physical location C:\Users\TrainableMan\My Documents.

Understood, when I redo someone's Windows computer, I always create a minimum of 2 accounts, one admin, one limited.

The location of library info is also on my list. Some say the info is in the registry and some disagree. There is a library file(s), with a real name, in the library file structure. I'd have to go back and dig that out, I've forgotten the exact location. That location is not part of the registry. When you use Windows Explorer, you'll never see it. When you try, your library opens. But, if you boot with a Linux Live CD, you can get the actual file name. Then, back to Explorer, you can type the complete path in, but when you hit the enter key, the library opens. The user that told me about this actually listed some the file names. His/her conclusion about it is the file is an .xml file of some type.

So are you merely changing pointers under libraries or are you actually moving folders?

For purpose/subject of this post, actually moving folders from C:\Users\Username\etc to D:\Users\Username\etc. It makes restoring the OS easier if that ever needs to be done. Even MS notes that having the user data on the same partition as the OS is a "potential defect".

I can't know exactly where you are and what choices you are making so I cannot offer an explanation to your results. But if you really do need to move user folders, such as putting them on another drive partition, then I suggest you read over this thread >>HERE<< and try the methods discussed there so that folders and their pointers get moved properly.

The computer that has prompted my search for info belongs to a friend, and I only have occasional access to it. I'm in the midst of building my own Win7/Win8/???? machine, but the motherboard was DOA. The replacement just arrived.

I wish I had access right now to that computer, so I could double check the library and see where things point to, but I can't.

Perhaps I should get on the stick and put mine together.

FWIW, when I saw Libraries for the first time, and then discovered they are not what I expected given the name "Libraries", I was royally ticked off. Since then, I've figured out how to make custom libraries do what I want, not what MS apparently wants.

And an FYI, my first two computers were Atari 800's.

Ken