Documents and Settings Question

[Gordon Biggar]

When one opens Windows Explorer, we find the My Documents folder (and
subfolders) on a stand-alone basis; we also have My Documents shown under
the local C drive, and we have a My Documents folder under the Username,
which is under the Documents and Settings folder. I am attempting to
understand the role played by having this folder in various locations.

One is able to change the target location of the My Documents, stand-alone
folder. Now, it points to the My Documents folder shown in C. In Microsoft
Word (Office 2000), under Tools\Options\File Locations, the file setting is
shown as C:\My Documents. What is the role/justification of the My
Documents folder under Documents and Settings?

Thanks in advance.

Gordon Biggar
Houston, Texas

 

[Gary Smith]

In an unmodified system, the "My Documents" folder actually exists as a
sub-folder of "Documents and Settings\{Username}". The folder of the same
name shown under My Computer is a reflection of this same folder, placed
for easier access. You can move My Documents elsewhere, such as directly
under C:\, and you can rename it. If moved. the new location becomes the
official location, and My Documents no longer exists under Documents and
Settings. However, if you save a picture from IE into the default "My
Pictures" folder, that folder is created or re-created under "Documents
and Settings\{Username}\My Documents". The resulting "My Documents"
folder won't be used for anything else unless you change things back
again.

Various combinations of moving, copying, renaming, and deleting
can create situations that are even more confused, and making changes to
the relevant parts of the registry further increase the confusion level.

If your system is was upgraded from NT or once had a version of IE prior
to 5.0, even more variations are possible.

When one opens Windows Explorer, we find the My Documents folder (and
subfolders) on a stand-alone basis; we also have My Documents shown under
the local C drive, and we have a My Documents folder under the Username,
which is under the Documents and Settings folder. I am attempting to
understand the role played by having this folder in various locations.

One is able to change the target location of the My Documents, stand-alone
folder. Now, it points to the My Documents folder shown in C. In Microsoft
Word (Office 2000), under Tools\Options\File Locations, the file setting is
shown as C:\My Documents. What is the role/justification of the My
Documents folder under Documents and Settings?

 

[Gordon Biggar]

Thank you! It's starting to make some sense now.

Is there any efficiency to be gained by having the My Documents folder under
Documents and Settings\Username as the main folder? The My Documents folder
(which I labeled as a standalone folder), actually is the first folder to
appear under the Desktop heading. At one time, its target setting was the
aforementioned folder under Documents and Settings. However, this leaves
the My Documents folder under the C: label with no cross reference -- that
is, if Word/Excel settings are changed to point to the folder under
Documents and Settings, then the My Documents folder under C: will not
reflect changes to the other two folders.

All very confusing, somehow!

Gordon Biggar

 

[Gary Smith]

There's no question of efficiency. One arrangement may seem more natural
to you or easier to use, that that's the best one for you. It's a matter
ot taste. Some people prefer to leave things the way Windows set them up,
and others like to change things to suit themselves. On my own machines,
"My Documents" has been renamed to "Data" and moved to the root. Because
it was carefully done, Windows has no trouble keep track of it as the
"official" My Documents folder.

It sounds as though you have two disticnt folders that have the same name,
one under the root and the other under Documents and Settings. Your
terminology is a bit confusing, though. Folders don't have cross
references or targets.

Thank you! It's starting to make some sense now.

Is there any efficiency to be gained by having the My Documents folder under
Documents and Settings\Username as the main folder? The My Documents folder
(which I labeled as a standalone folder), actually is the first folder to
appear under the Desktop heading. At one time, its target setting was the
aforementioned folder under Documents and Settings. However, this leaves
the My Documents folder under the C: label with no cross reference -- that
is, if Word/Excel settings are changed to point to the folder under
Documents and Settings, then the My Documents folder under C: will not
reflect changes to the other two folders.

 

[Gordon Biggar]

I think that I am getting closer to the "truth." My setup for My Documents
is probably an outgrowth of the setup established during the days of Windows
95/98. In Windows
Explorer, the My Documents folder appears in three places :

1) Immediately under the Desktop (the root?);

2) My Computer\Local Disk (C)\My Documents

3) My Computer\Local Disk (C)\Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents

If I log on as Administrator, the folder, as in (1) above, points to the
folder in (3) above (Administrator replacing Username above). That is,
right-clicking on My Documents\Properties\Target shows the path. (Is this
the Windows default setup?) This tells me that if there are multiple users
of the desktop, each user would have their own My Documents folder, listed
under Documents and Settings\individual Username. This makes sense.
(Microsoft Office products, such as Word and Excel, would have to use a file
location, such as C:\Documents and Settings\individual Username\My
Documents.)

The My Documents folder under C: (#2 above) is therefore superfluous, if I
understand this correctly. Since I have a My Photographs folder under My
Documents, which eats up beaucoup de space, I am therefore unnecessarily
using up much too much space.

Now, if I am the only user of the desktop, maybe all of the foregoing is
moot, except that by using the #3 setup format for the My Documents folder I
can eliminate the #2 setup, and thereby save space.

I think that with your comments (for which I thank you) I am able to
understand what I had hoped to achieve several sessions ago! If any of my
reasoning appears out of touch, please sing out. Again, my thanks for your
patience.

Gordon Biggar
Houston, Texas