Thank you for your quick response, Ronnie. I had already run the /aL command
but ran it again and saved it. I didn't understand about the Symbolic Link
and Junction differences. Your information has helped
I purchased this
HP laptop yesterday and can't figure out why it would have those Junction
folders anyway...unless it is in case I use the Vista cable to transfer files
between computers?
"Ronnie Vernon MVP" wrote:
> KWilson
>
> The junctions appear in many difference places in the User folders. One
> thing you can do to help, until you get used to the new folder structure, is
> go to Folder Options, in Control Panel. Select the View Tab and Place a
> check mark in the "Do not show hidden files and folders" option. This will
> hide all of these junction folders and give you a cleaner folder tree.
>
> The All Users folder is not a Junction, it is called a Symbolic Link. It
> behaves differently because it has a different set of permissions, although
> it's appearance is the same as a junction. When you open this folder you
> will simply see a mirror copy of the "C:\Program Data" folder.
>
> Follow the steps I posted below and use the command prompt to reveal all of
> the junctions on the system.
>
> Once the list is displayed, click the black and white icon at the top left
> of the window and click on Select All. Press Enter to copy all of the text
> in the window. Open an instance of Notepad and Edit/Paste. Print this list
> and keep it handy for reference.
>
> I hope this answers your questions, if not just post back to this thread.
>
>
> --
>
> Ronnie Vernon
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Shell/User
>
>
> "KWilson" <KWilson@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:1B5BFC1D-EE7F-4A8F-B628-35B3CA7C7F4D@microsoft.com...
> > Hi Ron. I found your post to be informative. I do want to clarify
> > something. When I click on C drive and there is a folder that has a
> > shortcut
> > icon on it (i.e. Documents and Settings folder) and that I can not access
> > as
> > Permission is Denied, does that always indicate that that particular
> > folder
> > is a Junction? Does that shortcut icon used on a folder that I can not
> > access always indicate that that folder is a Junction folder? If so, when
> > I
> > open the Users folder, All Users and Default User has that same icon on
> > the
> > folder and while I can open the All Users folder, I can not open the
> > Default
> > User folder as permission is Denied. But, Default, Public, and my own
> > folders do not have the icon and I can open those 3 folders. This is very
> > confusing for me. I can open my own folder but there are subfolders
> > within
> > that I can not open (i.e. Templates, Local Settings, Application Data),
> > which
> > brings me to another question of where do I now store Templates. I am
> > finding this learning process to be a bit of a headache. As with other XP
> > users, I am not accustomed to being locked out of folders on my system.
> > It
> > might have been better all around if instead of being denied access a
> > pop-up
> > might have said, this folder is a marker or Junction folder and contains
> > no
> > data.
> >
> > "Ronnie Vernon MVP" wrote:
> >
> >> rypurdude
> >>
> >> There is nothing in those old XP folders, so there is no need to access
> >> them. The "My" designation for user folders was retired in Vista.
> >>
> >> The old XP user folders are now Junctions, which means they simply point
> >> to
> >> the new folder that is used in Vista. They are there for compatibility
> >> purposes for old programs that are not compatible with Vista. When an
> >> older
> >> program tries to access one of these folders, they are automatically
> >> redirected to the new user folder in Vista.
> >>
> >> You can see a list of these folders using a command prompt.
> >>
> >> Go to Start and type cmd and press Enter.
> >>
> >> In the command window, type:
> >>
> >> dir /aL
> >>
> >> Press Enter.
> >>
> >> The results will be a list of all the Junctions for the user folders.
> >> These
> >> will show the name of the old XP user folder and the name of the new
> >> folder
> >> that replaces it in Brackets.
> >>
> >> A typical line will look like this:
> >>
> >> 12/13/2006 04:15 PM <JUNCTION> My Documents [C:\Users\user
> >> name\Documents]
> >>
> >> This line shows the old XP folder, My Documents, is now called Documents
> >> and
> >> it is located in the C:\Users\user name folder. (Where user name is the
> >> account you are logged on with.
> >>
> >> Another thing you need to do is turn UAC back ON. When you turn this off,
> >> you also disable much of the compatibility and Virtualization that is
> >> built
> >> into Vista.
> >>
> >> --
> >>
> >> Ronnie Vernon
> >> Microsoft MVP
> >> Windows Shell/User
> >>
> >>
> >> "rypurdue" <rypurdue@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:F6A336F8-F6C9-4FB8-9236-A0C188D8428D@microsoft.com...
> >> > Steve-
> >> >
> >> > The KB article was helpful but my problem is slightly different than
> >> > what
> >> > is
> >> > described in the article. If I read it correctly, the article explains
> >> > how
> >> > to
> >> > solve the problem of a "Documents" folder in the start menu not
> >> > pointing
> >> > to
> >> > the correct corresponding "Documents" folder carried over from XP.
> >> >
> >> > My problem is that it seems like I actually have two sets of Documents
> >> > folders -- one from XP and one new set from Vista. I don't need the
> >> > Vista
> >> > set
> >> > to point to the XP set, as I have already begun to save new files in
> >> > the
> >> > Vista set. However, I just need access to the old XP set. If I go to
> >> > Start
> >> > and then Documents, I'll see my old folders from XP. When I try to
> >> > access
> >> > any
> >> > My ____ folder, I get the error message described in my first post.
> >> >
> >> > Thanks.
> >>
> >>
>