Crosslinked directories

[Alan Biddle]

I seem to have "cross linked" directories. For example:

C:\Documents and Settings\Alan\AppData\Roaming\SatPC32\Kepler
C:\Users\Alan\AppData\Roaming\SatPC32\Kepler>

However, they reference the same contents. That is, if you copy a
file to one, it appears in both, and if you delete a file in one, it
disappears from both.

There are literally dozens of them, similar to the above except for
the "\SATPC32\Kepler" part which changes depending on the program
data.

The OS is Vista Business, SP2. Other than being a little confusing,
it does not seem to cause any problems, except my backup files are
larger because of this.

Any help on fixing this, if it needs to be fixed, would be
appreciated.

 

[Michael Walraven]

Alan

I assume you are using Vista.

'Documents and settings' is not used by Vista, however a link is there to
allow older/XP programs to run with their previous default paths.
This link means there are two ways to get to many of your documents, each is
valid but you should NOT use the 'Documents and settings' in general.

That you are discussing this path implies that you have elected to view
hidden/system protected files and directories. That is OK, but you run the
risk of encountering or accidently changing internal system files that can
make life more interesting than expected. I personally leave the display of
system/hidden files off unless I am specifically looking for something.

Specific to your question: It does not need to be fixed, operation is
correct for Vista.

Michael

 

[Alan Biddle]

Yes, as stated the OS is Vista Business. Thanks for the explanation
of what is going on. Some of the software which I use does not
distinguish the hidden files in the display, which is in fact why I
noticed it recently.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I seem to have "cross linked" directories. For example:

C:\Documents and Settings\Alan\AppData\Roaming\SatPC32\Kepler
C:\Users\Alan\AppData\Roaming\SatPC32\Kepler>

However, they reference the same contents. That is, if you copy a
file to one, it appears in both, and if you delete a file in one, it
disappears from both.

There are literally dozens of them, similar to the above except for
the "\SATPC32\Kepler" part which changes depending on the program
data.

The OS is Vista Business, SP2. Other than being a little confusing,
it does not seem to cause any problems, except my backup files are
larger because of this.

Any help on fixing this, if it needs to be fixed, would be
appreciated.

These are *not* crosslinked directories, and there is nothing to be
fixed. You are talking about virtual folders. Virtual folders don't
actually exist as folders; there are merely pointers (like shortcuts)
to real folders.