Internet Explorer can't find Favorites Folder - How to fix??

[Jim Strenk]

Gentlemen:

For the last week or so, I have noticed that using the Favorites Pull-down
menu shows items that were once there now missing. It would appear that
Internet Explorer 6 can't find the Favorites Folder, since I can find it
manually.

How do I go about getting IE 6 "find" my Favorites folder and allow me to
use the Favorites Pull-down menu, so that I can resume using Favorites I've
saved over the years??

Thank you for your assistance in this matter. It is appreciated!

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Gentlemen:

For the last week or so, I have noticed that using the Favorites Pull-down
menu shows items that were once there now missing. It would appear that
Internet Explorer 6 can't find the Favorites Folder, since I can find it
manually.

How do I go about getting IE 6 "find" my Favorites folder and allow me to
use the Favorites Pull-down menu, so that I can resume using Favorites I've
saved over the years??

Thank you for your assistance in this matter. It is appreciated!

Perhaps your Favorites folder has gone walk-about, or maybe you
no longer have sufficient access rights to this folder. You should
see it here:

c:\Documents and Settings\JStrenk\Favorites

if "JStrenk" is your logon name.

 

[Jim Strenk]

Pegasus:

Not only is the Folder in the location you've mentioned, the actual
short-cuts are also there. For the last week or so, I've minimized this
folder for access to favorites. I am however, unable to access them via the
Favorites Pull-down menu. The folder's attribute currently shows read only.

Any suggestions to fix this problem? And, thank you for responding. It is
appreciated!

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

When you type Start / Help / Search tab then you can find a large
amount of help on the subject of setting file attributes and setting
folder/file permissions. Here is a shortcut to achieve the same:

1. Click Start / Run
2. Type cmd {OK}
3. Type the following commands ***verbatim***:
cd /d %UserProfile% {Enter}
attrib /s -s -h -r Favorites\*.* {Enter}
cacls /e /t Favorites /g %UserName%:F {Enter}

These commands will reset any read-only attributes. They
will also ensure that you have full NTFS permission to access
the Favorites folder.

 

[Gary Smith]

The Favorites folder normally has the read-only attribute. That won't be
what's causing the problem. I'm wondering whether IE is looking in the
right folder. To check this, open Regedit and navigate to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell
Folders. Is the value Favorites pointing to the folder you expect?

Pegasus:

Not only is the Folder in the location you've mentioned, the actual
short-cuts are also there. For the last week or so, I've minimized this
folder for access to favorites. I am however, unable to access them via the
Favorites Pull-down menu. The folder's attribute currently shows read only.

 

[Jim Strenk]

Gary:

Thank you so much for your quick and helpful reply!

No, Gary, it is NOT pointing to the folder I would expect. I happened to
check this last night before reading your sugggestion. The value for
Favorites is currently listed as:

C:\Winnt\Favorites. The creation date shows the same date and time as the
folder creation date when attempting to organize the folder, namely 11/02/05
@ 10:12 AM, just about the same time as when the "missing" Favorites first
appeared. A folder appears in C:\Winnt as Favorites. However, THIS
particular Favorites is missing the Blue Asterisk that one USUALLY sees with
the Favorites folder. The date is the same as what I've just mentioned. It
would appear that IE created a folder at C:\Winnt\Favorites as a result of
forgetting where the ORIGINAL Favorites folder is Located. The ORIGINAL
Favorites folder is still at its EXPECTED location. So, I modified its
value to:

C:\Documents and Settings\Strenk\Favorites. So far, so good. Making that
change in the registry SHOULD have solved the problem. HOWEVER, if IE is
already open, I'm STILL missing my Favorites. So, I've closed IE and
started a new instance of IE. At that point, the registry modification then
REVERTS BACK TO C:\WINNT\FAVORITES. It would appear that the modification
to the registry DOES NOT STAY MODIFIED.

So now the question is why is the registery restoring the incorrect pointer?
What futher steps must be taken so that a registry entry that is modified
STAYS modified?

When I log on as Strenk, I am a Power User, not an Administrator. I also
noticed that if I log in as Administrator, I can't find the entry you've
suggested to look at. Shouldn't I be able to view Strenk settings and
modify as needed?

Any additional suggestions would be most appreciated!

 

[Jim Strenk]

Thank you, Pegasus for your reply. Please read Gary L. Smith's suggestion
and my reply to him about this problem. I think Gary's hit the nail on the
head.

 

[Gary Smith]

As you've discovered, modifying the registry while IE is open does no
good, because IE rewrites its settings when it closes. This should
correct the problem:

Close IE and any other application that may be open. The fewer things
going on, the better.

Open Regedit, navigate to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell
Folders, and change the "Favorites" value to "C:\Documents and
Settings\Strenk\Favorites".

