Move My Documents folder (Home XP)

Topic

New Reply

I just installed WinXP from scratch. I moved the location of My Documents by targeting it to a folder in D:, which is the back up folder of My Documents. However, under the Windows Explorer, the My Documents folder in C:Documents and SettingsDennis still shows the contents of the default subfolders, not those old subfolders inside new targeted folder. Is this normal?

Reply | Quote

Replies

Yes, it is. By “moving the location” you pointed shorcuts to “My Documents” to the folder on D: drive instead of default folder (c:Documents and Settings ), but you did’t delete or replace any folders.

Reply | Quote

Dennis, if I’m understanding correctly, the new location is working OK, and you’re still seeing the old location as well. Correct? If that’s the case, it’s because Windows does not delete the old location automatically – which is why you are seeing it there.

Reply | Quote

O.K. I see what you mean. Now how to make the c:Documents and Settings show all the subfolders and files correctly?

Reply | Quote

If you’ve changed the location of My Documents the files and folders that originally lived in C:Documents and Settings will no longer reflect any changes. For all intents and purposes it’s debris that you can now clean out – but ONLY the Myu Documents folder that lives there. Maybe I’m still not 100% on the same page – is the following correct?

Original location:
C:Documents and SettingsDennisMy Documents

NEW location:
D:My Documents[/list]And now the original location contains a few subfolders that are not changing?

Reply | Quote

I just made a mistake. I posted a wrong reply and have deleted it from this thread. Here is the reply to you:

Q: is the following correct?
A: Yes, it is correct.

Q: And now the original location contains a few subfolders that are not changing?
A: yes

Reply | Quote

OK, good. Just wanted to make sure I understood. That’s exactly what should be happening. When I configure Windows – any version – for home use, I move My Documents to a separate data partition immediately for protection of the data it contains. This allows me for perform the dreaded “format c:” without worrying that I’m going to lose too much (there are some other application specific settings in Documents and Settings that may need to be backed up. This leaves an orphan My Documents folder in its original location, which I don’t bother to delete.

In a nutshell….you’re safe!

Reply | Quote

Thank you very much. It is exactly what I am doing now. After installing the WinXP from scratch, I have moved most data folder/files to D:, a logic partition, except those applications not allowing me to do so. I use the Norton Ghost to image the whole C: to CD-Rs as the recovery disk. If the system goes unstable, I just image back the whole system. Are there others suggestions in arranging the system I need to follow?

Reply | Quote

Dennis, if you search the lounge on “partition” or “partitioning” you’ll probably find a lot of ideas on how to set these things up. Mostly it comes down to personal preference, for my own I like to keep OS, data, temp files, and swap file separated for stability and performance issues.

HTH,

Reply | Quote

Open Windows Explorer (or My Computer). From the Tools menu choose Folder Options. Click View tab. Check “Show hidden files and folders” and UNcheck “Hide extensions for known file types” and “Hide protected operating system files” Click “Yes” on pop-up window. Click Apply, OK buttons.

Reply | Quote

kaplinb,

Your method does not work.

Reply | Quote