Vista user folder

In XP, user files are stored in Mydocuments, which can be moved by changing
the location. I used to change the location to my D: so that i wont lost my
files each time i reinstall my XP.

But in Vista, i cant find the Location button by right-click Properties. I
have to change the Location for each folder (Music, Picture, Contact etc)
one by one.

Is that the only way in Vista?

Kent

I think this offers all the info you need:
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/10...-location.html

Be sure to read the entire article and comments to the end. And save it for
future reference. You're going to need it.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"Kent88" <> wrote in message
news:eea%...
> In XP, user files are stored in Mydocuments, which can be moved by
> changing the location. I used to change the location to my D: so that i
> wont lost my files each time i reinstall my XP.
>
> But in Vista, i cant find the Location button by right-click Properties. I
> have to change the Location for each folder (Music, Picture, Contact etc)
> one by one.
>
> Is that the only way in Vista?
>
> Kent
>

From the description in the forum, it seems that i still have to move the
location one by one for each folder (Music, contact etc.) instead of the
whole user shell folder.
Im not sure because I cant see the screen snap shot even after i sign in to
this vista64 forum.

I would like to stress i wish to move the entire user shell folder ONCE.

"Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message
news:...
>I think this offers all the info you need:
> http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/10...-location.html
>
> Be sure to read the entire article and comments to the end. And save it
> for future reference. You're going to need it.
>
> --
> Gary S. Terhune
> MS-MVP Shell/User
> http://grystmill.com
>
> "Kent88" <> wrote in message
> news:eea%...
>> In XP, user files are stored in Mydocuments, which can be moved by
>> changing the location. I used to change the location to my D: so that i
>> wont lost my files each time i reinstall my XP.
>>
>> But in Vista, i cant find the Location button by right-click Properties.
>> I have to change the Location for each folder (Music, Picture, Contact
>> etc) one by one.
>>
>> Is that the only way in Vista?
>>
>> Kent
>>
>
>

Hi,

The short answer is you can't. You need to move the individual data folders
separately as, unlike XP, they are not all housed under one common data (My
Documents) folder. Each user data folder is a separate entity immediately
under the %userprofile%.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"Kent88" <> wrote in message
news:E497AD1A-2B44-4F6E-BF5A-...
> From the description in the forum, it seems that i still have to move the
> location one by one for each folder (Music, contact etc.) instead of the
> whole user shell folder.
> Im not sure because I cant see the screen snap shot even after i sign in
> to this vista64 forum.
>
> I would like to stress i wish to move the entire user shell folder ONCE.
>
> "Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message
> news:...
>>I think this offers all the info you need:
>> http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/10...-location.html
>>
>> Be sure to read the entire article and comments to the end. And save it
>> for future reference. You're going to need it.
>>
>> --
>> Gary S. Terhune
>> MS-MVP Shell/User
>> http://grystmill.com
>>
>> "Kent88" <> wrote in message
>> news:eea%...
>>> In XP, user files are stored in Mydocuments, which can be moved by
>>> changing the location. I used to change the location to my D: so that i
>>> wont lost my files each time i reinstall my XP.
>>>
>>> But in Vista, i cant find the Location button by right-click Properties.
>>> I have to change the Location for each folder (Music, Picture, Contact
>>> etc) one by one.
>>>
>>> Is that the only way in Vista?
>>>
>>> Kent
>>>
>>
>>
>

The entire %userprofile% folder is what he wants to move, intact. That is
what the article describes doing. I am personally going to perform the
operation today, just to see how well it behaves, though in most cases I
would split it up to a couple or three different partitions, anyway. I've
set up one that way for another person, but it seems to misbehave a lot. Not
certain if that's mostly Vista or mostly user error, or what. For instance,
Windows Live Messenger writes its Contacts info to %userprofile%\Contacts,
not to the location I moved the user's Contacts folder to, thus there is a
perpetual second folder in the virtual listing of the user's folders under
Desktop in Explorer.)

