Missing Shared Documents folder (XP with SP-1)

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I am missing the folder at c:Documents and SettingsAll UsersShared Documents. Instead I have a folder called just Documents which has no subfolders. When I click on Documents using Windows Explorer I get an error message saying that the file is ‘…not accessible’ and ‘Access is denied.’ If I try to re-name it I am told it is a system folder needed by Windows and cannot be re-named or deleted.

I am logged on as Administrator. I have elected to view hidden folders and files. I have run the built in error checker for the hard disk and Norton Disk Doctor, neither of which gives any clues to the problem. No other folder in Documents and Settings gives me this problem.

I believe I caused this problem myself a couple of weeks ago when I was re-organising some stuff by dragging and dropping files and folders around late at night and the mouse slipped.

See the attachment for the view from Windows Explorer when I click on the Documents folder.

How do I get the Shared Documents folder back?

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Hi, John ~

If you are running XP Pro SP1, then save the attached Zip to your desktop, extract the reg key to your desktop, double click it, reboot, and you will have the ‘Shared Documents’ folder back.

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Thanks Bruce. Success.

At first it didn’t work. I applied the registry info, but there was no change in the symptoms. I even re-booted three times, being superstitious. However, you had shown me that the problem might lie in the registry. First I had a DOS session and dragged out the syntax of the dir, attrib and cd commands from deep within my memory. This showed me that the Document directory actually existed. It also showed me that it had three sub-directories and even a couple of files.

I exported the registry in HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorer from my both my own laptop and my wife’s laptop and compared them using MS Word. A little detective work prompted me to look in HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerShell Folders and I noticed that my registry entry failed to describe the sub-folders in Document. I added these entries manually (My Pictures, My Music and My Videos) and, after a re-boot, all was perfect.

Many, many thanks.

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