Reset IE Favorites?

[Guest]

I notice that my IE Favorites now consists of all the folders and files in my
Windows directory from my hard drive. It used to consist of the files and
links in the Favorites subdirectory of C:\Documents and Settings\, and I
don't know how this happened.

If I try to delete a folder from the Favorites window in IE, it deletes the
corresponding folder from the hard drive.

I don't recall doing anything that should have caused this to happen.

I've run Norton Antivirus, AdAware, Spybot, and AOL Spyware detector - but
nothing shows up. I upgraded to SP2 - but the problem persists.

I've searched all the folders and subfolders in C:\Documents and Settings\
looking for a hidden \Windows directory, but there is none.

FYI - the C:\Documents and Settings\ has four folders: Administrator, All
Users, , , and a hidden folder Default User.

For what it's worth, the folder icon for Favorites in All Users and do not
have the star icon - just the regular folder icon. I thought that this might
be the problem, so in the folder I renamed Favorites, copied the folder from
the Administrator folder, deleted the contents and copied the contents of my
Favorites to the new star icon'd folder - but it made no difference.

Two questions:
1. How could this have happened (my Windows subfolders now being in IE
favorites)?
2. How do I get it back to just showing my favorites from my Favorites
folder - and not showing the Windows directory and folders (and I'd prefer an
answer that doesn't involve reinstalling everything)?

Thank you.

 

[jopa66]

Sounds like the Favorites folder is corrupted. Try this.

If you have Favorite Sites or Bookmarks you want to keep, back them up.
1. In IE go to File > Import/Export... Follow the wizard to accomplish the
task. 'OR'
In Windows Explorer go to your Favorites folder and just copy any URL's
or folders you want to a temp directory.

2. Log on as a different Administrator, go to the Favorites folder in your
own profile and Delete the folder. You may also want to delete Temporary
Internet Files, History and Cookies if there is any corruption in those
folders. Windows will rebuild all these folders when you log back on.

3. Restore your Favorites.
4. Post back and let us know.