Vista changed folders to shortcuts - now access is denied

[Guest]

THIRD time trying to post this - site is refusing posts?

Any way,
For some unknwon reason, Vista decided to change several important folder
into shortcuts and when trying to access them, I get "...c:\foldername\... is
not accesible Access is denied."

Most importantly the following folders of the loggged-on user are
inaccesible and access is nedied:

User\Documents\...
My Videos
My Music
My Pictures

also... Folders such as

Application Data
Cookies
Local Settings
NetHood
PrintHood
Recent
are shortcuts now and access is denied.

also,

off the root c:\ the following were changed and inaccesible
Documents and Settings
Users\All Isers
Users\Default User

As it stands, I can get more use from my $1.99 hand-held calculator than I
can from this $2k machine with Vista.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Shell

This is a common problem for users that are looking for the same folder
structure in Vista that were used to seeing in XP.

The folders you are looking at that appear to be shortcuts are called a
Junction or Symbolic Link. These folders are used for backward
compatibility, mostly for installation programs that are looking for an old
system folder location. They appear where a system folder location, that was
part of a previous version of Windows, has been changed in Vista. When an
older installation program is installed, these folders will redirect the
installation program to the proper folder in Vista. These folders contain no
user information.

You can use a command prompt to locate the new folder that the Junction
points to.

Press WINKEY+R and type cmd and press OK.

The command window should open at the C:\Users\<username> folder.

Type: dir /ahL and press the ENTER key. (Note the space in the
command)

The result will be a list of folders on the C: drive, here is an example.

<date> <time> <JUNCTION> SendTo
[C:\Users\<username>AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo]

This shows the old name of the folder (SendTo) with the path to the new
location in brackets.

It would be a good idea to print this list for future reference.


For reference, Here is the list of Junctions for a standard, clean
installation of Vista Ultimate on the C: drive. Office 2007 is installed.
Your results may be different because of different software being installed.

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6000]

C:\Users\username>dir /ahl

Directory of C:\Users\<username>

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Application Data
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Cookies
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Local Settings
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> My Documents [C:\Users\<username>\Documents]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> NetHood
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> PrintHood
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Recent
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> SendTo
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Start Menu
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION>
TEMPLATE[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates


(Where "<username>" is the name of the account you are currently logged onto
the system with.)

The "My" designation for a user folder has been retired, so the old "My"
Documents is now called simply Documents.

 

[Guest]

Informative response on junctions -- thanks. Now, remaining question is
whether or not these can be safely deleted?

Shell

This is a common problem for users that are looking for the same folder
structure in Vista that were used to seeing in XP.

The folders you are looking at that appear to be shortcuts are called a
Junction or Symbolic Link. These folders are used for backward
compatibility, mostly for installation programs that are looking for an old
system folder location. They appear where a system folder location, that was
part of a previous version of Windows, has been changed in Vista. When an
older installation program is installed, these folders will redirect the
installation program to the proper folder in Vista. These folders contain no
user information.

You can use a command prompt to locate the new folder that the Junction
points to.

Press WINKEY+R and type cmd and press OK.

The command window should open at the C:\Users\<username> folder.

Type: dir /ahL and press the ENTER key. (Note the space in the
command)

The result will be a list of folders on the C: drive, here is an example.

<date> <time> <JUNCTION> SendTo
[C:\Users\<username>AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo]

This shows the old name of the folder (SendTo) with the path to the new
location in brackets.

It would be a good idea to print this list for future reference.


For reference, Here is the list of Junctions for a standard, clean
installation of Vista Ultimate on the C: drive. Office 2007 is installed.
Your results may be different because of different software being installed.

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6000]

C:\Users\username>dir /ahl

Directory of C:\Users\<username>

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Application Data
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Cookies
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Local Settings
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> My Documents [C:\Users\<username>\Documents]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> NetHood
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> PrintHood
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Recent
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> SendTo
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Start Menu
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION>
TEMPLATE[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates


(Where "<username>" is the name of the account you are currently logged onto
the system with.)

The "My" designation for a user folder has been retired, so the old "My"
Documents is now called simply Documents.
--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

THIRD time trying to post this - site is refusing posts?

Any way,
For some unknwon reason, Vista decided to change several important folder
into shortcuts and when trying to access them, I get "...c:\foldername\...
is
not accesible Access is denied."

Most importantly the following folders of the loggged-on user are
inaccesible and access is nedied:

User\Documents\...
My Videos
My Music
My Pictures

also... Folders such as

Application Data
Cookies
Local Settings
NetHood
PrintHood
Recent
are shortcuts now and access is denied.

also,

off the root c:\ the following were changed and inaccesible
Documents and Settings
Users\All Isers
Users\Default User

As it stands, I can get more use from my $1.99 hand-held calculator than I
can from this $2k machine with Vista.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

No. If you delete the Junctions, you will kill the compatibility for legacy
installs? Without the junctions, these installs will either display an error
or simply fail.

