Vista - Documents folder is missing and other folder worries

When I used XP I kept the My Documents file on my D: drive. Apart from
anything else this made backing-up a cinch. After upgrading to Vista, I
played around and managed to get the D: drive to appear on my start menu.

It also appears under my Username folder on the start menu. However, it is
grey rather than green and in both places is is called DATA (D rather than
documents (or possibly Documents).

My Music and Pictures folders are stored as sub-folders in this drive/folder
in the right place, but the other default folders such as Links, Saved
Games, Searches, Downloads and Favourites are not, for some reason they
still sit on the C: drive. My Videos folder is on my E: drive where I would
like to keep it.

Ideally I'd like all these folders to sit on D: with a green Documents
folder and all the sub-folders (except Videos). I've seen plenty of online
tips about moving folders, sometimes they involve tinkering with the
registry, but not much about fixing wrongly configured folders. This isn't
just petty nonsense, I really need everything in one place so I can organise
simple and reliable back-ups.

Where do I start?

I assume that you are talking about the `My Documents` as a
`folder/directory` and not `file` as mentioned in your first line.What
exactly do you mean by a folder being `green/gray`?
There seems to be a volume-labeling issue about the mapping which you have
done.The reason that the folders you mentioned do not appear at that
location is because XP did not HAVE those folder created by default for
users.Vista does have.You also probably need to tinker with templates by
customising the folders.

"billb" <williamfrancisbennett@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:9ED4AB1C-D7D0-4D3A-84AE-D3A8A3BCE921@xxxxxx

Hi Billb,

These tutorials may be able to help you out.

Personal User Shell Folders

and

Personal User Folder - Restore Missing Folder

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Yes, I meant folder.

Vista's named default folders appear as green icons. Non-default folders
have yellow icons. Discs have grey icons. On my system DATA (D shows up
with a grey disc icon. I suspect this is directly related to the way it
doesn't work as expected.


"Hiren" <hirenme@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:3DF00120-7300-4E91-A8A1-1198DB1E5DB2@xxxxxx

Thanks Brink, I'd already seen those tutorials they are well written and
clear. However, I can't even get to first base with them. In the first
tutorial, How to Fix a Personal User Shell Folder Displayed as a Standard
Yellow Folder Icon in Vista, the step one says:

1. Open the Start Menu.
2. Type in the Shell command for the Personal User folder and press Enter..
NOTE: For a list of Shell commands and how to use it, see: How to Use the
Vista Shell Command

If I use the Shell command for the Personal User folder, it finds nothing. I
guess this means that as far as my system is concerned there is no Personal
User folder -- other Shell commands seem to work. But I do have a Personal
User folder on the C: drive. Incidentally if I navigate directly to it, it
does show as a special green folder.

Likewise in the second tutorial, the Shell command doesn't find the Personal
User folder. If I use Regedit, there isn't an entry for Documents. I even
tried creating a new regedit entry for Documents -- but that didn't seem to
work.



"Brink" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message
news:bcfe2bff9911dd6c1c4255a29b8db3ea@xxxxxx-gateway.com...

BillB,

In the registry, Documents will be listed as the name "Personal" instead. This is the one you will need to Modify with the default "%USERPROFILE%\Documents" (no quotes) path.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

"Brink" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message
news:b0c180f7a32391fd46b1d9982ff41009@xxxxxx-gateway.com...Thanks Shawn, it appears to have done the trick. Naming Documents as
Personal in the registry was probably the bit that flummoxed me. I think it
qualifies as a trap for young players.

One small point, my Documents folder is yellow, not green. Is this normal?
Is it significant?

BillB,

I'm happy to hear that the Documents folder is working ok now. However, it should not be yellow. It should be greenish blue like the others. Step Two in this tutorial will show you how to restore the folder back to it's normal color.

Personal User Shell Folders

Hope this helps,
Shawn