Special Folders moving gone bad

[Bill G.]

I've had the 'My Documents', 'My Pictures', 'My Music' and 'My Videos'
folders moved from the default directory (root\Documents and
settings\<username>) to an external hard disc, with the pictures, music,
videos folders not in the Documents folder, but under the same directory
with it (a la Vista). Also, the folders were named 'Documents', 'Pictures',
'Music' and 'Videos' but having made the proper moving of the special folder
associations through TweakUI XP, they would appear with their correct 'My'
prefix and folder template and icons.

However, after the desktop.ini files in those folders somehow lost their
system and hidden attributes, I deleted them. I then copied another properly
attributed desktop.ini file I found somewhere on my pc in each of the 4
folders, and changed the contents of each one to the default values I found
in http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_f.htm#faq3_my_documents.

After restarting, I found that the Documents folder hadn't gotten it's icon
back (displaying only the generic folder icon instead) though the other 3
folders had. In the Start Menu, though, the My Documents shortcut displays
the correct icon, but the Pictures and Music shorcuts display generic folder
icons. Also, the names of the folders didn't get the 'My' prefix except for
the My Documents shortcut in the start menu. Overall, the problem is
displayed in this screenshot:

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i64/billerr/scrnsht.jpg

I tried using the "regserv32 mydocs.dll" fix, using the "rundll32
mydocs.dll,PerUserInit" fix, I even tried deleting the BagMRU and Bags
registry keys from HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam,
and also moving the special folder association through TweakUi to the
Documents and Setttings\,username. directory and back to my custom
directory, all to no avail. The desktop.ini files are there in all 4
folders, with the right attributes and contents, the folder templates are
work right, all the hassle is the missing icons and changed filenames.

Thank you for reading through all that thorough explanation of the problem,
and please, can anyone tell me what can I do to correct the problem?

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

If you remove the Read-only or System attribute from a folder, it may appear as a ordinary folder and some customizations may be lost. For example, Windows customizes the Fonts folder and provides a special folder view that permits you to hide variations, such as bold and italic. It also permits you to change the folder's view settings in ways that are specific to fonts. If you remove the Read-only and System attributes of the Fonts folder, these customized view settings are not available. For folders that you have customized by using the Customize tab of the folder's Properties dialog box, the folder icon and other other customizations may be lost when you remove the Read-only attribute.

If a program cannot save files to a folder with the Read-only attribute, such as My Documents, change the Read-only attribute to System by using the Attrib command at a command prompt.

For example, to change the Read-only attribute to System for the C:\Test folder, use the following command:
attrib -r +s c:\test
Note that some programs may not operate correctly with folders that have the System attribute set. To remove both the Read-only and System attributes from the C:\Test folder, use the following command:
attrib -r -s c:\test

Extracted from KB326549: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326549
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I've had the 'My Documents', 'My Pictures', 'My Music' and 'My Videos'
folders moved from the default directory (root\Documents and
settings\<username>) to an external hard disc, with the pictures, music,
videos folders not in the Documents folder, but under the same directory
with it (a la Vista). Also, the folders were named 'Documents', 'Pictures',
'Music' and 'Videos' but having made the proper moving of the special folder
associations through TweakUI XP, they would appear with their correct 'My'
prefix and folder template and icons.

However, after the desktop.ini files in those folders somehow lost their
system and hidden attributes, I deleted them. I then copied another properly
attributed desktop.ini file I found somewhere on my pc in each of the 4
folders, and changed the contents of each one to the default values I found
in http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_f.htm#faq3_my_documents.

After restarting, I found that the Documents folder hadn't gotten it's icon
back (displaying only the generic folder icon instead) though the other 3
folders had. In the Start Menu, though, the My Documents shortcut displays
the correct icon, but the Pictures and Music shorcuts display generic folder
icons. Also, the names of the folders didn't get the 'My' prefix except for
the My Documents shortcut in the start menu. Overall, the problem is
displayed in this screenshot:

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i64/billerr/scrnsht.jpg

I tried using the "regserv32 mydocs.dll" fix, using the "rundll32
mydocs.dll,PerUserInit" fix, I even tried deleting the BagMRU and Bags
registry keys from HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam,
and also moving the special folder association through TweakUi to the
Documents and Setttings\,username. directory and back to my custom
directory, all to no avail. The desktop.ini files are there in all 4
folders, with the right attributes and contents, the folder templates are
work right, all the hassle is the missing icons and changed filenames.

Thank you for reading through all that thorough explanation of the problem,
and please, can anyone tell me what can I do to correct the problem?

