Folders duplicated

[david bazley]

Can somebody please advise



For some reason I seem to have got a whole section of folders duplicated in
Windows 2000.



Examining the structure of folders via Windows Explorer: At the top I have
DESKTOP then immediately at the next level below leading off from DESKTOP I
have MY DOCUMENTS and MY COMPUTER. But I also have MY DOCUMENTS duplicated
somewhere else four levels below. The second MY DOCUMENTS is one level below
REGISTERED USER which in turn is one level below DOCS AND SETTINGS which in
turn is one level below C DISK which is one level below MY COMPUTER. So I
could two different addresses for the same file, except that the address for
any file in MY DOCUMENTS always seems to be: C/Docs and settings/Registered
User/My Documents.



Both MY DOCUMENTS folders are exact copies of each other and whatever I do
to one happens to the other. This cannot be a good idea since there is an
awful amount of folders and files in MY DOCUMENTS and I don't think I need
two of them. I think the MY DOCUMENTS folder one level directly below from
DESKTOP is probably there by error and can be safely deleted.



Am I right?

 

[Michael Bednarek]

For some reason I seem to have got a whole section of folders duplicated in
Windows 2000.

Not really. There IS a difference between folders and directories,
although Explorer doesn't make that clear. However, comparing the
Properties of each by right-clicking them gives some indication of their
nature.

[snipped observation about identical files showing up in the directory
"%USERPROFILE%\My Documents" and in the folder "My Documents" as defined
in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders]

Examining the structure of folders via Windows Explorer: At the top I have
DESKTOP then immediately at the next level below leading off from DESKTOP I
have MY DOCUMENTS and MY COMPUTER. But I also have MY DOCUMENTS duplicated
somewhere else four levels below. The second MY DOCUMENTS is one level below
REGISTERED USER which in turn is one level below DOCS AND SETTINGS which in
turn is one level below C DISK which is one level below MY COMPUTER. So I
could two different addresses for the same file, except that the address for
any file in MY DOCUMENTS always seems to be: C/Docs and settings/Registered
User/My Documents.

Both MY DOCUMENTS folders are exact copies of each other and whatever I do
to one happens to the other. This cannot be a good idea since there is an
awful amount of folders and files in MY DOCUMENTS and I don't think I need
two of them. I think the MY DOCUMENTS folder one level directly below from
DESKTOP is probably there by error and can be safely deleted.

Put a test file in there, check the other folder. Delete it, check
again. Do you still want to delete?

Am I right?

I think not; the 'softies got you confused.

 

[david bazley]

Thanks Michael, Yes of course I'm an idiot! So should I have a two routes to
the same directory? and if not how do I get rid of this error?

David

For some reason I seem to have got a whole section of folders duplicated in
Windows 2000.

Not really. There IS a difference between folders and directories,
although Explorer doesn't make that clear. However, comparing the
Properties of each by right-clicking them gives some indication of their
nature.

[snipped observation about identical files showing up in the directory
"%USERPROFILE%\My Documents" and in the folder "My Documents" as defined
in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders]

Examining the structure of folders via Windows Explorer: At the top I have
DESKTOP then immediately at the next level below leading off from DESKTOP I
have MY DOCUMENTS and MY COMPUTER. But I also have MY DOCUMENTS duplicated
somewhere else four levels below. The second MY DOCUMENTS is one level below
REGISTERED USER which in turn is one level below DOCS AND SETTINGS which in
turn is one level below C DISK which is one level below MY COMPUTER. So I
could two different addresses for the same file, except that the address for
any file in MY DOCUMENTS always seems to be: C/Docs and settings/Registered
User/My Documents.

Both MY DOCUMENTS folders are exact copies of each other and whatever I do
to one happens to the other. This cannot be a good idea since there is an
awful amount of folders and files in MY DOCUMENTS and I don't think I need
two of them. I think the MY DOCUMENTS folder one level directly below from
DESKTOP is probably there by error and can be safely deleted.

Put a test file in there, check the other folder. Delete it, check
again. Do you still want to delete?

Am I right?

I think not; the 'softies got you confused.

 

[Michael Bednarek]

Thanks Michael, Yes of course I'm an idiot! So should I have a two routes to
the same directory? and if not how do I get rid of this error?

a) I did not say that.
b) According to the design of NT5.x: yes. (I think this might apply
to some later versions of Win4 as well.)
c) It's not an error; it's meant that way.

For some reason I seem to have got a whole section of folders duplicated in
Windows 2000.

Not really. There IS a difference between folders and directories,
although Explorer doesn't make that clear. However, comparing the
Properties of each by right-clicking them gives some indication of their
nature.

[snipped observation about identical files showing up in the directory
"%USERPROFILE%\My Documents" and in the folder "My Documents" as defined
in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders]

Examining the structure of folders via Windows Explorer: At the top I have
DESKTOP then immediately at the next level below leading off from DESKTOP I
have MY DOCUMENTS and MY COMPUTER. But I also have MY DOCUMENTS duplicated
somewhere else four levels below. The second MY DOCUMENTS is one level below
REGISTERED USER which in turn is one level below DOCS AND SETTINGS which in
turn is one level below C DISK which is one level below MY COMPUTER. So I
could two different addresses for the same file, except that the address for
any file in MY DOCUMENTS always seems to be: C/Docs and settings/Registered
User/My Documents.

Both MY DOCUMENTS folders are exact copies of each other and whatever I do
to one happens to the other. This cannot be a good idea since there is an
awful amount of folders and files in MY DOCUMENTS and I don't think I need
two of them. I think the MY DOCUMENTS folder one level directly below from
DESKTOP is probably there by error and can be safely deleted.

Put a test file in there, check the other folder. Delete it, check
again. Do you still want to delete?

Am I right?

I think not; the 'softies got you confused.