Deleting virtual folders in the user profile

Does anyone know of a way to remove the virtual folder links that appea
under your username in Explorer? I mean the folders like "Videos"
"Searches" and "Links"

I know some of these folders serve an important purpose (like "Links"
"Favorites", "Contacts", "Desktop"), but I'd like to move them somewher
else and not have them clutter up the tree view when I'm trying t
navigate around my files in Explorer

I can move them to another physical location (using the Location tab o
the properties window), but when I go back to Explorer, links to the
appear as sub-folders as though they were still in my userprofil
directory. This really winds me up -- I think I should be allowed t
organise my own file system, without Microsoft deciding what folders
need

--
Zeyn

Hi Zeyn,

Welcome to the Vistax64 Forums.

These are links to folders Vista uses to store various file types (whe
you save a .jpeg the first time windows offers pictures as the folder t
save in). When you move the folder using locations, the virtual folde
link is updated.

Seems that if you delete the virtual folder, you also delete the actua
folder. The only thing I've figured out is that you can create a ne
folder and put all the unused virtual folders inside. If you name i
'ZZZ' it should end up at the end of all the links. At least things ar
cleaned up a bit and out of the way.

Hope this helps.
Gar

--
garysgol

Vista Home Premium SP1 Q6600 Quad Core 2.40 GHz 4 GB Ram 800 MHz Nvidi
8600GTS 256MB 500 GB HD Exp. Index=5.5

I don't know of any way to accomplish exactly what you want. As a
workaround, you could:

Hide the actual UserProfile folder by adding an entry under:

[HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Pol icies\NonEnum]

named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee} with a value of 1.

Create a 'fake' UserProfile folder on the desktop and use directory
junctions (google for mklink) to create shortcuts to the User folders you do
want displayed.

That folder would show below the system folders in the folder pane. If you
wanted it with the system folders, you could create a shell extension:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms997573.aspx


--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]



"Zeyn" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> Does anyone know of a way to remove the virtual folder links that appear
> under your username in Explorer? I mean the folders like "Videos",
> "Searches" and "Links".
>
> I know some of these folders serve an important purpose (like "Links",
> "Favorites", "Contacts", "Desktop"), but I'd like to move them somewhere
> else and not have them clutter up the tree view when I'm trying to
> navigate around my files in Explorer.
>
> I can move them to another physical location (using the Location tab on
> the properties window), but when I go back to Explorer, links to them
> appear as sub-folders as though they were still in my userprofile
> directory. This really winds me up -- I think I should be allowed to
> organise my own file system, without Microsoft deciding what folders I
> need!
>
>
> --
> Zeyn

" Keith Miller (MVP)" <> wrote in message
news:7C983DBE-BF59-4C01-9AC9-...
>I don't know of any way to accomplish exactly what you want. As a
>workaround, you could:
>
> Hide the actual UserProfile folder by adding an entry under:
>
> [HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Pol icies\NonEnum]
>
> named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee} with a value of 1.
>
> Create a 'fake' UserProfile folder on the desktop and use directory
> junctions (google for mklink) to create shortcuts to the User folders you
> do want displayed.
>
> That folder would show below the system folders in the folder pane. If
> you wanted it with the system folders, you could create a shell extension:
>
> http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms997573.aspx


Yeah, that is what I do, I think. I move the User Shell Folders, using the
Location tab, and then make hidden Junction Points, pointing to the new
locations, using MKLINK. I just do not understand why the term 'virtual
folders' is being used here.

ss.

They have a 'virtual' namespace location of:

Desktop\UserProfileFolder\UserShellFolder

regardless of where the folder resides in the file system.

--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]



"Synapse Syndrome" <> wrote in message
news:%...
>" Keith Miller (MVP)" <> wrote in message
>news:7C983DBE-BF59-4C01-9AC9-...
>>I don't know of any way to accomplish exactly what you want. As a
>>workaround, you could:
>>
>> Hide the actual UserProfile folder by adding an entry under:
>>
>> [HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Pol icies\NonEnum]
>>
>> named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee} with a value of 1.
>>
>> Create a 'fake' UserProfile folder on the desktop and use directory
>> junctions (google for mklink) to create shortcuts to the User folders you
>> do want displayed.
>>
>> That folder would show below the system folders in the folder pane. If
>> you wanted it with the system folders, you could create a shell
>> extension:
>>
>> http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms997573.aspx
>
>
> Yeah, that is what I do, I think. I move the User Shell Folders, using
> the Location tab, and then make hidden Junction Points, pointing to the
> new locations, using MKLINK. I just do not understand why the term
> 'virtual folders' is being used here.
>
> ss.
>

" Keith Miller (MVP)" <> wrote in message
news:...
> They have a 'virtual' namespace location of:
>
> Desktop\UserProfileFolder\UserShellFolder
>
> regardless of where the folder resides in the file system.