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Sorry! misread the question. Will reply back shortly.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


If you remove the Read-only or System attribute from a folder, it may appear as a ordinary folder and some customizations may be lost. For example, Windows customizes the Fonts folder and provides a special folder view that permits you to hide variations, such as bold and italic. It also permits you to change the folder's view settings in ways that are specific to fonts. If you remove the Read-only and System attributes of the Fonts folder, these customized view settings are not available. For folders that you have customized by using the Customize tab of the folder's Properties dialog box, the folder icon and other other customizations may be lost when you remove the Read-only attribute.

If a program cannot save files to a folder with the Read-only attribute, such as My Documents, change the Read-only attribute to System by using the Attrib command at a command prompt.

For example, to change the Read-only attribute to System for the C:\Test folder, use the following command:
attrib -r +s c:\test
Note that some programs may not operate correctly with folders that have the System attribute set. To remove both the Read-only and System attributes from the C:\Test folder, use the following command:
attrib -r -s c:\test

Extracted from KB326549: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326549
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com

orrect the problem?

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Although I can reproduce the symptoms exactly as in your case, the Start menu icons for "Pictures" and "Music" are fixed automatically after a reboot. If that does not work for you, you may try repairing the icons using TweakUI.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Sorry! misread the question. Will reply back shortly.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


If you remove the Read-only or System attribute from a folder, it may appear as a ordinary folder and some customizations may be lost. For example, Windows customizes the Fonts folder and provides a special folder view that permits you to hide variations, such as bold and italic. It also permits you to change the folder's view settings in ways that are specific to fonts. If you remove the Read-only and System attributes of the Fonts folder, these customized view settings are not available. For folders that you have customized by using the Customize tab of the folder's Properties dialog box, the folder icon and other other customizations may be lost when you remove the Read-only attribute.

If a program cannot save files to a folder with the Read-only attribute, such as My Documents, change the Read-only attribute to System by using the Attrib command at a command prompt.

For example, to change the Read-only attribute to System for the C:\Test folder, use the following command:
attrib -r +s c:\test
Note that some programs may not operate correctly with folders that have the System attribute set. To remove both the Read-only and System attributes from the C:\Test folder, use the following command:
attrib -r -s c:\test

Extracted from KB326549: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326549
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com

orrect the problem?

 

[Bill G.]

Thank you very much for your help, the icons in the start menu are fixed
now. However, the names of the folders are still missing the virtual 'My'
prefix, and the Documents folder still has its generic folder icon in
Windows Explorer (i.e. everywhere except the Start Menu and the places bar
in Open/Save As dialog boxes). I haven't got a clue on how to get those
thingies fixed.

Although I can reproduce the symptoms exactly as in your case, the Start
menu icons for "Pictures" and "Music" are fixed automatically after a
reboot. If that does not work for you, you may try repairing the icons using
TweakUI.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Sorry! misread the question. Will reply back shortly.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


If you remove the Read-only or System attribute from a folder, it may appear
as a ordinary folder and some customizations may be lost. For example,
Windows customizes the Fonts folder and provides a special folder view that
permits you to hide variations, such as bold and italic. It also permits you
to change the folder's view settings in ways that are specific to fonts. If
you remove the Read-only and System attributes of the Fonts folder, these
customized view settings are not available. For folders that you have
customized by using the Customize tab of the folder's Properties dialog box,
the folder icon and other other customizations may be lost when you remove
the Read-only attribute.

If a program cannot save files to a folder with the Read-only attribute,
such as My Documents, change the Read-only attribute to System by using the
Attrib command at a command prompt.

For example, to change the Read-only attribute to System for the C:\Test
folder, use the following command:
attrib -r +s c:\test
Note that some programs may not operate correctly with folders that have the
System attribute set. To remove both the Read-only and System attributes
from the C:\Test folder, use the following command:
attrib -r -s c:\test

Extracted from KB326549: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326549
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com

orrect the problem?

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Documents folder still has its generic folder icon in Windows Explorer

To fix the "Documents" folder icon, you'll need to edit the Desktop.ini (remove the System and Read-only attributes before editing) and include the following lines in it:

------------
[.ShellClassInfo]
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\mydocs.dll
IconIndex=0
------------

Save the file and set the attributes (H or R).


I will have to investigate this!

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Thank you very much for your help, the icons in the start menu are fixed
now. However, the names of the folders are still missing the virtual 'My'
prefix, and the Documents folder still has its generic folder icon in
Windows Explorer (i.e. everywhere except the Start Menu and the places bar
in Open/Save As dialog boxes). I haven't got a clue on how to get those
thingies fixed.

