Folder list after clicking Explore

[bobburk3]

When I click EXPLORE and look at all the folders in my computer, many seem to
be duplicates and appear to be wasting storage space. For instance, MY
DOCUMENTS appears in several places. For instance it first appears directly
under DESKTOP, then again under MY COMPUTER, then under Robert Bur...(my
name), then again under Robert Bur...'s Documents, then under MY DOCUMENTS ON
HOME COMPUTER. Is this the normal way that XP sets up the structure or did I
do something to create this confusing mess? If I created this monster, how
can I clean it up and have "My Documents" appear just once? Am I wasting a
lot of storage space by having "My Documents" in so many places?

 

[Tony Luxton]

It's just the way WinXP presents the information to you. Try this -
right-click My Computer, select "Explore". In the folder tree, expand "My
Computer", right-click "My Documents", and select "Properties". What does it
tell you?

HTH Tony.

 

[R. McCarty]

It isn't a monster. Explorer is designed to show My Documents as a
top level destination. Each user of the machine has a unique folder in
their \Documents & Settings\Username path that is the actual/real
folder for Documents. As each user logs in their Documents folder is
show as "MY" Documents. There is also a "Shared" Documents for
each user. Basically many of these links resolve to a single folder for
each individual account holder.

Don't worry about correcting things, just understand how and why
the layout appears as it does.

 

[bobburk3]

Tony, It gives me three tabs. the TARGET tab shows: Target is:C:\Documents
and Settings\Robert Burkhard\My Documents. Is that what you wanted?

 

[bobburk3]

Tony, It shows three tabs: General, Sharing, Carbonite. Under the General
tab it shows Location C:\Documents and Settings\Robert Burkhard.

 

[bobburk3]

Thanks R. McCarty. I thought that I had a lot of duplicate files taking up
space and slowing down my computer. It's nice to know that that's tha way it
is supposed to look (although it seems like a confusing mess). I did notice
that when I deleted a file in one folder it was gone from all the folders.

 

[Tony Luxton]

That's right, Bob. What it's telling you is that it's a shortcut to your "My
Documents" folder. If another user logs on, they'll see the same shortcut,
but its target will be *their* "My Documents" folder. Because of the
multi-user nature of WinXP, Explorer has to play little tricks on you like
that. To answer your question, they're only shortcuts, and don't waste any
space (that's worth worrying about).

Here's something else to try - right-click your desktop, select
"Properties", and click the "Desktop" tab. Push the "Customize Desktop"
button, and under "Desktop Buttons", uncheck "My Documents". Look in your
folder tree and "My Documents" is gone (you might have to refresh).

HTH Tony.