Vista - Confused about \[username] folder

Hi all,

I just got Vista and am still learning how it works, so please forgive me if this is a simple question.

I noticed today when installing some of my software that my [Username] folder does not show up when browsing in C:\Users\[Username]. The only folders there are Default and Public. My [Username] folder is accessible under "Desktop" in the Explore menu, but it is not in C:\Users. Why not, and how do I put it back?

Yes, I have "show hidden files and folders" turned on. Yes, if I type "C:\Users\[Username]" into the address bar, it goes there correctly. However, if I open an explorer window, click on C:\ and then click on the Users folder, the only two things that show up are Default and Public.

Is this something as simple as Microsoft trying to make a user's [Username] folder more accessible and not so hidden? Am I just supposed to access it by clicking on the folder in "Desktop"? Why does this folder not show up when browsing C:\Users?

Thanks very much in advance!

"yopumpkinhead" <guest@newsgroup-email.com> wrote in message
news:40e76b9d9cbb5e5e5c46ef967c5414fd@newsgroup-gateway.com...
You or someone might have changed the user name.

It sounds like originally the user name was Default then the user name was
changed through User Accounts in Control Panel.

Changing the user name doesn't change the name of the folder.

Explorer does display the new name in places like the Start menu.

Tae Song wrote:
This is not possible. "Default" in Windows Vista/7 is the template for all
new users. It is equivalent to "Default User" in Windows XP. So the original
user name could not have been "Default".

To the OP: Please give some description of your computer. Home machine?
Corporate workstation? Offhand, it sounds as though someone attempted to move
your user profile to a different location such as a secondary hard drive or
server and didn't realize you couldn't move the entire profile but could only
move the individual directories (Documents, Pictures, etc.). In addition,
tell us what version of Vista you are using and when you go to Control
Panel>User Accounts what you see.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

It's a home-use machine, running Vista x64 Ultimate. I've had it for one week now and not a lot of time to fiddle outside of setting it up. My username is the only one on the computer, I'm the only one who uses it, and I have not moved any of the default folders or changed any profile settings (that I know of). All I have done so far is install protection software, Microsoft critical updates, a few games, and Firefox; and used Microsoft's backup utility to copy over folders from my old XP machine into my "Documents" folder. I also uninstalled the extraneous Dell "bonus" sidebar (dashboard?) which puts flashy icons for the recycle bin, IE, Outlook, etc in a toolbar on top of the screen, and for which I have no use. (I don't remember what it's called; I uninstalled it first thing as it was annoying.)

When I go to Control Panel -> User Accounts, I see my account (my name) listed as Administrator. The only other account is Guest, and that is turned off.

yopumpkinhead wrote:
OK, I don't know why you aren't seeing your user account under C:\Users.
However, you don't have your machine set up in the best way for Vista. It is
never best practice to run as "root" ("Administrator" in the Windows world).
Although this was of course also true with XP, from a practical standpoint
it wasn't workable since so many programs designed for that operating system
didn't understand the necessity of running under a Standard user. In Vista,
you can run as Standard and should.

You particularly don't want only one user account with administrative
privileges on Vista because the built-in Administrator account (normally
only used in emergencies) is disabled by default. If you're running as
Administrator for your daily work and that account gets corrupted, things
will be Difficult. It isn't impossible to activate the built-in Administrator
to rescue things, but it will require third-party tools and working outside
the operating system.

The user account that is for your daily work should be a Standard user, with
the extra administrative user (call it something like "CompAdmin" or "Tech"
or the like) only there for elevation purposes. After you create
"CompAdmin", log into it and change your regular user account to Standard.
Then log back into your regular account.

If you want to go directly to the Desktop and skip the Welcome Screen with
the icons of user accounts, you can do this:

Start Orb>Search box>type: netplwiz [enter]
Click on Continue (or supply an administrator's password) when prompted by
UAC

Uncheck the option "Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer". Select a user account to automatically log on by clicking on the
desired account to highlight it and then hit OK. Enter the correct password
for that user account (if there is one) when prompted. Leave it blank if
there is no password (null).

So go ahead and make the above changes and see what shows up under C:\Users
now.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Heh, I know it's bad policy to run as Admin all the time... I had set up Vista using almost all default settings, and didn't realize this made my personal user account the default Admin until it was too late. I'd meant to go back and fix it but hadn't got around to it yet. (Also, I take it that this is not normal Vista behaviour? I was sort of hoping that it would be a dumb question and my User folder isn't supposed to show up, but ah well - all the more reason to upgrade to Windows 7 ASAP, I suppose....)

I created a separate Admin account and turned off the welcome screen, as you recommended. Out of curiosity, I tried naming the new account "Administrator", and it told me that there is already an account named "Administrator." I don't know if it's referencing the hidden, built-in Admin account you mentioned, or if Vista decided to make the default Admin account *my* account, and just changed the display name when I went through Setup.

After adding the new Admin account, it shows up in C:\Users, but my personal Username folder still does not. So, my current C:\Users has Default, Public, and now Admin... but is still missing my normal account.

If Setup did, in fact, rename the built-in Administrator account to my personal account, is it possible to move all my documents and settings to a new, non-Admin account, and restore the built-in account to its proper status? If I have to, since the computer's only a week old, I can restore everything to factory defaults and start over, but I'd rather not as setting it up the first time was frustrating enough....

Hi again,

I was wondering if anyone had an answer to my questions.... My Username folder still does not show up in C:\Users. Could this be a result of Vista reassigning the hidden, built-in Administrator account as my personal account during setup? If so, is there a way to transfer all of my documents and settings to a new account and return the built-in account to its normal hidden state?

Thanks very much!

I finally found a resolution to this, and wanted to post it in case anyone else has the same trouble.

It looks like Vista did, indeed, set my personal Username account as the default Administrator account, which meant that my Username folder was marked as a hidden, system folder. I had already created a separate Admin account, as described earlier, so I used an elevated command prompt to remove the System and Hidden attributes from my Username folder, and set them on the Admin account.

C:\Users>attrib -s -h [Username]
C:\Users>attrib +s +h Admin

Hopefully this doesn't break anything else, but it does mean that my folders are showing up properly!