Folders in Explorer

  • Thread starter Thread starter Old guy
  • Start date Start date
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Old guy

This should be easy but I can't seem to find the answer in Knowledge Base.
Just learning XP after moving from W98. In XP I seem to have 3 users -
All Users, Default User, Home PC (I created this on initital boot up).
Each of these have some folders identical to the others. Any way I can
eliminate 2 of them and remove the redundancy? I'm an old guy and have
trouble moving things in/out of, say, the correct Start menu.
While I'm at it, at the top of Explorer I have a My Documents folder
containing My Pictures and others. Any way to safely delete these or, at
least, move them to a subfolder?
 
This should be easy but I can't seem to find the answer in Knowledge Base.
Just learning XP after moving from W98. In XP I seem to have 3 users -
All Users, Default User, Home PC (I created this on initital boot up).
Each of these have some folders identical to the others. Any way I can
eliminate 2 of them and remove the redundancy? I'm an old guy and have
trouble moving things in/out of, say, the correct Start menu.
While I'm at it, at the top of Explorer I have a My Documents folder
containing My Pictures and others. Any way to safely delete these or, at
least, move them to a subfolder?
Click to expand...

Leave the account folders where they are. XP is a multi-user operating
system and even on a standalone machine with one user, these folders have a
purpose.

For day to day use, concentrate on your account's folders and occasionally
the All Users folders (when organizing the start menu for example). While
you can direct some program installations to install for "current user
only," others will automatically setup under the global All Users account.

"Default User" is a template account and is used for creating new accounts.
Default User and All Users will remain relatively small in size and take up
very little room.

The representation of My Documents at the top of Windows Explorer is not a
true folder location. It's a convenience shortcut that lets you quickly get
to the folder holding your data files. In fact, the folders this object
takes you to will depend on which user is currently logged on - different
destinations for different users.

You can redirect My Documents to another location. For example, I have My
Documents pointed to I:\My Docs on another hard drive. To do this, create a
destination folder. Then right click on My Documents and select Properties.
Use the Move button to select the newly created folder. My Pictures, etc
will move right along with My Documents.

If you want to move My Pictures and the other My* folders, right click drag
them to a new location. Select Move Here from the dialog that appears when
you drop them in their new location. XP will update the relevant registry
info and links to point to your new locations for these items. NOTE: My
Documents can also be moved with the right click drag method.
 
Sharon F said:
Leave the account folders where they are. XP is a multi-user operating
system and even on a standalone machine with one user, these folders have a
purpose.

For day to day use, concentrate on your account's folders and occasionally
the All Users folders (when organizing the start menu for example). While
you can direct some program installations to install for "current user
only," others will automatically setup under the global All Users account.

"Default User" is a template account and is used for creating new accounts.
Default User and All Users will remain relatively small in size and take up
very little room.

The representation of My Documents at the top of Windows Explorer is not a
true folder location. It's a convenience shortcut that lets you quickly get
to the folder holding your data files. In fact, the folders this object
takes you to will depend on which user is currently logged on - different
destinations for different users.

You can redirect My Documents to another location. For example, I have My
Documents pointed to I:\My Docs on another hard drive. To do this, create a
destination folder. Then right click on My Documents and select Properties.
Use the Move button to select the newly created folder. My Pictures, etc
will move right along with My Documents.

If you want to move My Pictures and the other My* folders, right click drag
them to a new location. Select Move Here from the dialog that appears when
you drop them in their new location. XP will update the relevant registry
info and links to point to your new locations for these items. NOTE: My
Documents can also be moved with the right click drag method.
Click to expand...

Thanks Sharon, Let's see if I can understand this. All Users and Default
Users have to stay. Right? I can't even remove my account and dump
everything to All Users?
My Documents snd subfolders at top of list can be safely deleted or just
safely moved?
 
Thanks Sharon, Let's see if I can understand this. All Users and Default
Users have to stay. Right? I can't even remove my account and dump
everything to All Users?
Click to expand...

Sorry to say but that's correct. It won't work. Someone posted a while back
that they had dumped the Default User folders with no ill effects. But I
continue to wonder how they're going to handle it if their account every
becomes damaged to the point it needs to be replaced. They will be minus
the template account needed to create a new one.
My Documents snd subfolders at top of list can be safely deleted or just
safely moved?
Click to expand...

Sorry to say it's "no" again. The folders cannot be safely deleted. Just
redirected. They'll stay there no matter where the folders are located.

The "fake" or "system" objects are not anything new in Windows. Since
Win95, you could totally collapse the tree until you're left with "Desktop"
only. Since the user interacts with Windows, their programs and their
hardware through the desktop, it is represented as the ultimate "root" in
Explorer. Even though it's true location is somewhere else, it is also not
safe to delete.
 
Sharon F said:
Sorry to say but that's correct. It won't work. Someone posted a while back
that they had dumped the Default User folders with no ill effects. But I
continue to wonder how they're going to handle it if their account every
becomes damaged to the point it needs to be replaced. They will be minus
the template account needed to create a new one.


Sorry to say it's "no" again. The folders cannot be safely deleted. Just
redirected. They'll stay there no matter where the folders are located.

The "fake" or "system" objects are not anything new in Windows. Since
Win95, you could totally collapse the tree until you're left with "Desktop"
only. Since the user interacts with Windows, their programs and their
hardware through the desktop, it is represented as the ultimate "root" in
Explorer. Even though it's true location is somewhere else, it is also not
safe to delete.
Click to expand...

Such great patience Sharon. One more question. Can I not just delete the
account I deleted and put everything under 'All Users?'
 
Such great patience Sharon. One more question. Can I not just delete the
account I deleted and put everything under 'All Users?'
Click to expand...

You can move everything/anything you want into All Users but do not delete
your user account. As David has pointed out, there is no way to log on to
that account.

I know that becoming accustomed to the XP user account structure (actual
users and the various accounts maintained by the system) can be trying so
you have my sympathy on that matter. However this is how this area of the
operating system is structured. Working with it eventually becomes second
nature.

I run a single user system also and occasionally glance in those other
folders to see how they're doing. After 3 years of using XP, I use mostly
my own folders for normal day to day operations. Once in a great while, I
access All Users to reorganize the start menu.
 
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