If you don't want to see these folders, just select to not show hidden files
and folders in the folders options.

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

Informative response on junctions -- thanks. Now, remaining question is
whether or not these can be safely deleted?

Shell

This is a common problem for users that are looking for the same folder
structure in Vista that were used to seeing in XP.

The folders you are looking at that appear to be shortcuts are called a
Junction or Symbolic Link. These folders are used for backward
compatibility, mostly for installation programs that are looking for an
old
system folder location. They appear where a system folder location, that
was
part of a previous version of Windows, has been changed in Vista. When an
older installation program is installed, these folders will redirect the
installation program to the proper folder in Vista. These folders contain
no
user information.

You can use a command prompt to locate the new folder that the Junction
points to.

Press WINKEY+R and type cmd and press OK.

The command window should open at the C:\Users\<username> folder.

Type: dir /ahL and press the ENTER key. (Note the space in the
command)

The result will be a list of folders on the C: drive, here is an example.

<date> <time> <JUNCTION> SendTo
[C:\Users\<username>AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo]

This shows the old name of the folder (SendTo) with the path to the new
location in brackets.

It would be a good idea to print this list for future reference.


For reference, Here is the list of Junctions for a standard, clean
installation of Vista Ultimate on the C: drive. Office 2007 is installed.
Your results may be different because of different software being
installed.

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6000]

C:\Users\username>dir /ahl

Directory of C:\Users\<username>

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Application Data
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Cookies
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Local Settings
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> My Documents
[C:\Users\<username>\Documents]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> NetHood
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> PrintHood
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Recent
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> SendTo
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Start Menu
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION>
TEMPLATE[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates


(Where "<username>" is the name of the account you are currently logged
onto
the system with.)

The "My" designation for a user folder has been retired, so the old "My"
Documents is now called simply Documents.
--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

THIRD time trying to post this - site is refusing posts?

Any way,
For some unknwon reason, Vista decided to change several important
folder
into shortcuts and when trying to access them, I get
"...c:\foldername\...
is
not accesible Access is denied."

Most importantly the following folders of the loggged-on user are
inaccesible and access is nedied:

User\Documents\...
My Videos
My Music
My Pictures

also... Folders such as

Application Data
Cookies
Local Settings
NetHood
PrintHood
Recent
are shortcuts now and access is denied.

also,

off the root c:\ the following were changed and inaccesible
Documents and Settings
Users\All Isers
Users\Default User

As it stands, I can get more use from my $1.99 hand-held calculator
than I
can from this $2k machine with Vista.

 

[Guest]

Mr. Vernon,

Thank you so, so, so much!

I was well aware of the junction issue, but couldn't find ANYWHERE on
Microsoft's Knowledge Base or Product Solution Centers how to determine what
junctions pointed where (besides the basic My Documents, My Music, etc.)

I didn't have a choice about upgrading to Vista when I did, as my old
computer's hard drive fried and the entire laptop was replaced under
warranty. Thanks to a ridiculous daisy chain (Ubuntu boot disk on fried
formerly-WinXP laptop, fiance's laptop running Mac OSX, my desktop running
Win2000, and an external hard drive with NTFS partitions, none of which would
talk to anything to which they were not directly connected), I had copies of
all my data, but I was thus far unable to
figure out how the heck to restore certain portions of my application data.
Some of my programs (including one I need for one of my jobs) required manual
movement of data into the appropriate directories (such as c:\documents and
settings\[username]\application data) if one didn't want to completely start
from scratch. Stupid library files.

Anyway, you're now my hero. Thanks again for a clear, well-written,
well-explained walkthrough detailing ALL the junction issues.

Lessa1326

Shell

This is a common problem for users that are looking for the same folder
structure in Vista that were used to seeing in XP.

The folders you are looking at that appear to be shortcuts are called a
Junction or Symbolic Link. These folders are used for backward
compatibility, mostly for installation programs that are looking for an old
system folder location. They appear where a system folder location, that was
part of a previous version of Windows, has been changed in Vista. When an
older installation program is installed, these folders will redirect the
installation program to the proper folder in Vista. These folders contain no
user information.

You can use a command prompt to locate the new folder that the Junction
points to.

Press WINKEY+R and type cmd and press OK.

The command window should open at the C:\Users\<username> folder.

Type: dir /ahL and press the ENTER key. (Note the space in the
command)

The result will be a list of folders on the C: drive, here is an example.

<date> <time> <JUNCTION> SendTo
[C:\Users\<username>AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo]

This shows the old name of the folder (SendTo) with the path to the new
location in brackets.

It would be a good idea to print this list for future reference.


For reference, Here is the list of Junctions for a standard, clean
installation of Vista Ultimate on the C: drive. Office 2007 is installed.
Your results may be different because of different software being installed.

 

[dean-dean]

Deleting a junction using explorer is not safe — it will delete the targeted
files immediately as if using shift-delete.
If the junction is sent to the Recycle Bin, the targeted files will look
safe, but will be deleted when the Recycle Bin is emptied.

