Missing "My Documents"

Billhorton

New Member
Following a need to rest my Laptop(3 months old) to a factory reset after advice from Dell, My Documents "is missing" when opeining the icon nothing is present after viewing properties. Does anyone have any ideas on how to resolve.? Bill H.
 

My Computer

This should be in the General Discussion area.

And are you sure the Documents map wasn't linked to another map?

Right click on 'My Documents' -> Properties -> Location and is the location C:\Users\(your username)\My Documents?
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5B-E Plus
    Memory
    4GB Kingston ValueRAM DDR2-667
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS EN8800GT 512
    Sound Card
    Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Packard Bell Maestro 190W
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900 @ 75Hz
    Hard Drives
    WesternDigital 200GB 7200RPM + Iomega Desktop HD 360GB 7200RPM
    PSU
    Xilence Power 600W Gaming Edition
    Case
    Coolermaster Centurion 534 Black
    Cooling
    Standard Coolermaster Case Fans + Standard Intel CPU Fan.
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 V1
    Mouse
    Razer Copperhead Tempest Blue
    Internet Speed
    100.0 Mbps
Hi Bill and welcome to the forums,

I do not fully understand what the problem is. Is the "Documents" folder missing (C:\Users\YourName\Documents), or is the folder itself empty?
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    E6750 @ 3.2GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus P5K-e/Wifi-AP
    Memory
    4x1GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800
    Graphics Card(s)
    PNY 8800GT @ 675/1675/950
    Sound Card
    Asus Xonar DX
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 220WM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    500GB WD SATA II
    500GB Seagate SATA II
    PSU
    700W OCZ GameXStream
    Case
    Cooler Master Centurion 5
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Internet Speed
    ~3Mb
I think, when he tries to open it, a window comes up that My Documents is missing, e.g. like a shortcut that leads nowhere.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5B-E Plus
    Memory
    4GB Kingston ValueRAM DDR2-667
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS EN8800GT 512
    Sound Card
    Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Packard Bell Maestro 190W
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900 @ 75Hz
    Hard Drives
    WesternDigital 200GB 7200RPM + Iomega Desktop HD 360GB 7200RPM
    PSU
    Xilence Power 600W Gaming Edition
    Case
    Coolermaster Centurion 534 Black
    Cooling
    Standard Coolermaster Case Fans + Standard Intel CPU Fan.
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 V1
    Mouse
    Razer Copperhead Tempest Blue
    Internet Speed
    100.0 Mbps

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
This should be in the General Discussion area.

And are you sure the Documents map wasn't linked to another map?

Right click on 'My Documents' -> Properties -> Location and is the location C:\Users\(your username)\My Documents?

Thanks for yor thoghts. However when following your idea on opening Prperties this leads to "General Tab" with no information against Location other than showing Zero Bytes
 

My Computer

When you said factory reset do you mean the hard drive was formatted before the restore was put back on? Check your pictures and music files to see if they are missing as well.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built
    CPU
    I5 3570K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77-DS3H
    Memory
    4 x 4GB corsair ballistix sport DDR3 1600 Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Geforce GTX 660 TI
    Sound Card
    creative x-fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Primary CiBox 22" Widescreen LCD ,Secondary Dell 22" Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    Both 1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500G HD (SATA) 1 x 2TB USB
    PSU
    Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Complient PSU
    Case
    Antec 900 Ultimate Gaming Case
    Cooling
    3 x 80mm tri led front, 120mm side 120mm back, 200mm top
    Keyboard
    Logik
    Mouse
    Technika TKOPTM2
    Internet Speed
    288 / 4000
    Other Info
    Creative Inspire 7.1 T7900 Speakers
    Trust Graphics Tablet
Hello Roy69.
Thanks for your response. Following advice from Dell all my info (Docs, Pictures etc)was backed up to a free standing hard drive.The reset then took place. The problem now comes in transferring back again as there is a "Dcuments" tab on the start up menu. However as when you normally right click you would then see open with other options, I do not; all there is, is copy rename and properties. To access my info I open the free standing hard drive to see all my info listed.A long winded process to say the least.I am not aware that any reformatting took place. My Pictures was in a totally separate file and trd back and opens without any difficulty.
Bill H.
 

