Documents & Settings/ all users

  • Thread starter Thread starter alexanderd
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A

alexanderd

i am at a loss to understand " Documents & Settings/ all users/ " i seem to
have "/application Data " files some 20 + directories deep. whilst there are
only 2 users on my PC myself as administrator and my wife as a separate
loggin. What have i done wrong and how can i correct it. Stupid as it might
seem i was contemplating deleting Documents & Settings/ all users/application
Data/application Data/application Data at the 5th Directory.
Can any one advise me what to do and what to correct so that it dose not
happen again.
 
Hi, alexanderd.

Something "does not compute", as they used to say on the old TV show. :>(

Vista does not have a "Documents & Settings" folder. That was in WinXP. In
Vista, the file structure has been changed. Now, you should find all your
documents and settings under the various C:\Users\{username}\Documents
folders. There should be one Users folder for each user, plus others for
Default, Public, etc.; some of them are hidden.

Vista does have a directory entry for "C:\Documents and Settings
[C:\Users]", but it is not actually a folder. It is a "Junction" pointing
to the new locations; it is here just for the benefit of legacy programs
that have not yet been updated to recognize the new scheme.

For more information, click Start | Help and Support, and search for
"documents".

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64)
 
How are you browsing to these locations? 'Documents & Settings', 'All
Users', and 'Application Data' are all reparse points that point to other
folders. Open a command prompt & type the following command:

C:\>dir /al /s

This will show you all the junction points on your computer. They are there
solely for backward compatibility for programs. Notice that:

Directory of C:\
11/02/2006 08:00 AM <JUNCTION> Documents and Settings [C:\Users]
Directory of C:\Users
11/02/2006 08:00 AM <SYMLINKD> All Users [C:\ProgramData]
Directory of C:\ProgramData
11/02/2006 08:00 AM <JUNCTION> Application Data [C:\ProgramData]

'Documents & Settings' points to 'C:\Users'. There 'All Users' points to
'C:\Program Data'. Once we are in 'C:\Program Data', 'Application Data'
points to 'C:\Program Data'. It is a junction that points back to its
containing folder. So the 'endless levels' of Application Data is really a
loop. Normally, the permissions entries for these junction points prohibit
browsing. Did you happen to modify those? I know they can be annoying, but
they remind you to go find the actual folder.
 
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