Informative response on junctions -- thanks. Now, remaining question is
whether or not these can be safely deleted?

Shell

This is a common problem for users that are looking for the same folder
structure in Vista that were used to seeing in XP.

The folders you are looking at that appear to be shortcuts are called a
Junction or Symbolic Link. These folders are used for backward
compatibility, mostly for installation programs that are looking for an
old
system folder location. They appear where a system folder location, that
was
part of a previous version of Windows, has been changed in Vista. When an
older installation program is installed, these folders will redirect the
installation program to the proper folder in Vista. These folders contain
no
user information.

You can use a command prompt to locate the new folder that the Junction
points to.

Press WINKEY+R and type cmd and press OK.

The command window should open at the C:\Users\<username> folder.

Type: dir /ahL and press the ENTER key. (Note the space in the
command)

The result will be a list of folders on the C: drive, here is an example.

<date> <time> <JUNCTION> SendTo
[C:\Users\<username>AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo]

This shows the old name of the folder (SendTo) with the path to the new
location in brackets.

It would be a good idea to print this list for future reference.


For reference, Here is the list of Junctions for a standard, clean
installation of Vista Ultimate on the C: drive. Office 2007 is installed.
Your results may be different because of different software being
installed.

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6000]

C:\Users\username>dir /ahl

Directory of C:\Users\<username>

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Application Data
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Cookies
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Local Settings
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> My Documents
[C:\Users\<username>\Documents]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> NetHood
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> PrintHood
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Recent
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> SendTo
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION> Start Menu
[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu]

12/13/2006 03:15 PM <JUNCTION>
TEMPLATE[C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates


(Where "<username>" is the name of the account you are currently logged
onto
the system with.)

The "My" designation for a user folder has been retired, so the old "My"
Documents is now called simply Documents.
--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

THIRD time trying to post this - site is refusing posts?

Any way,
For some unknwon reason, Vista decided to change several important
folder
into shortcuts and when trying to access them, I get
"...c:\foldername\...
is
not accesible Access is denied."

Most importantly the following folders of the loggged-on user are
inaccesible and access is nedied:

User\Documents\...
My Videos
My Music
My Pictures

also... Folders such as

Application Data
Cookies
Local Settings
NetHood
PrintHood
Recent
are shortcuts now and access is denied.

also,

off the root c:\ the following were changed and inaccesible
Documents and Settings
Users\All Isers
Users\Default User

As it stands, I can get more use from my $1.99 hand-held calculator
than I
can from this $2k machine with Vista.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Lessa1326

Your welcome and thank you for the kind words, you made my day.

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

Mr. Vernon,

Thank you so, so, so much!

I was well aware of the junction issue, but couldn't find ANYWHERE on
Microsoft's Knowledge Base or Product Solution Centers how to determine
what
junctions pointed where (besides the basic My Documents, My Music, etc.)

I didn't have a choice about upgrading to Vista when I did, as my old
computer's hard drive fried and the entire laptop was replaced under
warranty. Thanks to a ridiculous daisy chain (Ubuntu boot disk on fried
formerly-WinXP laptop, fiance's laptop running Mac OSX, my desktop running
Win2000, and an external hard drive with NTFS partitions, none of which
would
talk to anything to which they were not directly connected), I had copies
of
all my data, but I was thus far unable to
figure out how the heck to restore certain portions of my application
data.
Some of my programs (including one I need for one of my jobs) required
manual
movement of data into the appropriate directories (such as c:\documents
and
settings\[username]\application data) if one didn't want to completely
start
from scratch. Stupid library files.

Anyway, you're now my hero. Thanks again for a clear, well-written,
well-explained walkthrough detailing ALL the junction issues.

Lessa1326

Shell

This is a common problem for users that are looking for the same folder
structure in Vista that were used to seeing in XP.

The folders you are looking at that appear to be shortcuts are called a
Junction or Symbolic Link. These folders are used for backward
compatibility, mostly for installation programs that are looking for an
old
system folder location. They appear where a system folder location, that
was
part of a previous version of Windows, has been changed in Vista. When an
older installation program is installed, these folders will redirect the
installation program to the proper folder in Vista. These folders contain
no
user information.

You can use a command prompt to locate the new folder that the Junction
points to.

Press WINKEY+R and type cmd and press OK.

The command window should open at the C:\Users\<username> folder.

Type: dir /ahL and press the ENTER key. (Note the space in the
command)

The result will be a list of folders on the C: drive, here is an example.

<date> <time> <JUNCTION> SendTo
[C:\Users\<username>AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo]

This shows the old name of the folder (SendTo) with the path to the new
location in brackets.

It would be a good idea to print this list for future reference.


For reference, Here is the list of Junctions for a standard, clean
installation of Vista Ultimate on the C: drive. Office 2007 is installed.
Your results may be different because of different software being
installed.

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User