Newbie question about mydocs/pictures

[Jim]

As i said in a post earlier i'm new to windows explorer in 7 and now it
seems i can't copy my old "My Documents\My Pictures" into my new user
folder, it all seems arse about face, when i try to access "Documents
and Settings" i get access is denied i used to get round this my just
taking ownership of the folders but i'm told this is not a good (why
it's my hardware and software for Christ sake) any idea how to sort this?

Also anyone know of a decent site explaining the main differences
between xp and 7 as far as using explorer, system setting, system
permissions user accounts etc right now it's getting on my tits.

Jim

 

[Char Jackson]

As i said in a post earlier i'm new to windows explorer in 7 and now it
seems i can't copy my old "My Documents\My Pictures" into my new user
folder, it all seems arse about face, when i try to access "Documents
and Settings" i get access is denied

"Documents and Settings" doesn't exist in the same way that it did
before. Navigate to C:\Users\ to find the familiar folder structure.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

As i said in a post earlier i'm new to windows explorer in 7 and now it seems
i can't copy my old "My Documents\My Pictures" into my new user folder, it
all seems arse about face, when i try to access "Documents and Settings" i
get access is denied i used to get round this my just taking ownership of the
folders but i'm told this is not a good (why it's my hardware and software
for Christ sake) any idea how to sort this?

Documents and Settings, and the My Documents that looks like a shortcut
(which you might not be seeing, depending on your settings) are not
folders but a weird pointer to folders designed to be used only by
software, not by users. Ignore them

To copy your old My Documents stuff, highlight everything *inside* the
old folder and copy or control-drag it to *inside* the regular My
Documents folder, the one that doesn't look like a shortcut.

Same for My Pictures.

Also anyone know of a decent site explaining the main differences between xp
and 7 as far as using explorer, system setting, system permissions user
accounts etc right now it's getting on my tits.

I bought a couple of books, Windows 7 for Dummies and Microsoft's
Windows 7 Plain & Simple. I assume they are available in the UK.

They helped some, and just using Windows 7 (and reading this newsgroup)
helped more.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Documents and Settings, and the My Documents that looks like a shortcut
(which you might not be seeing, depending on your settings) are not folders
but a weird pointer to folders designed to be used only by software, not by
users. Ignore them

To copy your old My Documents stuff, highlight everything *inside* the old
folder and copy or control-drag it to *inside* the regular My Documents
folder, the one that doesn't look like a shortcut.

Same for My Pictures.

I bought a couple of books, Windows 7 for Dummies and Microsoft's Windows 7
Plain & Simple. I assume they are available in the UK.

They helped some, and just using Windows 7 (and reading this newsgroup)
helped more.

I forgot to say, the weird pointers are called Junction Points, and are
a bit like links in Unix/Linux.

 

[Gordon]

As i said in a post earlier i'm new to windows explorer in 7 and now it
seems i can't copy my old "My Documents\My Pictures" into my new user
folder, it all seems arse about face, when i try to access "Documents
and Settings" i get access is denied i used to get round this my just
taking ownership of the folders but i'm told this is not a good (why
it's my hardware and software for Christ sake) any idea how to sort this?

Also anyone know of a decent site explaining the main differences
between xp and 7 as far as using explorer, system setting, system
permissions user accounts etc right now it's getting on my tits.

Jim

As has been said by Gene, "Documents and Settings" is a Junction Point,
not a folder.
There are a number of Junction Points in Windows 7 (and Vista as well).
Here's a list:
(Junction Points on the left, folders to which they point on the right)
C:\Documents and Settings - C:\Users\{user name}\Documents
Application Data - C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming
Cookies - C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies
History - C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History
Local Settings - C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Local
NetHood - C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network
Shortcuts
PrintHood - C:\Users\{user
name}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts
Recent - C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent
SendTo - C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo
Start Menu - C:\Users\{user
name}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu
Templates - C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming
Temporary Internet Files - C:\Users\{user
name}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files

These Junction Points exist to allow legacy software applications to
utilise the new Windows 7/Vista folder structure.

See here for more information on Junction points:


http://www.svrops.com/svrops/articles/jpoints.htm

 

[Jim]

Documents and Settings, and the My Documents that looks like a
shortcut (which you might not be seeing, depending on your settings)
are not folders but a weird pointer to folders designed to be used
only by software, not by users. Ignore them

To copy your old My Documents stuff, highlight everything *inside* the
old folder and copy or control-drag it to *inside* the regular My
Documents folder, the one that doesn't look like a shortcut.

Same for My Pictures.


I bought a couple of books, Windows 7 for Dummies and Microsoft's
Windows 7 Plain & Simple. I assume they are available in the UK.

They helped some, and just using Windows 7 (and reading this
newsgroup) helped more.

Thought I was past the days of "For Dummies" books but i have managed
to grab a pdf copy so i'll go through it over the weekend along with
Gordon's link, Thanks for your help folks, i'll get used to it .........
Just as win 8 comes out ;-)