My Computer

You can manually copy the files back or keep them where they are.
If you copy them back then you will have a permanent backup which is not a bad thing.
If you leave them where they are and decide to use the backup drive for your documents then that is not bad either as the drive will be ok if you reformat. That is if it is an external HD.
If it is not an external HD I would backup all your documents to CD, DVD. If you need to make any changed to the documents stored on DVD you can copy them back to your documents and you will have an archive of the older version on your DVD. It depends on how much space you have and how often you change the documents.

Another option is to redirect vista to it thinks your personal folders are in the Backup Drive. Look here on how to do it
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/107990-personal-user-shell-folders-move-location.html?filter[11]=File%20Folder%20Settings
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built
    CPU
    I5 3570K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77-DS3H
    Memory
    4 x 4GB corsair ballistix sport DDR3 1600 Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Geforce GTX 660 TI
    Sound Card
    creative x-fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Primary CiBox 22" Widescreen LCD ,Secondary Dell 22" Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    Both 1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500G HD (SATA) 1 x 2TB USB
    PSU
    Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Complient PSU
    Case
    Antec 900 Ultimate Gaming Case
    Cooling
    3 x 80mm tri led front, 120mm side 120mm back, 200mm top
    Keyboard
    Logik
    Mouse
    Technika TKOPTM2
    Internet Speed
    288 / 4000
    Other Info
    Creative Inspire 7.1 T7900 Speakers
    Trust Graphics Tablet
'ello again roy69.
Your sound thoughts are appreciated. My intention and ideal preference is to have the back up on the free standing Toshiba hard drive and also to be able to acess my documents having opened the file on my computer. However when right clicking on the Documents tab in the start up menu there is no option for Open, only copy rename and properties. When opening properties no information as location file size etc is available. If I do go for the option to Transfer back to the folder how.

1.Do I open the folder bearing in mind what I have said earlier?
2.Havinging opened the Toshiba drive where do I send the various folders.
BillH
 

My Computer

The reason you can not open the folder from your documents is becuase they are not there.
How was the backup performed?
Is the toshiba drive the backup?
Is it compressed(i.e. a zip or other format).
Can you open and view the files on the toshiba using My computer/drive letter/directory.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built
    CPU
    I5 3570K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77-DS3H
    Memory
    4 x 4GB corsair ballistix sport DDR3 1600 Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Geforce GTX 660 TI
    Sound Card
    creative x-fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Primary CiBox 22" Widescreen LCD ,Secondary Dell 22" Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    Both 1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500G HD (SATA) 1 x 2TB USB
    PSU
    Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Complient PSU
    Case
    Antec 900 Ultimate Gaming Case
    Cooling
    3 x 80mm tri led front, 120mm side 120mm back, 200mm top
    Keyboard
    Logik
    Mouse
    Technika TKOPTM2
    Internet Speed
    288 / 4000
    Other Info
    Creative Inspire 7.1 T7900 Speakers
    Trust Graphics Tablet
Bill,

Have you checked yet using Option Two in this tutorial, to make sure that your Documents (named Personal in registry) folder has the default location %USERPROFILE%\Documents set for it?

Personal User Folder - Restore Missing Folder

Hope this helps,
Shawn
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Hello roy69.
Yes I do realise the Docs file is is empty when I right click the Icon as mentioned.
Back up was simply performed in the normal back up manner to the free standing Toshiba drive (ie outside my Laptop)The files remain there and fully visible and the file is not compressed.
Bill H.
 

My Computer

You have two viable options.

1. You can open both folders in separate windows. Toshiba in one window and the empty My Documents in another window. Then drag and drop all the files, this will create a copy leaving the backup files.

2. Redirect the link as I discribed earlier in the tutorials section to the external HD. The only problem you may have with using this option, is if you remove the external HD then you will not have access to it if you remove the drive. (Another box to lug around).
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built
    CPU
    I5 3570K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77-DS3H
    Memory
    4 x 4GB corsair ballistix sport DDR3 1600 Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Geforce GTX 660 TI
    Sound Card
    creative x-fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Primary CiBox 22" Widescreen LCD ,Secondary Dell 22" Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    Both 1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500G HD (SATA) 1 x 2TB USB
    PSU
    Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Complient PSU
    Case
    Antec 900 Ultimate Gaming Case
    Cooling
    3 x 80mm tri led front, 120mm side 120mm back, 200mm top
    Keyboard
    Logik
    Mouse
    Technika TKOPTM2
    Internet Speed
    288 / 4000
    Other Info
    Creative Inspire 7.1 T7900 Speakers
    Trust Graphics Tablet
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