Lost Internet Explorer favorites

[Cris]

When I opened IE today my Favorites menu was blank. My
first thought was that the Favorites were lost, but upon
checking my profile on the hard drive, I found that they
were still there.

So, I checked the registry setting for Favorites
(hkey_current_user\software\microsoft\windows\current
version\Explorer\User Shell Folders) and, although all
other settings there (cookies, history, cache) point to
%userprofile%\<key name>, the Favorites points to
c:\windows\favorites.

If I attempt to change the registry key to point to %
userprofile%\Favorites, it will stick UNTIL I open
Internet Explorer. Upon opening IE, my Favorites are
blank again, and when I check the registry again, the
value for the Favorites key has changed back to
c:\windows\Favorites.

Anyone ever seen this happen? Or can anyone guesstimate
what might be going on here? The easy fix would be to
copy my Favorites to c:\windows\Favorites....but I'd
rather figure out WHY this is happening.

 

[Alan Edwards]

You can change the value of Favorites in the Registry in these
two keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell
Folders

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User
Shell Folders

Did you change both?

It may also be possible that there is an equivalent value in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

....Alan

 

[Guest]

Hi Chris -

Wish I could give you the simple answer--but the same
thing is happening to me. I'm beginning to suspect it was
the latest Windows Update but can't confirm yet. Below
I've copied my posting which seems to be the identical
problem you have. Please, if you find an answer let me
know and I'll do likewise. I have a sneaking suspicion
this will turn up more and more. Cheers, Joel


"Hi gang!
I hope someone can help with an odd problem. It seems to
be the same problem [mevans 1/2/04 "IE Favorites Changed
Inexplicably"] is having. First, I have all Win and IE 6
updates, run firewall, AV, spyware finders, etc. (manually
run, virtually nothing run in Startup or Services).

All of a sudden I noticed that the IE Favorites menu shows
nothing but Links. I actually have many dozens of valid
links and about ten organizing folders, and these do exist
under my user profile--they just don't show under IE.
However, if I run IE as Admin they appear (though they
should not as they were added under User). If I go to the
registry I can find the keys were the proper paths were
changed to "c:\winnt\Favorites." This affects only my User
profile, all other profiles are correct. When I edit
these, as Admin or User, they "take" but next time I run
IE I see no Favorites--and back in the registry the keys
have been changed back to the
incorrect "c:\winnt\Favorites." If I create a new
Favorites key the same reset happens. As far as I can
remember the only thing I did before this happened (this
machine is infrequently used) is run Win Update and Norton
AV update. Everything else with IE seems fine.
Anyone have any ideas out there? Any clues would be much
appreciated! Cheers, Joel"