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"Rick Rogers" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi,
>
> The short answer is you can't. You need to move the individual data
> folders separately as, unlike XP, they are not all housed under one common
> data (My Documents) folder. Each user data folder is a separate entity
> immediately under the %userprofile%.
>
> --
> Best of Luck,
>
> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
> My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
>
> "Kent88" <> wrote in message
> news:E497AD1A-2B44-4F6E-BF5A-...
>> From the description in the forum, it seems that i still have to move the
>> location one by one for each folder (Music, contact etc.) instead of the
>> whole user shell folder.
>> Im not sure because I cant see the screen snap shot even after i sign in
>> to this vista64 forum.
>>
>> I would like to stress i wish to move the entire user shell folder ONCE.
>>
>> "Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>>I think this offers all the info you need:
>>> http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/10...-location.html
>>>
>>> Be sure to read the entire article and comments to the end. And save it
>>> for future reference. You're going to need it.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Gary S. Terhune
>>> MS-MVP Shell/User
>>> http://grystmill.com
>>>
>>> "Kent88" <> wrote in message
>>> news:eea%...
>>>> In XP, user files are stored in Mydocuments, which can be moved by
>>>> changing the location. I used to change the location to my D: so that i
>>>> wont lost my files each time i reinstall my XP.
>>>>
>>>> But in Vista, i cant find the Location button by right-click
>>>> Properties. I have to change the Location for each folder (Music,
>>>> Picture, Contact etc) one by one.
>>>>
>>>> Is that the only way in Vista?
>>>>
>>>> Kent
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>

I can only say that I just now signed up for the site, that it appears from
the way things are written that it takes a while for the Administrators to
review the application and grant full privileges. Until then, I can't know
what's up with the screen shots. I am also going to perform the procedure
myself, today, in order to see how it works. Do that and then install a
bunch of apps, most of them rather older. Should provide a decent test, but
if you're going to wait on me, don't expect any reports for several days.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"Kent88" <> wrote in message
news:E497AD1A-2B44-4F6E-BF5A-...
> From the description in the forum, it seems that i still have to move the
> location one by one for each folder (Music, contact etc.) instead of the
> whole user shell folder.
> Im not sure because I cant see the screen snap shot even after i sign in
> to this vista64 forum.
>
> I would like to stress i wish to move the entire user shell folder ONCE.
>
> "Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message
> news:...
>>I think this offers all the info you need:
>> http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/10...-location.html
>>
>> Be sure to read the entire article and comments to the end. And save it
>> for future reference. You're going to need it.
>>
>> --
>> Gary S. Terhune
>> MS-MVP Shell/User
>> http://grystmill.com
>>
>> "Kent88" <> wrote in message
>> news:eea%...
>>> In XP, user files are stored in Mydocuments, which can be moved by
>>> changing the location. I used to change the location to my D: so that i
>>> wont lost my files each time i reinstall my XP.
>>>
>>> But in Vista, i cant find the Location button by right-click Properties.
>>> I have to change the Location for each folder (Music, Picture, Contact
>>> etc) one by one.
>>>
>>> Is that the only way in Vista?
>>>
>>> Kent
>>>
>>
>>
>

To see the images, sign in. Site registration requires that you receive an
email accepting your application and that you activate the account using a
link provided in the email. When that's done, start over with the link I
gave you, sign in at the upper left and the images simply appear. No links
to deal with.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message
news:...
>I can only say that I just now signed up for the site, that it appears from
>the way things are written that it takes a while for the Administrators to
>review the application and grant full privileges. Until then, I can't know
>what's up with the screen shots. I am also going to perform the procedure
>myself, today, in order to see how it works. Do that and then install a
>bunch of apps, most of them rather older. Should provide a decent test, but
>if you're going to wait on me, don't expect any reports for several days.
>
> --
> Gary S. Terhune
> MS-MVP Shell/User
> http://grystmill.com
>
> "Kent88" <> wrote in message
> news:E497AD1A-2B44-4F6E-BF5A-...
>> From the description in the forum, it seems that i still have to move the
>> location one by one for each folder (Music, contact etc.) instead of the
>> whole user shell folder.
>> Im not sure because I cant see the screen snap shot even after i sign in
>> to this vista64 forum.
>>
>> I would like to stress i wish to move the entire user shell folder ONCE.
>>
>> "Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>>I think this offers all the info you need:
>>> http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/10...-location.html
>>>
>>> Be sure to read the entire article and comments to the end. And save it
>>> for future reference. You're going to need it.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Gary S. Terhune
>>> MS-MVP Shell/User
>>> http://grystmill.com
>>>
>>> "Kent88" <> wrote in message
>>> news:eea%...
>>>> In XP, user files are stored in Mydocuments, which can be moved by
>>>> changing the location. I used to change the location to my D: so that i
>>>> wont lost my files each time i reinstall my XP.
>>>>
>>>> But in Vista, i cant find the Location button by right-click
>>>> Properties. I have to change the Location for each folder (Music,
>>>> Picture, Contact etc) one by one.
>>>>
>>>> Is that the only way in Vista?
>>>>
>>>> Kent
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>

"Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message
news:...
> The entire %userprofile% folder is what he wants to move, intact. That is
> what the article describes doing.