Although I can reproduce the symptoms exactly as in your case, the Start
menu icons for "Pictures" and "Music" are fixed automatically after a
reboot. If that does not work for you, you may try repairing the icons using
TweakUI.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Sorry! misread the question. Will reply back shortly.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


If you remove the Read-only or System attribute from a folder, it may appear
as a ordinary folder and some customizations may be lost. For example,
Windows customizes the Fonts folder and provides a special folder view that
permits you to hide variations, such as bold and italic. It also permits you
to change the folder's view settings in ways that are specific to fonts. If
you remove the Read-only and System attributes of the Fonts folder, these
customized view settings are not available. For folders that you have
customized by using the Customize tab of the folder's Properties dialog box,
the folder icon and other other customizations may be lost when you remove
the Read-only attribute.

If a program cannot save files to a folder with the Read-only attribute,
such as My Documents, change the Read-only attribute to System by using the
Attrib command at a command prompt.

For example, to change the Read-only attribute to System for the C:\Test
folder, use the following command:
attrib -r +s c:\test
Note that some programs may not operate correctly with folders that have the
System attribute set. To remove both the Read-only and System attributes
from the C:\Test folder, use the following command:
attrib -r -s c:\test

Extracted from KB326549: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326549
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com

orrect the problem?

 

[Bill G.]

Thanks again! The wird thing is that most solutions to the special folders/
desktop.ini problems, do not include the [shell class info] section in the
fix for the documents folder, only the [deleteOnCopy] section, although that
is half the solution. Thank God there are the MVPs around!

I hope a solution also can be found for the "My" thingie! Thanks in advance!


To fix the "Documents" folder icon, you'll need to edit the Desktop.ini
(remove the System and Read-only attributes before editing) and include the
following lines in it:

------------
[.ShellClassInfo]
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\mydocs.dll
IconIndex=0
------------

Save the file and set the attributes (H or R).


I will have to investigate this!

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Thank you very much for your help, the icons in the start menu are fixed
now. However, the names of the folders are still missing the virtual 'My'
prefix, and the Documents folder still has its generic folder icon in
Windows Explorer (i.e. everywhere except the Start Menu and the places bar
in Open/Save As dialog boxes). I haven't got a clue on how to get those
thingies fixed.

Although I can reproduce the symptoms exactly as in your case, the Start
menu icons for "Pictures" and "Music" are fixed automatically after a
reboot. If that does not work for you, you may try repairing the icons using
TweakUI.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Sorry! misread the question. Will reply back shortly.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


If you remove the Read-only or System attribute from a folder, it may appear
as a ordinary folder and some customizations may be lost. For example,
Windows customizes the Fonts folder and provides a special folder view that
permits you to hide variations, such as bold and italic. It also permits you
to change the folder's view settings in ways that are specific to fonts. If
you remove the Read-only and System attributes of the Fonts folder, these
customized view settings are not available. For folders that you have
customized by using the Customize tab of the folder's Properties dialog box,
the folder icon and other other customizations may be lost when you remove
the Read-only attribute.

If a program cannot save files to a folder with the Read-only attribute,
such as My Documents, change the Read-only attribute to System by using the
Attrib command at a command prompt.

For example, to change the Read-only attribute to System for the C:\Test
folder, use the following command:
attrib -r +s c:\test
Note that some programs may not operate correctly with folders that have the
System attribute set. To remove both the Read-only and System attributes
from the C:\Test folder, use the following command:
attrib -r -s c:\test

Extracted from KB326549: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326549
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com

orrect the problem?

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

You're welcome, Bill. Still haven't found a solution for the "My" prefix thing.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Thanks again! The wird thing is that most solutions to the special folders/
desktop.ini problems, do not include the [shell class info] section in the
fix for the documents folder, only the [deleteOnCopy] section, although that
is half the solution. Thank God there are the MVPs around!

I hope a solution also can be found for the "My" thingie! Thanks in advance!


To fix the "Documents" folder icon, you'll need to edit the Desktop.ini
(remove the System and Read-only attributes before editing) and include the
following lines in it:

------------
[.ShellClassInfo]
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\mydocs.dll
IconIndex=0
------------

Save the file and set the attributes (H or R).


I will have to investigate this!

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

"My Documents" folder is displayed with a generic icon after relocation:
http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/176/1/

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


You're welcome, Bill. Still haven't found a solution for the "My" prefix thing.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
WindowsR Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Thanks again! The wird thing is that most solutions to the special folders/
desktop.ini problems, do not include the [shell class info] section in the
fix for the documents folder, only the [deleteOnCopy] section, although that
is half the solution. Thank God there are the MVPs around!

I hope a solution also can be found for the "My" thingie! Thanks in advance!


To fix the "Documents" folder icon, you'll need to edit the Desktop.ini
(remove the System and Read-only attributes before editing) and include the
following lines in it:

------------
[.ShellClassInfo]
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\mydocs.dll
IconIndex=0
------------

Save the file and set the attributes (H or R).


I will have to investigate this!