Documents & Settings/ all users

[alexanderd]

i am at a loss to understand " Documents & Settings/ all users/ " i seem to
have "/application Data " files some 20 + directories deep. whilst there are
only 2 users on my PC myself as administrator and my wife as a separate
loggin. What have i done wrong and how can i correct it. Stupid as it might
seem i was contemplating deleting Documents & Settings/ all users/application
Data/application Data/application Data at the 5th Directory.
Can any one advise me what to do and what to correct so that it dose not
happen again.

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, alexanderd.

Something "does not compute", as they used to say on the old TV show. :>(

Vista does not have a "Documents & Settings" folder. That was in WinXP. In
Vista, the file structure has been changed. Now, you should find all your
documents and settings under the various C:\Users\{username}\Documents
folders. There should be one Users folder for each user, plus others for
Default, Public, etc.; some of them are hidden.

Vista does have a directory entry for "C:\Documents and Settings
[C:\Users]", but it is not actually a folder. It is a "Junction" pointing
to the new locations; it is here just for the benefit of legacy programs
that have not yet been updated to recognize the new scheme.

For more information, click Start | Help and Support, and search for
"documents".

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64)

 

[Keith Miller \(MVP\)]

How are you browsing to these locations? 'Documents & Settings', 'All
Users', and 'Application Data' are all reparse points that point to other
folders. Open a command prompt & type the following command:

C:\>dir /al /s

This will show you all the junction points on your computer. They are there
solely for backward compatibility for programs. Notice that:

Directory of C:\
11/02/2006 08:00 AM <JUNCTION> Documents and Settings [C:\Users]
Directory of C:\Users
11/02/2006 08:00 AM <SYMLINKD> All Users [C:\ProgramData]
Directory of C:\ProgramData
11/02/2006 08:00 AM <JUNCTION> Application Data [C:\ProgramData]

'Documents & Settings' points to 'C:\Users'. There 'All Users' points to
'C:\Program Data'. Once we are in 'C:\Program Data', 'Application Data'
points to 'C:\Program Data'. It is a junction that points back to its
containing folder. So the 'endless levels' of Application Data is really a
loop. Normally, the permissions entries for these junction points prohibit
browsing. Did you happen to modify those? I know they can be annoying, but
they remind you to go find the actual folder.