user directories

[Guest]

I've noticed that my system is duplicating much of my data in the following
two locations:

C:\Documents and Settings\username\
C:\WINDOWS\system32\username\

For example, My Documents, Desktop, Favorites, Userdata...

"My Documents" maps to "C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents"
but when I place files there, they eventually show up in
"C:\WINDOWS\system32\username\My Documents" too and I can't figure out when
and why. Of course, this is especially a problem when you are storing big
files in My Documents.

Thanks in advance for any insight.
Mark

 

[Sharon F]

I've noticed that my system is duplicating much of my data in the following
two locations:

C:\Documents and Settings\username\
C:\WINDOWS\system32\username\

For example, My Documents, Desktop, Favorites, Userdata...

"My Documents" maps to "C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents"
but when I place files there, they eventually show up in
"C:\WINDOWS\system32\username\My Documents" too and I can't figure out when
and why. Of course, this is especially a problem when you are storing big
files in My Documents.

Thanks in advance for any insight.
Mark

The My Documents under Documents and Settings is the default location in XP
for a user's personal files.

XP does not add (or maintain on its own) a .\windows\system32\username\
hierarchy. This is coming from somewhere else. A Windows server? SQL?

 

[Guest]

That's what I thought. But who else would maintain .\windows\system32\username\
hierarchy? The contents are almost exactly like .\Documents and
Settings\username.

I've searched for registry entries that point to \windows\system32\username\
but found none.

The only thing I can think of is the fact that my username was changed a
while ago, it was after this change that I noticed the problem.

 

[Sharon F]

That's what I thought. But who else would maintain .\windows\system32\username\
hierarchy? The contents are almost exactly like .\Documents and
Settings\username.

I've searched for registry entries that point to \windows\system32\username\
but found none.

The only thing I can think of is the fact that my username was changed a
while ago, it was after this change that I noticed the problem.

Do you keep a My Documents shortcut anywhere? Check its properties to see
what your XP setup is using for its location.

If this system was upgraded from another version of Windows, the user info
from \system32\user\ should have totally migrated to the Documents and
Settings. There may be a program installed (was present before the XP
upgrade) that is still directing files to the \system32\ folders. You'll
need to pay close attention to which files, created by which program are
heading to this location. If you can determine the app, then check its
settings for an option to change the Save location for the files it
creates.

If on a domain, the network administrator may use that location for
managing users. Talk to the admin.

Don't know much about SQL and how that data gets managed. I only mentioned
it because it was mentioned in the Google search results for
"\system32\username" You may want to run that search at google and review
the hits under Web and Groups. You may find a lead that fits your situation
and that could help you to get this worked out.

 

[Guest]

I think the problem went away when I changed my user profile type from
"Roaming" to "Local". Yes I am on a corporate domain. I'm not sure why this
fixes the problem or why the problem occurred but I think I am good to go
now. Thanks for the help!
-mark

 

[Sharon F]

I think the problem went away when I changed my user profile type from
"Roaming" to "Local". Yes I am on a corporate domain. I'm not sure why this
fixes the problem or why the problem occurred but I think I am good to go
now. Thanks for the help!

Am glad to hear you have this sorted to a point. I believe that the
system32\username folders are handled by the domain server. Not experienced
with domains but it sounds like this is what is creating those folders.
Possibly some profile synchronization going on that isn't matching up with
the Documents and Settings of XP.