Now move down to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User
Shell Folders, and change the "Favorites" value there to
"%USERPROFILE%\Favorites". The value type here must be REG_EXPAND_SZ.
You typically need to make changes to both of these keys in parallel in
order for the changes to stick.

Now open IE. Your Favorites should be back.

No matter how you're logged on, you can by default see settings only for
the current user and the default user, which is used to initialize
settings when a new user is defined. In order to see and modify settings
for another user, you have to load that user's hive. It's not terribly
difficult to do, but it's not necessary in this case.

Gary:

Thank you so much for your quick and helpful reply!

No, Gary, it is NOT pointing to the folder I would expect. I happened to
check this last night before reading your sugggestion. The value for
Favorites is currently listed as:

C:\Winnt\Favorites. The creation date shows the same date and time as the
folder creation date when attempting to organize the folder, namely 11/02/05
@ 10:12 AM, just about the same time as when the "missing" Favorites first
appeared. A folder appears in C:\Winnt as Favorites. However, THIS
particular Favorites is missing the Blue Asterisk that one USUALLY sees with
the Favorites folder. The date is the same as what I've just mentioned. It
would appear that IE created a folder at C:\Winnt\Favorites as a result of
forgetting where the ORIGINAL Favorites folder is Located. The ORIGINAL
Favorites folder is still at its EXPECTED location. So, I modified its
value to:

C:\Documents and Settings\Strenk\Favorites. So far, so good. Making that
change in the registry SHOULD have solved the problem. HOWEVER, if IE is
already open, I'm STILL missing my Favorites. So, I've closed IE and
started a new instance of IE. At that point, the registry modification then
REVERTS BACK TO C:\WINNT\FAVORITES. It would appear that the modification
to the registry DOES NOT STAY MODIFIED.

So now the question is why is the registery restoring the incorrect pointer?
What futher steps must be taken so that a registry entry that is modified
STAYS modified?

When I log on as Strenk, I am a Power User, not an Administrator. I also
noticed that if I log in as Administrator, I can't find the entry you've
suggested to look at. Shouldn't I be able to view Strenk settings and
modify as needed?

 

[Jim Strenk]

Gary:

ALMOST finished! I can MODIFY Favorites in User Shell Folders to read
%USERPROFILE%\Favorites, HOWEVER, I can NOT change the type from REG_SZ to
REG_EXPAND_SZ. If I temporarily add a new value to that key, REG_EXPAND_SZ
is NOT a choice available.

How do you modify or add a new value of the type REG_EXPAND_SZ?

Once again, Thank You for your assistance. I have no doubt that with your
assistance, I will get this matter put to bed!

 

[Jim Strenk]

Gary:

Unless not being able to change the data type to REG_EXPAND_SZ is the
problem, your suggested changes to the registry do not stay changed. They
both revert back to C:\Winnt\Favorites.

Please be sure to read my other reply to your suggestions. Thank You!

 

[Gary Smith]

I believe you'll have to delete the REG_SZ value and then add a new one
with type REG_EXPAND_SZ, and in order to do that, you evidemtly need to
use Regedt32 rather than Regedit. Regedit will display REG_EXPAND_SZ
values and let you change them, but it doesn't have the ability to create
them.

If you change both values successfully with IE closed and the changes
still don't stick, something else must be changing them. Either a group
policy or some sort of malware could be the culprit.

ALMOST finished! I can MODIFY Favorites in User Shell Folders to read
%USERPROFILE%\Favorites, HOWEVER, I can NOT change the type from REG_SZ to
REG_EXPAND_SZ. If I temporarily add a new value to that key, REG_EXPAND_SZ
is NOT a choice available.

How do you modify or add a new value of the type REG_EXPAND_SZ?

 

[Jim Strenk]

Using Regedt32 was the key! I have successfully edited the values you've
suggested in earlier posts. I did find some malware called "veeno" if my
memory serves me correctly. I usually don't use Regedt32 and regularly use
its "little brother". I find the later easier to navigate, however do to
your suggestion, I know when to use Regedt32 instead.

All is now well in the land of Internet Explorer. Case closed!

Thank you so very much for the effort put into solving "The Case of the
Missing Favorites". A handshake and an "Atta boy!" are in order.

 

[Gary Smith]

You're quite welcome. I'm glad I could help.

Using Regedt32 was the key! I have successfully edited the values you've
suggested in earlier posts. I did find some malware called "veeno" if my
memory serves me correctly. I usually don't use Regedt32 and regularly use
its "little brother". I find the later easier to navigate, however do to
your suggestion, I know when to use Regedt32 instead.

All is now well in the land of Internet Explorer. Case closed!