Renaming My Documents

[Guest]

I recently bought a new laptop running XP Pro. I've never used touchpads and
inadvertently dragged the Administrator's My Documents folder (in Documents &
Settings) into the Default User profile.

Both profiles now have an Administrator's Documents folder instead of a My
Documents folder. I tried to rename them back to My Documents but got a
message saying "Cannot rename My Documents. The source and destination file
names are the same."

How can I rename the folders in the Administrator and Default User profiles
back to My Documents? Can anyone help please?

 

[Ziggy Zigman]

The Administrator's profile and the All Users profile do not have a My
Documents folder. To put the Administrator's Documents folder back into the
Adminstrator's profile, simply go into File Explorer and drag the folder
from All Users back to the Administrator's profile. You do not want a My
Documents folder in the All Users profile as that profile is used to create
new profiles when you add user accounts to your system.

 

[Keith Miller MVP]

If you set Explorer to 'Show the full path in the address bar' & navigate to
the folders, you'll probably see that the actual folder is still named 'My
Documents'. You're seeing "friendly" display names to help distinguish the
various users folders. It's the result of the hidden, system file named
'desktop.ini' in each folder. It will contain a section like this:

[DeleteOnCopy]
Owner=Administrator
Personalized=5
PersonalizedName=My Documents

Delete that section from the desktop.ini file in the Default User profile.

If you are logged on as Administrator, you should be seeing 'My Documents'
rather than 'Administrator's Documents'. Right-click on the My Documents
icon on the desktop & verify that the target is the correct folder.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for taking the time to answer this. It's not the All Users profile
that's affected - it's the Default User profile. As for the Administrator
profile having no My Documents folder, my desktop PC running XP Pro does have
My Documents in both Administrator and Default User profiles. (And I'm not
aware of having buggered them up!)

Re the laptop, I accidentally tapped and dragged 'something' out of
Administrator into Default User almost without seeing or realising it. I'm
guessing it was Administrator's My Documents because afterwards, there was no
My Documents folder in Administrator and an Administrator's Documents folder
but no My Documents in Default User. I dragged Administrator's Documents
back to Administrator and ended up with the same named file in both profiles.

 

[Guest]

Thank you too for taking the time to rescue me from this self-inflicted
problem. (See answer to Ziggy for more detail.) I'll certainly have a look
at what you suggest and report back.

I've noticed when switching between my wife's profile and mine that her My
Documents becomes Annie's Documents so had an inkling about friendly display
names. Reading between the lines, this may only be an irritating display
matter and not cause for real concern. Still, it's quite unhelpful seeing
Administrator's Documents in both the Administrator and Default User profiles.

More in due course.
--
KGA

If you set Explorer to 'Show the full path in the address bar' & navigate to
the folders, you'll probably see that the actual folder is still named 'My
Documents'. You're seeing "friendly" display names to help distinguish the
various users folders. It's the result of the hidden, system file named
'desktop.ini' in each folder. It will contain a section like this:

[DeleteOnCopy]
Owner=Administrator
Personalized=5
PersonalizedName=My Documents

Delete that section from the desktop.ini file in the Default User profile.

If you are logged on as Administrator, you should be seeing 'My Documents'
rather than 'Administrator's Documents'. Right-click on the My Documents
icon on the desktop & verify that the target is the correct folder.


--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]

I recently bought a new laptop running XP Pro. I've never used touchpads
and
inadvertently dragged the Administrator's My Documents folder (in
Documents &
Settings) into the Default User profile.

Both profiles now have an Administrator's Documents folder instead of a My
Documents folder. I tried to rename them back to My Documents but got a
message saying "Cannot rename My Documents. The source and destination
file
names are the same."

How can I rename the folders in the Administrator and Default User
profiles
back to My Documents? Can anyone help please?

 

[Guest]

Keith -
You're advice is absolutely accurate!

1) With 'Show the full path in the address bar', Explorer shows the actual
folder still named as 'My > Documents'.

2) I deleted the sections starting [DeleteOnCopy]. That worked too and
restored the folder name to My Documents in the Administrator and Default
User profiles.

3) I noticed that each profile had subfolders in My Documents
(Administrator's Music, Pictures, Videos) so deleted the corresponding
desktop.ini sections starting[DeleteOnCopy]. That worked too and restored My
Music, Pictures, Videos.

4) Logged on as Administrator and now see 'My Documents' not
'Administrator's Documents'. Right-clicking verifies that the target is the
correct folder.

Many thanks for guiding me out of the maze.
--
KGA

If you set Explorer to 'Show the full path in the address bar' & navigate to
the folders, you'll probably see that the actual folder is still named 'My
Documents'. You're seeing "friendly" display names to help distinguish the
various users folders. It's the result of the hidden, system file named
'desktop.ini' in each folder. It will contain a section like this:

[DeleteOnCopy]
Owner=Administrator
Personalized=5
PersonalizedName=My Documents

Delete that section from the desktop.ini file in the Default User profile.

If you are logged on as Administrator, you should be seeing 'My Documents'
rather than 'Administrator's Documents'. Right-click on the My Documents
icon on the desktop & verify that the target is the correct folder.


--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]

I recently bought a new laptop running XP Pro. I've never used touchpads
and
inadvertently dragged the Administrator's My Documents folder (in
Documents &
Settings) into the Default User profile.

Both profiles now have an Administrator's Documents folder instead of a My
Documents folder. I tried to rename them back to My Documents but got a
message saying "Cannot rename My Documents. The source and destination
file
names are the same."

How can I rename the folders in the Administrator and Default User
profiles
back to My Documents? Can anyone help please?

 

[Keith Miller MVP]

You're welome. Glad it's sorted.


--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]

Keith -
You're advice is absolutely accurate!

1) With 'Show the full path in the address bar', Explorer shows the
actual
folder still named as 'My > Documents'.

2) I deleted the sections starting [DeleteOnCopy]. That worked too and
restored the folder name to My Documents in the Administrator and Default
User profiles.

3) I noticed that each profile had subfolders in My Documents
(Administrator's Music, Pictures, Videos) so deleted the corresponding
desktop.ini sections starting[DeleteOnCopy]. That worked too and restored
My
Music, Pictures, Videos.

4) Logged on as Administrator and now see 'My Documents' not
'Administrator's Documents'. Right-clicking verifies that the target is
the
correct folder.

Many thanks for guiding me out of the maze.
--
KGA

If you set Explorer to 'Show the full path in the address bar' & navigate
to
the folders, you'll probably see that the actual folder is still named
'My
Documents'. You're seeing "friendly" display names to help distinguish
the
various users folders. It's the result of the hidden, system file named
'desktop.ini' in each folder. It will contain a section like this:

[DeleteOnCopy]
Owner=Administrator
Personalized=5
PersonalizedName=My Documents

Delete that section from the desktop.ini file in the Default User
profile.

If you are logged on as Administrator, you should be seeing 'My
Documents'
rather than 'Administrator's Documents'. Right-click on the My Documents
icon on the desktop & verify that the target is the correct folder.


--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]

I recently bought a new laptop running XP Pro. I've never used
touchpads
and
inadvertently dragged the Administrator's My Documents folder (in
Documents &
Settings) into the Default User profile.

Both profiles now have an Administrator's Documents folder instead of a
My
Documents folder. I tried to rename them back to My Documents but got
a
message saying "Cannot rename My Documents. The source and destination
file
names are the same."

How can I rename the folders in the Administrator and Default User
profiles
back to My Documents? Can anyone help please?