No, it doesn't. It only describes how to move the contained User Shell
Folders. Moving the whole %userprofile% folder is a hell of a lot more
involved than that, and in my opinion, not recommended.

<snip>

> For instance, Windows Live Messenger writes its Contacts info to
> %userprofile%\Contacts, not to the location I moved the user's Contacts
> folder to, thus there is a perpetual second folder in the virtual listing
> of the user's folders under Desktop in Explorer.)

That would be easily sorted with a hidden Junction Point. This is some of
an earlier post of mine, which is related to all this:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
As %userprofile% contains the HKCU hive of the registry, you cannot move it
very easily. Without using Roaming User Profiles, you can do it with a lot
of registry editing, but I would expect that it would cause big problems if
the drive is unavailable to the OS for whatever reason. Here's a guy who
has manage to do it:

http://joshmouch.wordpress.com:80/20...tion-in-vista/

I just move the contained User Shell Folders to different drives, and even
network locations in some instances, and leave the User folder itself, where
it is, with the contained user registry hive and %appdata%.

The best way to do this is to move the folders to their new locations (even
network locations) and put hidden Symbolic Links in their places (using the
MKLINK command), pointing to the new locations. This allows you to use the
original addresses as usual, so completely avoids the issue you are having.


----------------------------------------------------------------------

ss.

Hmmm... After seeing everything one the site I linked to, it apparently
doesn't provide for moving entire %userprofile% folder, but I'm going to try
it, anyway (have to boot away from my main system, first. See ya!

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message
news:...
> The entire %userprofile% folder is what he wants to move, intact. That is
> what the article describes doing. I am personally going to perform the
> operation today, just to see how well it behaves, though in most cases I
> would split it up to a couple or three different partitions, anyway. I've
> set up one that way for another person, but it seems to misbehave a lot.
> Not certain if that's mostly Vista or mostly user error, or what. For
> instance, Windows Live Messenger writes its Contacts info to
> %userprofile%\Contacts, not to the location I moved the user's Contacts
> folder to, thus there is a perpetual second folder in the virtual listing
> of the user's folders under Desktop in Explorer.)
>
> --
> Gary S. Terhune
> MS-MVP Shell/User
> http://grystmill.com
>
> "Rick Rogers" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> Hi,
>>
>> The short answer is you can't. You need to move the individual data
>> folders separately as, unlike XP, they are not all housed under one
>> common data (My Documents) folder. Each user data folder is a separate
>> entity immediately under the %userprofile%.
>>
>> --
>> Best of Luck,
>>
>> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
>> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
>> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
>> My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
>>
>> "Kent88" <> wrote in message
>> news:E497AD1A-2B44-4F6E-BF5A-...
>>> From the description in the forum, it seems that i still have to move
>>> the location one by one for each folder (Music, contact etc.) instead of
>>> the whole user shell folder.
>>> Im not sure because I cant see the screen snap shot even after i sign in
>>> to this vista64 forum.
>>>
>>> I would like to stress i wish to move the entire user shell folder ONCE.
>>>
>>> "Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message
>>> news:...
>>>>I think this offers all the info you need:
>>>> http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/10...-location.html
>>>>
>>>> Be sure to read the entire article and comments to the end. And save it
>>>> for future reference. You're going to need it.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Gary S. Terhune
>>>> MS-MVP Shell/User
>>>> http://grystmill.com
>>>>
>>>> "Kent88" <> wrote in message
>>>> news:eea%...
>>>>> In XP, user files are stored in Mydocuments, which can be moved by
>>>>> changing the location. I used to change the location to my D: so that
>>>>> i wont lost my files each time i reinstall my XP.
>>>>>
>>>>> But in Vista, i cant find the Location button by right-click
>>>>> Properties. I have to change the Location for each folder (Music,
>>>>> Picture, Contact etc) one by one.
>>>>>
>>>>> Is that the only way in Vista?
>>>>>
>>>>> Kent
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
>

"Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message
news:%...
> To see the images, sign in. Site registration requires that you receive an
> email accepting your application and that you activate the account using a
> link provided in the email. When that's done, start over with the link I
> gave you, sign in at the upper left and the images simply appear. No links
> to deal with.


I really do not know why Brink used Program Files as an example, to move the
user shell folders to, as that seems to be a crazy idea, and IIRC, will
cause all sorts of problems with UAC.

ss.