Oh yes, I forgot about that. I guess it's time for me to fire up Vista
again..

By the way, this would explains the problem that 'mataeux' is having, but
nobody has replied.

ss.

Thanks very much for your replies, especially Keith. Based on your
suggestions I've found a setup I'm happy with.

I couldn't get the Shell Instance Object instructions from the MSDN
article to work, possibly things have changed in Vista, but then I found
an excellent program called Shell Object Editor that does the job
automatically:
http://www.tropictech.de/modules/PDd...hp?cid=1&lid=5
You need to run it as Administrator under Vista for it to be able to
make the correct registry changes.

Following a suggestion from the Shell Object Editor webpage, I then
navigated to the newly created CLSID, and added a DWORD value called
SortOrderIndex. If this is set to a small enough value (0x12 worked for
me), the new shell folder will appear before "Public" and "Computer" in
Explorer, exactly like the real userprofile folder.

I didn't really get on with the idea of using junctions within my new
shell folder, as these now have shortcut arrows in Vista (I'm just
fussy, and don't like how it looks with the arrows!). However I can
solve this by actually moving all the folders I want into the shell
folder (then it will be just like XP used to be, with a "My
Documents"-equivalent folder appearing in Explorer, and the
infrequent-access "system" folders like Favorites and Links out of the
way under C:\Users\username...).

-- Zeyn

Keith Miller \(MVP\);667468 Wrote:
> I don't know of any way to accomplish exactly what you want. As a
> workaround, you could:
>
> Hide the actual UserProfile folder by adding an entry under:
>
> [HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Pol icies\NonEnum]
>
> named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee} with a value of 1.
>
> Create a 'fake' UserProfile folder on the desktop and use directory
> junctions (google for mklink) to create shortcuts to the User folders
> you do
> want displayed.
>
> That folder would show below the system folders in the folder pane. If
> you
> wanted it with the system folders, you could create a shell extension:
>
> 'Creating Shell Extensions with Shell Instance Objects'
> (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms997573.aspx)
>
>


--
Zeyn

You're welcome. Glad you got everything the way you want. I knew about
Shell Object Editor but didn't have a link handy (got 5 yrs worth of info on
a currently unreadable hard drive

Glad you found out about SortOrderIndex. I tend to avoid too much detail in
initial responses until I'm sure the OP can find his way back and/or is
interested in the suggested solution.


--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]



"Zeyn" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> Thanks very much for your replies, especially Keith. Based on your
> suggestions I've found a setup I'm happy with.
>
> I couldn't get the Shell Instance Object instructions from the MSDN
> article to work, possibly things have changed in Vista, but then I found
> an excellent program called Shell Object Editor that does the job
> automatically:
> http://www.tropictech.de/modules/PDd...hp?cid=1&lid=5
> You need to run it as Administrator under Vista for it to be able to
> make the correct registry changes.
>
> Following a suggestion from the Shell Object Editor webpage, I then
> navigated to the newly created CLSID, and added a DWORD value called
> SortOrderIndex. If this is set to a small enough value (0x12 worked for
> me), the new shell folder will appear before "Public" and "Computer" in
> Explorer, exactly like the real userprofile folder.
>
> I didn't really get on with the idea of using junctions within my new
> shell folder, as these now have shortcut arrows in Vista (I'm just
> fussy, and don't like how it looks with the arrows!). However I can
> solve this by actually moving all the folders I want into the shell
> folder (then it will be just like XP used to be, with a "My
> Documents"-equivalent folder appearing in Explorer, and the
> infrequent-access "system" folders like Favorites and Links out of the
> way under C:\Users\username...).
>
> -- Zeyn
>
> Keith Miller \(MVP\);667468 Wrote:
>> I don't know of any way to accomplish exactly what you want. As a
>> workaround, you could:
>>
>> Hide the actual UserProfile folder by adding an entry under:
>>
>> [HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Pol icies\NonEnum]
>>
>> named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee} with a value of 1.
>>
>> Create a 'fake' UserProfile folder on the desktop and use directory
>> junctions (google for mklink) to create shortcuts to the User folders
>> you do
>> want displayed.
>>
>> That folder would show below the system folders in the folder pane. If
>> you
>> wanted it with the system folders, you could create a shell extension:
>>
>> 'Creating Shell Extensions with Shell Instance Objects'
>> (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms997573.aspx)
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Zeyn